MULLAN - Since April, the Lucky Friday silver mine has had an unfortunate stretch, with three serious accidents, two deaths and one broken pelvis.

For an outside observer, it's easy to jump to the conclusion that something is wrong and operators of the mine need to make changes.

Not so, say those in the Silver Valley who have themselves spent time underground to make a living and those who know others who do. They say the accidents are a reminder that going deep after metals is inherently dangerous work.

While dangerous, they say mining is safer than it's ever been.

Death and injury are part of the price that's paid to reach the valuable metals. And the jobs created by mining at Lucky Friday pay too well to quit.

Are the good pay and benefits worth the risks?

Absolutely, they say.

Lucky Friday's operator, Coeur d'Alene-based Hecla Mining Co., will be the first to herald the mine's 25-year streak without a fatality before 53-year-old miner Larry "Pete" Marek was killed in April. A 26-year-old man died last month at the mine. In a third separate incident, seven miners were injured in a rock burst on Dec. 14, though all are expected to fully recover.

"It's still not acceptable to have this number of accidents," Melanie Hennessey, a Hecla spokeswoman, said Thursday. "We're going to do everything we can to get back to our safety record."

Earlier this month, Hecla's president and chief executive officer, Phil Baker, said in a press release, "This has been a gut-wrenching time for our company and for our communities," which includes towns like Mullan, Wallace, Osburn, Kellogg and others in the Silver Valley.

Hennessey said, "This really has been a challenging year. It's touching how that community came together through this."

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration issued an order closing Lucky Friday right after the last incident. Hecla hopes that order is lifted completely, or in part, to allow for the development of a new haulage way to bypass the rock burst that injured the seven miners. It won't repair the rock burst area.

The 750-foot bypass will be driven through more stable ground, where there is not as much pressure on the rock, so it will be less prone to rock bursts, Hennessey said.

At the time of the rock burst, Lucky Friday crews were installing a steel structure to contain rock bursts.

If MSHA lifts its closure order within the next couple weeks, Hecla could complete the bypass by the end of February and production could resume.

Last Monday, a large meeting room inside the historic Morning Club in downtown Mullan was packed with miners who just wanted to get back to work. They expressed concerns about safety, but mostly their questions to management were focused on when they could get back underground.

Troy Lambert, of the Wallace District Mining Museum, said, "Mining, unfortunately, is a dangerous game."

Any minute, Mother Nature might decide to make an underground correction in the form of a seismic event, like the one that likely triggered the rock burst this month 5,900 feet below the surface, Lambert said.

The deeper the miners dig, the more dangerous the work gets, he said.

Long before becoming an eye doctor and the mayor of Wallace, Dick Vester made his money underground.

"It's a dangerous profession," Vester said. "We can never lose sight of that."

Having said that, he added, "Mining is much, much safer today than it used to be."

Vester, who has a brother-in-law who works at Lucky Friday now, said he believes Hecla is sincere in its safety claims.

As an eye doctor, he's treated a number of injured miners, many of them having gotten foreign objects lodged in their eyes. He said Hecla has always told him to make sure the miners get all the medical care they need, and ensure the injuries are fully treated for before pushing to get the miners back to work.

Speaking for city officials, Vester said, "We're all confident that the company will do whatever it takes" to ensure safety before production at Lucky Friday continues.

Vester said, "I'm confident that things are in the right hands."

Big paydays

Hennessey, of Hecla, said miners can make up to $175,000 annually in the Silver Valley.

She said the area can attract highly experienced miners because of its natural beauty.

Just under 140 people are working at Lucky Friday currently for Hecla, out of a total of more than 260 staff and hourly employees at the mine at the time of the last accident, Hennessey said. Those numbers don't include workers employed by contractors working at the mine.

Vester said Lucky Friday might not be the top employer by numbers of people, but it is the top employer when it comes to wages and benefits.

"Everybody felt like the safest spot and most steady work was Lucky Friday," the mayor said.

Unemployment has been hovering between 13 percent and 15 percent for the last several years in Shoshone County, in which the Silver Valley sits, making good-paying jobs like those at Lucky Friday so important to the county's economy, according to county officials.

Alivia Body, regional economist for the Idaho Department of Labor, said the preliminary unemployment rate last month was 13 percent. The November rate was 12.3 in 2008, 14.2 in 2009, and 15.3 in 2010.

Body said the average wage for people employed in the mining industry in Shoshone County is $74,429. That compares with $30,025 for non-mining industries in the county.

