One injured in Murray mining accident

MURRAY –– The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is investigating an accident that occurred Monday evening at the Golden Chest Mine in Murray.

One miner was injured in the incident after a reported ground failure in the mine’s 833 North Stope. Ground failure is a general reference to landslides, liquefaction, lateral spreads, and any other consequence of shaking that affects the stability of the ground.

The injured miner, identified as Silver Valley native Cory Squires, was briefly trapped, but quickly rescued by medics and his fellow miners. Squires has since been hospitalized and is in stable condition following several surgeries.

New Jersey Mining Company Vice President of Operation Grant Brackebusch said that at this time, the cause of the ground failure is still being investigated by MSHA.

The New Jersey Mining Company (NJMC) owns the gold mine, which operates in both open pit and underground raise mining styles – the accident happened in the underground portion of the mine.

Brackebusch was grateful for the quick response of the local medical crews, as well as the other miners who were instrumental in getting the injured miner out of the mine safely.

“I want to thank the Prichard-Murray Volunteer Fire Department for their quick response,” Brackebusch said. “Also the other miners on the crew who did a hell of a good job getting to him quickly.”

Life Flight was called out to respond to the accident, but couldn’t make the flight as heavy rains and winds battered the region for much of the evening.

“Life Flight was called, but the Prichard-Murray guys were here so quick that it didn’t matter,” Brackebusch said.

This accident had nothing to do with the fatal open trench mining accident that happened near Murray just a few weeks ago.

The Golden Chest Mine was the largest historic lode producer of gold in north Idaho, primarily from shallow, underground, high-grade veins in the late-1890s and 1900s. Modern exploration of the area began in the late-1970s by several different companies.

NJMC first leased the property in 2003. After several years of small-scale exploration, development, and gold production, the Company formed Golden Chest LLC (with Marathon Gold) to advance the property in 2010. In 2016, NJMC completed an internal scoping study and developed an underground mine plan at Golden Chest, that focused on unmined ore from the prior mine plan and from other accessible, drill-tested zones.

Also in 2016, NJMC excavated and began mining an open pit, called the Idaho Pit, located about 200 meters above the mine portal. The open pit mine produced 3,525 ounces of gold in 2017.

At its deepest, the Golden Chest has a depth of 330 vertical feet from the portal to where they are currently working.

The Shoshone News-Press will update this story, should MSHA release the findings of their investigation.