LANSING, N.Y. (AP) — Mining operations are getting back underway at a central New York salt mine where 17 employees got stuck 900 feet underground in a malfunctioning elevator.
Minneapolis-based Cargill says Monday the mine in Lansing has reopened and workers will spend several days inspecting equipment and performing other duties before underground mining resumes.
Mining has been halted since Jan. 7, when 17 miners starting their overnight shift got stuck on an elevator at the 900-foot level of the 2,300-foot-deep mine. It took crews using a basket lowered by a mobile crane up to 10 hours to rescue all the workers.
Company officials say a bracket on one of the lift's guide rails had broken, causing the elevator to become stuck.
The mine is the deepest salt mine in the United States.