AI
Friday, July 27, 2012 6:49:16 PM
Its nice to ride with USSIF winner - often in higher demand 
It may would be some concern from USSIF mine workers
ex. to go to
Lucky Friday if needed? -
Ex....
btw. a past N/R -
Feds say mine not inspected as ordered
Lucky Friday was supposed to be checked twice daily
by Becky Kramer The Spokesman-Review
March 13, 2012 in Idaho
Tags:Hecla Mining Lucky Friday Mine / mine safety -
Mine Safety and Health Administration mining accidents
After a violent rock burst at the Lucky Friday Mine on Nov. 16,
federal inspectors ordered mine managers to conduct twice-daily
monitoring to check if stress was building up in the rocks.
The rock burst had registered as a 2.8-magnitude quake on
seismographs.
No one was in the mine when it occurred, but residents as far
away as Wallace reported feeling the earth rumble.
On Dec. 14, mine managers failed to conduct the second daily
reading, according to documents from
the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Another rock burst occurred that evening, injuring seven miners,
one of whose pelvis was broken in the accident.
“The company disregarded the safety of the miners by failing to
do the required testing,” a federal inspector wrote in his
report.
The report was part of 300-plus pages of inspection documents
obtained by The Spokesman-Review through a Freedom of
Information Act request.
The underground silver mine in Mullan, Idaho,
is owned by Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining Co.
Hecla is appealing the inspector’s conclusion and a company
spokeswoman declined to comment.
According to documents, mine superintendent Jeff Jordan told
inspectors that he didn’t think rock-stress readings could be
taken because workers were installing a steel liner over stress
gauges in that area.
But the gauges contained extended wires so they could be read
during the installation of the liner, which was intended to
contain unstable rock, the documents said.
Conditions in the Lucky Friday’s main shaft are also described
in the inspection reports, along with other safety hazards
flagged by inspectors.
The reports offer more details about the December inspection
that led to a year long shutdown of the Lucky Friday during
a period of record silver prices.
On Jan. 6, federal inspectors closed the primary shaft,
citing safety concerns.
Hecla officials expect the mine to reopen in early 2013,
after repairs are made to the shaft, which carries workers and
ore into and out of the mine.
Among the findings:
• Inspectors said loose concrete deposits in the mile-deep shaft
were a hazard, with the potential to fall and injure or kill
workers traveling in the shaft.
The deposits were the result of leaking pipes that carry sand
and cement into the mine.
Some concrete chunks were as large as 2 feet by 3 feet.
Inspectors also raised concerns about 400 feet of pipe in the
shaft that wasn’t properly secured.
The weekly shaft inspections done by Hecla employees were
inadequate, federal inspectors said.
The Lucky Friday didn’t have systematic procedures for testing
or inspecting the shaft or keeping up with shaft maintenance,
the reports said.
• Several work areas didn’t have a secondary
escape route.
Inspectors said miners could be trapped underground if their
only escape route was blocked by falling rock.
• Inspectors cited numerous areas where mesh fencing to contain
unstable rock had holes torn in it. The Lucky Friday was cited
more than 40 times for the same problem in the past two years,
the reports said.
• In one area, inspectors snapped pictures of a port-a-potty
located directly underneath an overhead chute.
• About 70 pages of inspection documents were withheld because
they’re related to an ongoing investigation of last summer’s
arson fires at the mine.
Hecla plans to spend $50 million on capital projects at
the Lucky Friday over the next year, including $30 million
for shaft repairs and upgrades.
The company’s goal is to surpass the federal safety requirements and
operate as safely and efficiently as possible,
Hecla spokeswoman Melanie Hennessey
said in an interview last week.
Since a fatal accident at the mine last April,
Hecla has added geotechnical engineering staff at both
the Lucky Friday Mine and the Greenscreek Mine in Alaska,
she said.
Hecla approached U.S. Silver with its own merger offer Monday
morning.
When the two companies failed to reach an agreement,
Hecla issued a news release offering to buy up
U.S. Silver’s stock from its shareholders for
$1.80 per share in Canadian dollars.
It’s a $fiat 666 cash offer,
compared to the merger offer, in which
U.S. Silver’s shareholders would acquire 70 percent of the
stock in a new company, U.S. Silver & Gold.
Hecla’s aggressive bid to acquire U.S. Silver’s assets
doesn’t surprise Bennett.
