Sunshine Mine — Accidents

Total: 103 accidents | Fatalities: 1

Date Classification Injury Days Lost Narrative
12/04/2025 MACHINERY NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None EE was installing air header onto existing HDPE pipe valve. EE tightened the vic between the valve and header. EE realized the header needed to be rotated so EE used the impact and started to loosen t...
09/22/2025 POWERED HAULAGE NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None EE was swamping on the back of the track lowboy that was loaded with an electrical cabinet. The cabinet came in contact with the lockbox for the portal gate causing the lowboy to come to a sudden stop...
06/29/2025 FIRE ACCIDENT ONLY None The electric motor for the pump on the 1700 level lost one leg of the 3 phases. This caused the remaining two legs to heat up because they were drawing more amperage. The varnish on the coils and insu...
04/06/2023 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None A hydraulic hose fitting failed on the Chippy hoist braking system. The hydraulic braking system lost pressure and the brakes set. The hoist was not operational.
04/29/2019 MACHINERY DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 35d restricted Miner was operating a jack hammer to remove an unused concrete compressor pedestal. While operating the jack hammer the miner pinched EE's index finger between the jack hammer and a bolt protruding f...
04/12/2018 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON DYS AWY FRM WRK & RESTRCTD ACT 28d lost, 20d restricted Miner became light headed and passed out while standing on hoist cage. When passing out the miner collapsed on self twisting right leg causing a spiral fracture of lower leg.
02/25/2016 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None Chippy hoist became inoperative while transporting miners. Miners were notified of the hoist problems and were transferred to the south conveyance of the double drum hoist. Miners were out of the mine...
12/21/2015 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None Sunshine Mine lost power due to damage caused by a tree contacting main electrical service line owned & maintained by Avista Utilities. Loss of power occurred while miners were working in Jewell shaf...
10/30/2014 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The Jewell shaft double drum hoist engineer was dumping the north skip. After the skip was emptied, the skip was lowered before opening the wind gate at the shaft collar. The skip sat on the gate ca...
06/05/2014 HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) INJURIES INVOLVNG NONEMPLOYEES None A non employee committed suicide on land recently purchased from US silver/Galena mine. This is an isolated area near the cemetery in Osborne Idaho.
06/02/2014 HOISTING FATALITY Fatal Two shaft repairmen had finished pulling lacing from the pipe compartment, the all clear/tucked in verbal command was given twice with response. The bell signal was transmitted to raise the skip. One...
02/07/2013 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None A geologist at the 6980 decline of the Sterling tunnel system, was in the process of connecting a trailer mounted porta-potty to a Kubota utility vehicle, for remove to the surface for sanitary cleani...
12/07/2012 MACHINERY DAYS AWAY FROM WORK ONLY 22d lost Employee was tightening a # 7 Dywidag thread bar bolt with three cartridges of Ground lok/resin with a jackleg. The jackleg got away from the employee and the handle on the leg hit his right knee, dis...
11/07/2012 MACHINERY NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None On 11/7/12, employee was trying to free the splitset bolt driver from splitset bolt that he previously installed with a jackleg drill. Employee pulled on the jackleg drill to free the driver, but the...
08/16/2012 OTHER INJURIES DUE TO NATURAL CAUSES None A electrician and supervisor were trouble shooting un-energized equipment when the electrician suffered a medical related seizure.
08/03/2012 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None A Geology Intern left foot became lodged between two branches resulting in a trip/fall into another branch in the ground, puncturing her left shin. Conditions that contributed to the accident were: st...
07/12/2012 OTHER INJURIES DUE TO NATURAL CAUSES None Employee complained of chest pains and was immediately taken to hospital. It was found to be a 100% blockage of one artery and he was immediately taken in for surgery to place a stint. Not a work rela...
05/26/2012 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None workers were putting a 5/8 inch cable over a cross beam, the first man was not prepared and it caught him off balance and he struck his ear on a upright of chamber causing a small laceration on his ri...
02/14/2012 FIRE ACCIDENT ONLY None Repair on 3100 was repairing rail with an Oxygen accetylene torch. Sparks got drawn behind bulkhead by short circuit to main ventilation exhaust. Result was large uncontrollable fire resulting in tota...
06/09/2011 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None Material being dropped from the sheave wheel platform of the Jewell Shaft head frame struck a power pole guy wire causing power conductors to make contact and trip out the power to the Jewell Shaft ho...
02/23/2011 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON DYS AWY FRM WRK & RESTRCTD ACT 6d lost, 226d restricted Employee was walking across mine yard at end of shift, slipped on ice, fell and hit his head on ground. At visit with physician on 3-14-11 the employee was given work restrictions by physician.
01/28/2010 FALL OF ROOF OR BACK ACCIDENT ONLY None Timber movement in Silver Summit Shaft. Damage or impairment is unknown at this time. Informational update for 7000-1 filed on 1/29/10. Upon further examination a major timber failure was found in th...
12/08/2008 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None A 2-yard LHD bucket was slung under the Chippy Hoist skip being hoisted up the Jewell Shaft. A guide shoe came loose causing the bucket to rotate into and tearing out 2 shaft guides causing the bucket...
08/05/2008 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None Employee was exiting 2 yd loader, slipped on mud on step, lost balance & banged right elbow on loader. Medical treatment included therapy. Employee reported injury on 8/5/08 but didn't seek medical at...
