SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Hecla Mining Co. has been fined $318,200 by federal regulators for the death of a worker last year in Idaho’s Lucky Friday Mine.
Larry Marek died April 15, 2011, during a cave-in at the underground silver mine near Mullan, Idaho.
In a report released last year, Mine Safety and Health Administration officials called Lucky Friday managers negligent for failing to install adequate ground support and not testing the stability of the rock where the cave-in occurred. Hecla has disputed those findings.
The Spokesman-Review says Hecla must either pay the fines by June 19 or contest them. Company officials were not immediately available to comment.