With silver trading at $27 per ounce, there’s a renewed
excitement about mining properties in the Silver Valley,
he said.
“Hecla has a (relatively) new president,” Bennett said.
“Because of metals prices, they’ve been very successful
over the past few years in spite of
having to close the Lucky Friday for a year.
They’ve got good cash reserves … And they’ve been
very aggressive in exploration.”
Hecla expects to reopen the Lucky Friday Mine in early 2013.
The underground silver mine closed in January following
a federal inspection that uncovered maintenance problems
in the primary shaft used to transport workers and ore.
The inspection was part of a special review triggered by
two unrelated fatal accidents at the Lucky Friday last year.
When the Lucky Friday reopens, Hecla will restart work on a
$200 million project to deepen the mine and go after richer
ore.
The company is also evaluating the possibility of reopening
the historic Star Mine.
U.S. Silver, meanwhile, had hoped to use the merger with
RX Gold to strengthen its balance sheet and management team.
U.S. Silver has 345 employees in the Silver Valley.
In addition to the Galena Mine, it owns the closed
Coeur Mine, which company officials said will reopen
by the end of the year.
Sprott mum after Hecla offers cash for U.S. Silver in hostile
bid
Key questions remain unanswered as Hecla vies for
U.S. Silver, which had planned to consummate a
Sprott-blessed merger with RX Gold & Silver.
Author: Kip Keen
Posted: Friday , 27 Jul 2012
HALIFAX, NS (MINEWEB) -
The head of Sprott Asset Management, Eric Sprott,
was keeping his cards close to his chest after
Hecla Mining made a hostile C$111-million cash offer to buy
U.S. Silver that would derail a
Sprott-backed plan to merge
U.S. Silver with RX Gold & Silver.
Sprott is a key shareholder of both
U.S. Silver and
RX Gold & Silver,
holding 14 percent and 8 percent of each company respectively,
and now with the Hecla bid, as reported by Dorothy Kosich
early on Thursday, it faces an interesting dilemma.
Does it support a premium bid for U.S. Silver, but in so doing
give up on the RX Gold & Silver merger, a combination in which
it would be a top shareholder, or does it stick with the
merger, arguing as it did last month that the combo would
unlock shareholder value?
So far there is no official indication as to what
Sprott will decide.
A spokesperson for Mr. Sprott said on Thursday
he had no comment on the Hecla bid.
Likewise, Hecla was mum on additional details about the making
of its bid for U.S. Silver.
Hecla's Jim Sabala, senior vice president and chief financial
officer, said he would not comment on the background to the
offer beyond what had been laid out in a press release
Wednesday.
In the press release Hecla described approaching
U.S. Silver's board of directors on Monday July 23 with
the proposed takeover, expressing a "strong desire" to make
a deal, but that no agreement could be reached "on how best
to proceed on a timely basis."
An interesting question remains unanswered:
Did Hecla approach Sprott for support on the takeover proposal?
One way or the other, Sabala would not say.
On Thursday
U.S. Silver responded to the Hecla offer publicly, saying in
a press release its board of directors would review the
takeover bid.
It did not, however, go into any detail about the discussion
Hecla said it had with its board of directors.
A U.S. Silver spokesperson had not confirmed as of presstime
that the meeting had taken place.
Was the amount of cash on offer a sticking point?
Hecla's Sabala would not comment.
Meanwhile, there is nothing all that onerous keeping either
U.S. Silver or Sprott from changing their tunes.
If U.S. Silver did choose to dump the RX Gold & Silver merger
in favour of the Hecla bid, it would have to pay a termination
fee, which, according to a U.S. Silver proxy circular, would be
either $4 million or 3 percent of the implied value of any
superior offer.
And while Sprott has entered a lockup agreement with
U.S. Silver as regards the RX Gold & Silver merger, according
to terms set out in the same July 9 circular,
Sprott appears free to change its mind in the case where
a superior bid comes into play.
