Two miners die after explosives detonated in unventilated area
23 exposed to carbon monoxide
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration has fined Star Mine Operations, LLC $1,077,800 following the agency's investigation into the deaths of two miners at Revenue Mine on Nov. 17, 2013. The underground silver ore mine is located in Ouray County, Colorado.
Around 2 p.m. on the day before the accident occurred, approximately 1,600 pounds of deteriorated explosives were detonated underground in an open air blast. Crew members of the next shift, which reported to work later that evening, were neither notified of the blasting activities on the previous shift, nor was the area where the explosives were set off – called the Monogahela Drift – barricaded to prevent miners from entering.