Revett miners back to work

Underground work at Revett Minerals, Inc., Troy Mine has resumed, but those miners are doing more preparatory tasks for ore extraction than actual mining, according to Revett CEO John Shanahan.

Shanahan said workers are getting back into the mine, as there has been more stability. But as of Saturday they have yet to do any actual mining.

“We have been able to access some areas, but there has been some groundfall. We’re still working with (Mine Safety Health Administration,” Shanahan said. 

“We’re just happy to get back in and do some work underground. However, we don’t have a hard date that we will begin operations again,” he said.

Underground work stopped more than a month ago after concerns surfaced with falling rock. Since, the company has added monitoring devices, and MSHA officials have toured the site and recommended seismic devices be added in the mine to monitor the copper and silver mine with nearly 100 miles of tunnels.

In Libby, Troy Mine employees have written on Facebook pages about getting back to work.

In early December, Revett officials voluntarily scaled back day-to-day operations at the mine. Up until mid-December, there was limited mineral extraction going on at the site, Shanahan said.

Underground work was scaled back on Dec. 1 by Revett Chairman Tim Lindsey because of falling rock.

Subsequent to the slowdown was a 2.9-magnitude earthquake four days later on Dec. 5.

According to Bruce Vincent, a Troy Mine consultant with Environomics, the mine still has an estimated seven years of viable ore extraction.

The Troy Mine employs about 205 people, half of whom worked underground.