Idaho Governor Butch Otter expressed his frustration over the temporary shut down of the Lucky Friday mine by calling it unfair during a meeting with concerned residents in Wallace Monday.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has ordered Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine to close down after federal safety inspectors determined that material must be removed from the main silver shaft. Hecla estimates the mine will be shut down for a year.
Seven miners were injured in a rock burst at the 5900 level in the Lucky Friday Mine early Wednesday evening.
In the wake of the investigation into a fatal cave-in at the Lucky Friday Mine, federal officials are blaming the accident on unsafe mining practices.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has released a photograph of where a man was fatally injured inside the Lucky Friday Mine in Mullan, Idaho.
