Two Killed, 20 Injured in Star Mine Operations Explosion

Mineweb reported that early Sunday morning, an accident at Colorado-based Star Mine Operations, a division of privately owned Silver Star Resources, killed two miners and injured 20 others. The accident was apparently caused by explosives.

As quoted in the market news:

The historic Revenue-Virginius silver-lead-zinc-copper-gold mine is located nearly nine miles from Ouray and employs roughly 100 workers. Between 1876 and the late 1940s, the mine produced more than 14.5 million ounces of silver. In January, the Colorado Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety approved Star Mine’s mine permit application with conditions, the Ouray Watch newspaper reported.

At 3 p.m. a rescue party reached the bodies of two miners who were unable to get out during the blast. A coroner’s preliminary report said it appears that the two men died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The Watch reported that the two miners were identified as Nick Cappano, 34, of Montrose, Colorado, and Rick Williams, 59, of Durango, Colorado.

Twenty people, one of them in critical condition, were taken to area hospitals. All but two miners were treated and released, the Denver Post reported.

Click here to read the full Mineweb report.