Rescue crews were trying to reach a miner believed trapped inside an underground silver and copper mine after a rock fall Monday, a company official said.
The fall occurred about 10 a.m., said Doug Ward, a spokesman for Revett Silver Co., of Spokane, Wash., which owns two-thirds of the mine.
“We believe one individual may be trapped,” said Scott Brunsdon, chief financial officer for Revett. “As of now that’s all we know.”
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has sent a team to help the mine’s crew, said Deanne Amaden, a spokeswoman for the federal agency in San Francisco.
The agency has been told a miner driving a truck or other piece of machinery may be trapped, Amaden said. “We’re not sure if he is alive,” she said.
Mine officials would not say why they believe a miner is trapped, or who the miner is. The mine has been shut down during the search, officials said.
Troy is in the northwestern corner of Montana.