NY Salt Mine Where Workers Were Rescued Still Idle

Thursday, February 4, 2016 10:31 am | < 1 Minute Read

The Ithaca Fire Department uses a crane to lift miners from the Cargill salt mine in Lansing, New York, January 7, 2016, in this handout photo provided by the Ithaca Fire Department. Some of the 17 miners trapped in an elevator shaft at an upstate New York salt mine have been rescued and crews were continuing to work early on Thursday to free the remaining miners, officials said. REUTERS/Ithaca Fire Department/Handout via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS -- FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY, AN UNPROCESSED VERSION WILL BE PROVIDED SEPARATELY — The Ithaca Fire Department uses a crane to lift miners from the Cargill salt mine in Lansing, New York, Jan. 7. (Reuters/Ithaca Fire Department/Handout via Reuters)

Mining operations remain suspended at a central New York salt mine nearly a month after 17 workers were rescued from an elevator that became stuck 900 feet underground.

Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc. says work continues on the elevator system at the mine in the Finger Lakes town of Lansing, 40 miles southwest of Syracuse.

The mine at the southern end of Cayuga Lake is the deepest salt mine in the nation, employing about 200 people. There’s no estimate on when mining will resume.

The elevator malfunctioned late on the night of Jan. 6 as the workers where descending to the mine’s 2,300-foot-deep floor to start their shift. They were trapped for up to nine hours before a crew from a crane company used a basket to haul the men to the surface.

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