08/04/2008 FALL OF ROOF OR BACK NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The employee was installing rock bolts in the back with a jackleg drill. After collaring a hole the EE briefly looked away. When he looked back, a rock had come loose and it bounced off the machine hi...
07/25/2008 ELECTRICAL NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None Employee was working to repair a plug on an underground locomotive. He inadvertently let the positive and negative battery leads make contact. The contact created an arc which caused burns to the left...
07/11/2008 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The hoist operator of the Jewell Shaft double drum hoist was lowering three employees down the Jewell Shaft when he noticed a spike in the reading on the hoist amp guage. He immeditely stopped the hoi...
06/25/2008 MACHINERY DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 2d restricted EE was bolting the footwall area of his heading, when the slab fell into the jackleg and pushed EE against the opposite rib, causing injury to his right shoulder.
06/04/2008 HANDLING OF MATERIALS DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 5d restricted Employee was pushing a metal shipping crate loaded with supplies onto the skip in the shaft. As he pushed the crate onto the skip, the loaded supplies shifted pinching his finger (left pinky finger) b...
01/22/2008 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The employee opened a man-door leading into the shop area. After stepping through the man-door the employee had his hand resting on the door frame while he attempted to unlatch the large shop door. Th...
11/08/2007 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The employee was showering at the end of his shift and was washing his face when he felt a foreign object in his left eye. This injury did not involve any aspect of compliance with rules & regs, nor d...
10/17/2007 OTHER DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 8d restricted The employee was in the mine dry changing into his work clothes to start the shift. While trying to pull his work pants on he lifted one of his legs and pulled something in his back. After seeking med...
09/30/2007 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None A valve on a slurry discharge line was inadvertently left closed, causing a pump line to build enough pressure to leak out of one of the fittings. The EE was not wearing safety glasses as required. So...
08/22/2007 MACHINERY DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 9d restricted The employee was operating a 22B track mucker in a track drift heading. While mucking along the left side of the rail the mucking machine became unstable and tipped, briefly pinning the employee betwe...
08/15/2007 HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The employee was using a nail bar to pull a nail out of a timber, the nail bar slipped off of the head of the nail and struck the employee above the left eye.
08/08/2007 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None The Chippy hoist operator was bringing an empty skip up the shaft at normal operating speed. As he started to set the brake to slow down, the brake system fully engaged, causing the hoist to immediate...
08/01/2007 OTHER NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The employee was lifting a tarp off of some cable spools and apparently disturbed a nest of wasps. The employee got stung 3 times and began to show signs of an allergic reation so he was transported b...
07/27/2007 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The employee was taking a broken clamp off a length of pipe. His arm came in contact with the pipe as he tried to remove the clamp and a metal splinter became imbedded in his left arm.
06/22/2007 MACHINERY DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 30d restricted Miner had completed installing a 6' resin bolt. Miner was lowering the jackleg drill. The driver hung on the installed bolt and dropped as the drill was lowered. The bolt dropped and hit the miner's l...
06/20/2007 MACHINERY NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None The EE was working in the surface carpenter shop cutting wood on a table saw. The cut off piece of material began to hang up in the saw blade & the EE reached for the piece of material, resulting in o...
06/12/2007 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON DYS AWY FRM WRK & RESTRCTD ACT 23d lost, 18d restricted The EE was walking between the rails in a track drift and stepped in a hole, between two rail ties, twisted his left knee.
05/04/2007 HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) DAYS AWAY FROM WORK ONLY 34d lost Driller was moving drill to new azimuth. Had hooked cable end hook to drill, sticking hook in top of pipe on drill. When pressure was applied to cable to pull drill, the hook slipped out of pipe and s...
11/02/2006 HANDLING OF MATERIALS DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 12d restricted The employee was working on transporting some old, partially filled 8""steel pipe. In the process of offloading the pipe from a timber truck by hand he tried lifting one end by himself & strained musc...
07/07/2005 MACHINERY NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None Removing two poles which were hooked to a crane to lift poles out of the way. The first pole was sawed off. As the second pole was being sawed, the load shifted and employee was not able to get out of...
04/30/2001 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None STEPPED OFF STAIRS TO BLACKTOP AND FELT A SHARP PAIN INTO HIP AND DOWN LEG.
03/20/2001 HANDLING OF MATERIALS NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None LIFTING MATS THAT WERE LAYING ON BUNDLES OF SPLITSET BOLTS AND PULLED MUSCLE IN LEFT SHOULDER. FIRST TREATED AND RELEASED ON 4-23-01.
02/08/2001 MACHINERY DAYS RESTRICTED ACTIVITY ONLY 6d restricted DRIVING A BOLT INTO THE BACK AND A ROCK FELL AND CUT HIS ARM.
01/30/2001 SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON NO DYS AWY FRM WRK,NO RSTR ACT None WALKING IN PARKING AREA AND SLIPPED AND FELL ON ICE AND LANDED ON BACK. FIRST REPORTED 2-12-01.
01/29/2001 MACHINERY DAYS AWAY FROM WORK ONLY 1d lost DRILLING HOLE IN BACK FOR A ROCKBOLT WHEN A ROCK FELL AND STRUCK HIM ON THE HEAD.
01/09/2001 HOISTING ACCIDENT ONLY None WHILE LOWERING THE CAGERS IN SINGLE DRUM ON THE NORTH SIDE THE HOIST WAS BEING SLOWED TO STOP ON THE 3700 LEVEL WHEN THE HOIST SUDDENLY GAINED SPEED AND WENT APPROXIMATELY 80' BEFORE THE HOIST MAN COU...