1 dead, 23 rescued after equipment malfunction at Teller County mine

TELLER COUNTY, Colo. – One person died and 23 were rescued after an elevator malfunction occurred at the Mollie Kathleen gold mine near Cripple Creek Thursday afternoon.

The mine, no longer active but open for tours, is located about a mile northeast of Cripple Creek and on the southwest face of Pikes Peak.

During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell confirmed that around noon, a mechanical problem with the elevator “caused serious damage to the passengers who were on board” about 500 feet down.

The only death occurred at that 500-foot mark, but no further details were available about what led to their deaths. Eleven people, including two children, were in the elevator at the time and were taken back up, Mikesell said. Four of them were injured in the incident and were treated by medical professionals.

Twelve people had already taken the elevator to a depth of 300 meters underground. They were brought back to the surface after an operation lasting several hours, Mikesell announced on Thursday evening.

The group was slowly and safely taken up the elevator in groups of four, with the last four people leaving the mine around 7 p.m. The sheriff said the trapped parties had no idea what was happening until they were rescued. They were simply told that there was a “problem with the elevator.”

Watch the full press conference in the video below.

The remaining 12 people were rescued from the Teller County Mine after an equipment failure

Mikesell identified the 12 people as adults from out of state. They were underground for about six hours with chairs, water and blankets. After they were brought back to safety, they were given a briefing about the incident and (at their request) pizza, the sheriff said.

The authorities are in contact with the family of the deceased. Her cause of death is under investigation, but Mikesell said it was related to the elevator malfunction and called it a “tragic accident.”

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis praised first responders for their “quick response” and said he was “relieved” that the remaining 12 people were rescued. He also expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the person killed.

“I am relieved that 12 of the people trapped in the Mollie Kathleen Mine have been safely rescued. Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the person who died in this incident. I thank Teller County and Sheriff Mikesell and his team, as well as other local and state government law enforcement agencies and first responders, for their rapid response and tireless efforts, including members of the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of homeland security and emergency management. Thanks to this collective effort, each of these people will return home safely.” Polis said in a statement.

Thursday’s equipment failure is under investigation. The sheriff’s office confirmed the mine did not collapse.

The last incident at the mine was in 1986, Mikesell said.

According to Colorado’s Tourist Mine Inspection Guidelines, tourist mines must be inspected daily. This also includes an inspection of the mine and mine transport equipment, it says. Mikesell wasn’t sure when the Mollie Kathleen gold mine was last inspected.

The state of Colorado sent an elevator expert to the scene of the accident. State and local engineers and mine safety experts also responded.

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According to the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine Tour website, the Carlton Mill closed in the 1960s, forcing the mine to stop producing gold as it had no way to process the ore. However, the mine tours were going well at the time and so the decision was made to continue welcoming the public with tours.

Revenue from the tours is used to maintain the mine and ensure it is in a “safe, operational mining condition,” the website says. Depending on the season, hour-long hiking tours are offered that take visitors about 1,000 feet (300 meters) down in an elevator, where a guide leads the group about a quarter mile. Tours are open from May to the second weekend in October.

The mine is named after Mollie Kathleen Gortner, who discovered a rocky outcrop of gold-laced quartz in the area in September 1891, according to the tour website. She was the first woman in the area to discover gold and claim it in her own name. She died in 1917 and her husband died a year later. Her son was the managing operator of the mine until his death in 1949. Mining continued there until the early 1960s, when the mine closed. However, the mining tours, which had been going well for years, continued.