U.S. Silver-Idaho, Inc.Mining Incidents in 2015

12"" to 16"" of snow. Load on powerline or tree snapped under load and fell on powerline. 52 miners underground - all on surface by 1645 hrs.

Fire occurred on Tram Motor 24 at 5200-155 Raise. Miners unplugged battery power to motor and used extinguisher into motor . Miners then exited drift for the 5200 shop. Stench was initiated and mine evacuated

High winds through Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho disrupted power. Shut down Galena hoists; miners brought out to stations and sat till power came back to hoist to surface.

Miner went into 5200 motor barn to retrieve motor to transport crews to their workplace. Take motor out miner drove by charging station and noticed arcing coming from cable connection to spare battery. Miner tried to fight with fire extinguisher.

Maintenance Supt walk thru hoist house, heard the MG set squealing, had Hoistman shut the MG set down. Investigated - electrical brushes came apart. Takes one hour to stop MG set from spinning, repaired, up and running in 10 minutes.

Pulling lead muck off 3700 #2 side load out, go to take off and hear something fall in basement limit arm popped off left brake side. Electricians in to fix, reset limits and back running at 0230. Crews up at 0230.

No. 3 Hoist Hoistman was pulling muck off 5200 pocket on #2 side with lead. Hoistman pushed zoom button too late; No.2 side went into track limits. No. 2 would not come out. Motorman climber up and reset track limits.

3200 Chippy Hoist low voltage - Mode Break Switch tripped, Hoistman tried to reset, electricians were called, reset and reboot computer up and running at 1246 hrs.

Coeur hoist grid room, electrical grid overheated and welded contacts together shutting down the south shaft of Coeur Hoist.

3200 Chippy Hoistman running the hoist to check limits, hoist tripped out at 0620 hrs. Hoistman tried to reset, could not, electrician sent underground to reset, reset at 0710 hrs., May 26, 2015.

Hoist man was running Galena hoist up shaft - east side. The west side was clutched out and parked topside. A clutch shoe came loose and got wedged in west clutch causing the spider to crack

Hoist man was pulling muck off 52-pocket; #1 side reached 4300 and #2 side was at 1200. Hoist shut down - tried to reset-all attempts failed. Computer was locked up. Programmer in Canada reset on-line. Programmer investigating fault.

Galena hoist man called the hoist would not reset. He pushed the E-stop button, left the hoist cab to use the restroom. When he got back he hit the reset and nothing happened. The electricians arrived and check breakers and fuses. Found 2 fuses on the control power box blown. No reason why they blown but replaced fuses and hoist fired back up.

Transformer fire started at the Avista electrical substation in Osburn, ID all power out at the Galena mine. 49 miners were notified at 0130 hrs. to move to level stations. Coeur Hoist was manned by a hoistman. Power was diverted by Avista to the Galena #3 Hoist at 0355 hrs. All miners on surface by 0510 hrs. Day shift has been cancelled partial power in place by Avista.

Miner cleaning drift of muck with track mucker, mucker came off track pin miner up against slusher deck.

Miner stepped off muck pile and knee gave out and buckled underneath him. In for MRI Oct 13, 2015; surgery on October 22, 2015

Taking down sand line on 5200-058, the pipe shot back behind employee's head causing shoulder to dislocate.

Miner bolting up raise round, move machine, slipped twisting right knee. Injured on July 20, 2015 - surgery on September 23, 2015

Pulling rods out of drill hole to change tubes, turned to stack the rod, felt back ""instantly "" hurt

Miner was performing pre-shift inspection on mucker. The mechanic closed the hood. The hood fell and struck the miner on his right hand.

Miner was barring down on left rib when a rock 18"" x 5"" came out, bounced off 6"" air line and struck miner on top of right foot.

Turning loose hose roller for Alimak on timber truck, it caught part on other timber truck - felt pain in right shoulder. Went to doctor on May 27th, waiting to schedule MRI for shoulder

EE climbing up step ladder; left foot got caught up between rung and hinge on ladder - EE lost balance and fell to the floor landing on right shoulder and compressed left knee.

Pulling machine out of ratty hole, felt something pull in left shoulder. EE continued to work till Feb 16, 2015. Went to clinic and was put on restricted duty - doing physical therapy.

Employee lifting slusher drum onto shaft about waist high, felt sharp pain in back

EE was in dry at end of shift after shower and changing into street clothes; bending over felt his left knee pop. Was seen that evening, released to duty. Was seen again on January 12 - put on restricted duty awaiting an MRI.

Working on 4900 Ramp, during shift got something in left eye

Miner load powder to blast round. A slab was on collar pipe couldn't load hole without moving slab. Moved slab and broke free, sharp end cut through glove and cut right palm.

Miner bar down loose material during work place exam. Loose material came out of back, bounced off vent bag, hit miner in mouth.

Clearing grizzly of muck, swung double jack - rock broke, chunk came up hitting miner in mouth breaking upper incisor tooth

In 3000 Level Grizzly, using double jack to break rocks, piece of rock flew up and broke front tooth.

Lowering cage deck after repairing; deck fell pinching right back arm between deck and cage structure. Replacing shoes on cages at Coeur Mine.

In 3000-079, hit large rock with smaller rock on top; smaller rock came back after being hit with double jack hitting miner in right eye. Miner was wearing safety glasses at time of accident.

While cutting up wood, trigger on pneumatic chainsaw stuck. Chainsaw kicked back on wood, bar struck back of left hand

Load round w/pressure prill pot, turned pot on - hose blew out peppering face with prill

Miner diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, had surgery on Friday, April 8, 2016. Lost time as of Monday April 11, 2016

Electrician had carpal tunnel surgery on June 3, 2015. Other wrist was done Monday, October 19, 2015.

Working on 3000 station with non-powered hand tools, EE felt severe numbness and tingling both hands and fingers. Was diagnosed w/carpal tunnel syndrome and surgery was performed Wednesday, June 3, 2015.