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page32?oid=155906&sn=Detail&pid=102055
management performance often repeat itself -
its nice to ride with winner -
often in high demand
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=77937090
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=77949346
THE SILVER BOMB Collapse is Happening NOW $500+ Silver IS Coming Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7HyMWBwD68
THE SILVER BOMB: An Opportunity That Will Never Happen Again -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZg6xm2yIiE
Exclusive Interview with Eric Sprott Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugT72XcEo20
Eric Sprott Question and Answer Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFLF8bUZc18
God Bless
It may would be some concern from USSIF mine workers
ex. to go to
Lucky Friday if needed? -
Ex....
btw. a past N/R -
Feds say mine not inspected as ordered
Lucky Friday was supposed to be checked twice daily
by Becky Kramer The Spokesman-Review
March 13, 2012 in Idaho
Tags:Hecla Mining Lucky Friday Mine / mine safety -
Mine Safety and Health Administration mining accidents
After a violent rock burst at the Lucky Friday Mine on Nov. 16,
federal inspectors ordered mine managers to conduct twice-daily
monitoring to check if stress was building up in the rocks.
The rock burst had registered as a 2.8-magnitude quake on
seismographs.
No one was in the mine when it occurred, but residents as far
away as Wallace reported feeling the earth rumble.
On Dec. 14, mine managers failed to conduct the second daily
reading, according to documents from
the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Another rock burst occurred that evening, injuring seven miners,
one of whose pelvis was broken in the accident.
“The company disregarded the safety of the miners by failing to
do the required testing,” a federal inspector wrote in his
report.
The report was part of 300-plus pages of inspection documents
obtained by The Spokesman-Review through a Freedom of
Information Act request.
The underground silver mine in Mullan, Idaho,
is owned by Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla Mining Co.
Hecla is appealing the inspector’s conclusion and a company
spokeswoman declined to comment.
According to documents, mine superintendent Jeff Jordan told
inspectors that he didn’t think rock-stress readings could be
taken because workers were installing a steel liner over stress
gauges in that area.
But the gauges contained extended wires so they could be read
during the installation of the liner, which was intended to
contain unstable rock, the documents said.
Conditions in the Lucky Friday’s main shaft are also described
in the inspection reports, along with other safety hazards
flagged by inspectors.
The reports offer more details about the December inspection
that led to a year long shutdown of the Lucky Friday during
a period of record silver prices.
On Jan. 6, federal inspectors closed the primary shaft,
citing safety concerns.
Hecla officials expect the mine to reopen in early 2013,
after repairs are made to the shaft, which carries workers and
ore into and out of the mine.
Among the findings:
• Inspectors said loose concrete deposits in the mile-deep shaft
were a hazard, with the potential to fall and injure or kill
workers traveling in the shaft.
The deposits were the result of leaking pipes that carry sand
and cement into the mine.
Some concrete chunks were as large as 2 feet by 3 feet.
Inspectors also raised concerns about 400 feet of pipe in the
shaft that wasn’t properly secured.
The weekly shaft inspections done by Hecla employees were
inadequate, federal inspectors said.
The Lucky Friday didn’t have systematic procedures for testing
or inspecting the shaft or keeping up with shaft maintenance,
the reports said.
• Several work areas didn’t have a secondary
escape route.
Inspectors said miners could be trapped underground if their
only escape route was blocked by falling rock.
• Inspectors cited numerous areas where mesh fencing to contain
unstable rock had holes torn in it. The Lucky Friday was cited
more than 40 times for the same problem in the past two years,
the reports said.
• In one area, inspectors snapped pictures of a port-a-potty
located directly underneath an overhead chute.
• About 70 pages of inspection documents were withheld because
they’re related to an ongoing investigation of last summer’s
arson fires at the mine.
Hecla plans to spend $50 million on capital projects at
the Lucky Friday over the next year, including $30 million
for shaft repairs and upgrades.
The company’s goal is to surpass the federal safety requirements and
operate as safely and efficiently as possible,
Hecla spokeswoman Melanie Hennessey
said in an interview last week.
Since a fatal accident at the mine last April,
Hecla has added geotechnical engineering staff at both
the Lucky Friday Mine and the Greenscreek Mine in Alaska,
she said.
Hecla approached U.S. Silver with its own merger offer Monday
morning.
When the two companies failed to reach an agreement,
Hecla issued a news release offering to buy up
U.S. Silver’s stock from its shareholders for
$1.80 per share in Canadian dollars.
It’s a $fiat 666 cash offer,
compared to the merger offer, in which
U.S. Silver’s shareholders would acquire 70 percent of the
stock in a new company, U.S. Silver & Gold.
Hecla’s aggressive bid to acquire U.S. Silver’s assets
doesn’t surprise Bennett.
With silver trading at $27 per ounce, there’s a renewed
excitement about mining properties in the Silver Valley,
he said.