"That's one of the mines that's worked, during both ups and downs in mining," said Jon Cantamessa, Shoshone County commissioner. "They were good employers all the way through."

A stoppage of production isn't likely to hurt miners much. Some might just spend the time snowboarding or skiing.

If there is an extended stoppage at Lucky Friday, Lambert said, "Most of them are used to the cyclic nature of mining."

The miners know the work will resume, Lambert said - it's just a matter of when.

"There's always going to be demand for it," Lambert said.

The miners who can't get back to work in Mullan because of the closure order following the last accident likely will file for unemployment and wait for production to resume, he said. Lambert has three neighbors who work underground at Lucky Friday.

Lambert said a miner isn't going to find another job in the county, outside mining, where they can often times make six figures.

John Hull, a manager at Northwest Mine Supply in Wallace, said he doesn't foresee a two-month shutdown of production at Lucky Friday hurting sales for the business, which sells to operators of mines worldwide.

Miners who need work while the closure order is in place at Lucky Friday will find plenty of it, Hull said.

"Recruiters are coming into town all the time looking" for experienced miners, Hull said.

"Everybody's looking" for help, Hull said.

He said "a good chunk" of any group of miners who lose their job at Lucky Friday will be absorbed by mines within four or five hours of Mullan and Wallace.

"Many of these guys tramp out all the time," he said.

If the closure order by MSHA remains in place beyond a couple of weeks, production could be delayed beyond the end of February. Opinions of city leaders and business owners are varied on what impact that would have on the local economy. Some say just the miners would be hurt, but some also believe it could hurt the businesses that offer goods and services that miners depend on.

Safety steps eyed

Hull said Northwest Mine Supply sells a lot of safety equipment to Hecla.

For starters, he said, each miner underground is packing a minimum of $500 worth of equipment.

"They buy a huge amount of safety gear," Hull said. "They (Hecla) take every precaution they can."

Injury and death "are always in the realm of possibility," he said. "It's been a terrible run for Lucky Friday."

Hennessey said during the next two months, Hecla will be providing additional safety training and reviewing safety procedures.

Miners have asked to sit at the table with Hecla management when those safety discussions and reviews of procedures and practices are conducted. They also want to be in on any decisions that are made.

Privately, miners have said a wall too often exists between management and themselves that has led to breakdowns in communication about safety concerns and procedures.

Hennessey said it's too early to say how much underground miners will be included in the process of reviewing and potentially adopting new safety plans and procedures.

Hecla will be hiring a safety person at the corporate level, she said. That person will work with safety groups at the site level, she said.

The decision to hire that individual is in part a reaction to the accidents this year.

"The company's top priority is the safety of our workforce," she said. "We won't put profits in front of safety."

Hennessey said Lucky Friday has had an "extraordinary" record of safety.

Also, Lucky Friday has "had a long mine life of 70 years of production," she said. "Most mining companies don't last that long."

Hennessey said Hecla is working to gain more knowledge about ground conditions at Lucky Friday.

The company will be hiring an in-house geo-technician to work with outside experts on ground conditions.

She said it's too early to know when the person will be hired and begin work.

"We felt it would be a better approach to have someone internal" studying the ground conditions, she said. As the company goes deeper at Lucky Friday, it's important to hire those additional experts to ensure safety, she added.

Lambert, of the mining museum, said even with the three accidents this year, "It's not a bad track record at all," considering the previous 25 years.

He added, "I think Hecla is doing everything it can for safety. You can't have a supervisor with each guy underground."

Mining is the heritage of these Silver Valley towns, and there is no chance of residents forgetting it or divorcing themselves from it. People decorate their yards and homes with old mining equipment, and businesses often have mining themes. Miner's Hat Realty, in Kellogg, just off Interstate 90, is one example. The building it operates in is shaped like a miner's hat, headlamp and all.

Suspicion and dislike are common when it comes to MSHA, "the feds," and "the media." Residents here believe those entities are doing what they can to get in the way of locals making a good, honest living mining in a rural and politically conservative part of the country they love.

Hull, of Northwest Mine Supply, said, "MSHA is really good at telling them (mine operators) what to do after the fact."

There's a sign on the door of Coyote Cafe in Mullan that serves notice to the media: "Please, no reporters," it reads.

According to Hecla, since 1942, Lucky Friday has produced 145 million ounces of silver.

Hecla is proud of its place: It has painted the words "Out of the Earth Into Our Lives" on white minecarts that sit in front of Lucky Friday.