Records show tourists got trapped at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine 30 years ago

TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - 23 people in total had to be rescued from the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Teller County on Oct. 10. 12 of those people were stuck 1,000 feet underground on a tour and 11 were in the elevator when it experienced a mechanical failure.

46-year-old Patrick Weier died in the incident.

Records show that this isn't the first time people have been trapped at the Mollie Kathleen. Two separate elevator failures trapped a total of 63 people in 1994 at 1,000 feet below the earth's surface.

A newspaper clipping from 1994 in The Gazette Telegraph detailed an incident in July, where fifty tourists were trapped for four hours after an equipment failure. 

The article says just a month later, 13 tourists would be trapped for the same reason for 12 and a half hours.

In both cases, the metal pulley on the elevator broke.  It is not confirmed that this is what happened in the Oct. 10, 2024 incident.

KRDO13 Investigates found that state regulation mandates that elevators in tourist mines have to be inspected every single day and those inspection logs are kept at the mine itself. KRDO13 has requested the logs of those daily gear checks.

State records show that the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine does not have any federal workplace violations. 

This also appears to be the first time a worker at the tourist attraction has been hurt. KRDO13 Investigates checked workplace safety occupational safety and health administration records. It doesn't appear federal inspectors have ever investigated the mine for workplace safety violations or other related issues.