Posted on 11/17/2013 4:00:30 PM PST by george76
OURAY – A mining accident early Sunday morning at the Revenue-Virginius Mine in Ouray County has killed two miners and sent 20 to the region's hospitals.
According to Ouray County authorities at approximately 3:20 p.m. Sunday, the rescue initiated for two miners who remained underground resulted in confirmation of two fatalities at the site by the County Coroner's office; the two men's identities have not been released.
Twenty victims were taken to various hospitals in the region, with one victim reportedly in critical condition at Montrose Memorial Hospital.
...
The historic Revenue-Virginius Silver Mine is located 6.9 miles south of Ouray near Yankee Boy Basin; its roughly 100 workers come from Ouray, Montrose and San Juan counties ... In its heyday, between 1876 and the late 1940s, the mine produced more than 14.5 million ounces of silver, weathering the Silver Panic of 1893, while many other silver mines in the region and across the West failed.
(Excerpt) Read more at watchnewspapers.com ...
Tragic.
Prayers for the families.
Apparently not a cave-in but a blast-powder accident?
(Thanks for the post.)
The Ouray County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Revenue Virginius mine at about 7:20 a.m., county spokeswoman Marti Whitmore said. The miners were trapped underground and were confirmed dead Sunday afternoon.
“Anything that has been reported is speculative,” Whitmore said. “We don’t know what the cause is.”
Yankee boy basin is some of the prettiest scenery on earth. Ouray is deservingly called the Switzerland of the rockies. Prayers for those injured and the families of the dead.
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
Ouray is about 74 miles north of Durango.
The last major mining disaster in Colorado occurred on April 15, 1981, when an explosion killed 15 people at the Mid-Continent Dutch Creek No. 1 Mine near Redstone.
RIP and prayers for the victims.
Yankee Boy Basin has wonderful wild flowers, fall colors, high mountain peaks, 4x4 roads, and ...
The famous Camp Bird mine is named after the “Camp Birds”, probably Rocky Mountain jays, that ate many a miner’s lunch. David Lavender wrote about his experiences working at the Camp Bird Mine in the 1930s in his classic memoir One Man’s West.
Beautiful.
May God bless them all.
Thanks for the ping, george76.
I was in Ouray last week.
Prayers up for all concerned.
so isolated, most who live in Colorado haven’t ever even been there.
As pretty as it gets right up next to Big Red Mountain
Prayers for all.
He was called out to help in the rescue, however. He said that it was, in fact, a carbon monoxide incident.
The Revenue-Virginius mine is a silver, lead, zinc, copper and gold mine.
The bar was open, ten (of 40) rooms were habitable, the kitchen was equipped and 39 of the original bedroom sets were in storage on the property. And, structurally, it was still sound.
At the time, I was working in Cincinnati. But my mom and dad volunteered to move there and run it, pretty much for the privilege of living in Ouray.
Sometime in seventies, somebody sprung for the deal. And, today, the Beaumont is the top luxury hotel in SW Colorado with room rates of $159 to over $300. It's coining money...in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
I shouldda, wouldda, couldda...
Your post reminded me of a friend’s grandfather who had the opportunity to buy a huge chunk of Miami Beach in the 1920’s for a song.
“It was just a worthless coconut plantation” was the reason he didn’t.
Thanks for the update.
Please let me know if your learn more.
Good to see I’m in good company...
Incredible photo.
Prayers for all these people. Mining is very dangerous and few people in this country really seem to appreciate it.
You got that right. Rode through there last March. Remembering all involved, including their families.
Prayers for these men and their loved ones.
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