Closed Idaho mine to start rehiring in July

WALLACE, Idaho — A northern Idaho silver mine that was shut down for safety improvements will start rehiring in July and should have a full workforce by the end of the year, Hecla Mining Co. Chief Executive Officer Phil Baker said Thursday.

The underground Lucky Friday Mine — one of the nation's deepest — was ordered closed in January after a series of accidents last year culminated in the deaths of two workers in separate incidents.

Baker said the work should be finished by year's end, allowing the mine to resume production. More than 110 of the mine's 250 workers were laid off when it closed.

"We expect all of our positions to be filled by the end of the year," Baker said.

Baker also said at Hecla's annual shareholders meeting that the company is studying the reopening of the closed Star Morning Mine in Idaho's Silver Valley, which would greatly increase employment and silver production.

Hecla is the nation's largest primary silver producer.

Federal safety inspectors ordered the Lucky Friday Mine closed after they determined sand and concrete material that had leaked from a pipe into a mine shaft over the years needed to be removed.