"After this is all over and these miners' families are administered to the best we can," he said. "Some years down the road, we'll do engineering studies. We'll examine it and we'll look at the remaining reserves and see if we'll ever mine it."

For now, Murray remains adamant that the mine won't operate again.

Investigations

As the rescue efforts wind down, MSHA will begin investigating the mine disaster. However, Kuzar said, that may be difficult if the mine is sealed.

"If you can't get to the area where the accident originated from, we'll never know what really caused it," he said.

Instead, investigators will rely on interviews and what they can see inside the mine.

In a letter to Congress, the UMWA asks for an independent investigation, suggesting that MSHA cannot be trusted to conduct another "status quo" investigation.

"I do not believe the American public and our nation's coal miners will be well-served by another instance of MSHA investigating itself in this disaster," UMWA president Cecil Roberts wrote in a letter released Wednesday.

Huntsman said he wants all of Murray's mines investigated, as well as a state probe into the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. That move has been applauded by the Utah Democratic Party.

"This is a time when Utah Democrats and Republicans can stand together to do what needs to be done to prevent another tragedy," party chairman Wayne Holland said in a statement.

State senators opened their special legislative session Wednesday with a moment of silence for those killed, injured or missing in the mine disaster. Senate Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, praised what he described as the heroic rescue attempts.

"Right now we have three fatalities," Dmitrich said before senators bowed their heads in silent prayer. "We have six still under that cruel mountain."

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Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; jpage@desnews.com