TROY (AP) – A mechanic was killed in a rock fall at the Troy Mine Monday, mine officials said.
“Unfortunately, we do have a fatality,” said Carson Rife, vice president of operations for Revett Minerals Inc.
The victim was identified as Mike Ivins. Lincoln County Sheriff Daryl Anderson said he was a longtime resident of the Troy area.
Ivins was in the southeastern corner of the mine doing some work at 10:30 a.m. Monday morning when rock fell on the pickup truck he was in, Rife said.
It took until 7 p.m. to excavate enough rock to get to the spot where the pickup was located, Rife said. Ivins’ body was found inside the truck.
Early reports that his truck carried explosives were not correct, Rife said. However, there was a fire inside the truck following the collapse, he said.
“This is devastating,” Revett President and CEO Bill Orchow said in a statement. “Miners are a close-knit group and all of us are touched by Mike’s death. More importantly, our hearts and prayers go out to Mike’s family and friends. He was a truly special man.”
Two other workers were able to escape the rock fall. They were treated at the hospital in Libby and released, a hospital spokesman said.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration planned to start an investigation Tuesday, officials said.
Anderson said a coroner was called to the copper and silver mine at about 8 p.m.
A dispatcher said the sheriff’s office would release a statement Tuesday.
Troy is about five miles east of the Montana-Idaho border, just south of the Canadian border.