“Hecla has a (relatively) new president,” Bennett said.
“Because of metals prices, they’ve been very successful
over the past few years in spite of
having to close the Lucky Friday for a year.
They’ve got good cash reserves … And they’ve been
very aggressive in exploration.”
Hecla expects to reopen the Lucky Friday Mine in early 2013.
The underground silver mine closed in January following
a federal inspection that uncovered maintenance problems
in the primary shaft used to transport workers and ore.
The inspection was part of a special review triggered by
two unrelated fatal accidents at the Lucky Friday last year.
When the Lucky Friday reopens, Hecla will restart work on a
$200 million project to deepen the mine and go after richer
ore.
The company is also evaluating the possibility of reopening
the historic Star Mine.
U.S. Silver, meanwhile, had hoped to use the merger with
RX Gold to strengthen its balance sheet and management team.
U.S. Silver has 345 employees in the Silver Valley.
In addition to the Galena Mine, it owns the closed
Coeur Mine, which company officials said will reopen
by the end of the year.
Sprott mum after Hecla offers cash for U.S. Silver in hostile
bid
Key questions remain unanswered as Hecla vies for
U.S. Silver, which had planned to consummate a
Sprott-blessed merger with RX Gold & Silver.
Author: Kip Keen
Posted: Friday , 27 Jul 2012
HALIFAX, NS (MINEWEB) -
The head of Sprott Asset Management, Eric Sprott,
was keeping his cards close to his chest after
Hecla Mining made a hostile C$111-million cash offer to buy
U.S. Silver that would derail a
Sprott-backed plan to merge
U.S. Silver with RX Gold & Silver.
Sprott is a key shareholder of both
U.S. Silver and
RX Gold & Silver,
holding 14 percent and 8 percent of each company respectively,
and now with the Hecla bid, as reported by Dorothy Kosich
early on Thursday, it faces an interesting dilemma.
Does it support a premium bid for U.S. Silver, but in so doing
give up on the RX Gold & Silver merger, a combination in which
it would be a top shareholder, or does it stick with the
merger, arguing as it did last month that the combo would
unlock shareholder value?
So far there is no official indication as to what
Sprott will decide.
A spokesperson for Mr. Sprott said on Thursday
he had no comment on the Hecla bid.
Likewise, Hecla was mum on additional details about the making
of its bid for U.S. Silver.
Hecla's Jim Sabala, senior vice president and chief financial
officer, said he would not comment on the background to the
offer beyond what had been laid out in a press release
Wednesday.
In the press release Hecla described approaching
U.S. Silver's board of directors on Monday July 23 with
the proposed takeover, expressing a "strong desire" to make
a deal, but that no agreement could be reached "on how best
to proceed on a timely basis."
An interesting question remains unanswered:
Did Hecla approach Sprott for support on the takeover proposal?
One way or the other, Sabala would not say.
On Thursday
U.S. Silver responded to the Hecla offer publicly, saying in
a press release its board of directors would review the
takeover bid.
It did not, however, go into any detail about the discussion
Hecla said it had with its board of directors.
A U.S. Silver spokesperson had not confirmed as of presstime
that the meeting had taken place.
Was the amount of cash on offer a sticking point?
Hecla's Sabala would not comment.
Meanwhile, there is nothing all that onerous keeping either
U.S. Silver or Sprott from changing their tunes.
If U.S. Silver did choose to dump the RX Gold & Silver merger
in favour of the Hecla bid, it would have to pay a termination
fee, which, according to a U.S. Silver proxy circular, would be
either $4 million or 3 percent of the implied value of any
superior offer.
And while Sprott has entered a lockup agreement with
U.S. Silver as regards the RX Gold & Silver merger, according
to terms set out in the same July 9 circular,
Sprott appears free to change its mind in the case where
a superior bid comes into play.
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page32?oid=155906&sn=Detail&pid=102055
management performance often repeat itself -
its nice to ride with winner -
often in high demand
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=77937090
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=77949346
THE SILVER BOMB Collapse is Happening NOW $500+ Silver IS Coming Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7HyMWBwD68
THE SILVER BOMB: An Opportunity That Will Never Happen Again -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZg6xm2yIiE
Exclusive Interview with Eric Sprott Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugT72XcEo20
Eric Sprott Question and Answer Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFLF8bUZc18
God Bless
My opinions are my own and and DD I post should be confirmed as unbiased
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