Washington state man dies while exploring abandoned mine on Prince of Wales

A Washington state man died while exploring an abandoned mine on Prince of Wales Island last week, leading to an extended recovery effort.

Fifty-year-old Devin Albert was visiting his cousin in Klawock for the New Year’s holiday, and ventured out with a few other locals on Thursday, Jan. 2 to go rock hunting in the Salt Chuck Mine near Thorne Bay. The mine historically produced gold, silver, copper, and palladium from 1905 to 1941 and has since been designated as an EPA Superfund site.

While deep within one of the mine shafts, Albert suffered a medical emergency, which those with him believed was a heart attack. Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Rob Jensen said the man was having difficulty breathing, so the others in the group tried to assist him out of the mine.

“One particular area was a very steep climb,” Jensen said. “They were on their way out. The individual wasn’t really communicating verbally. They were assisting him along and shortly thereafter, he collapsed.”

Jensen said the group then attempted CPR on Albert for more than 30 minutes, but were unable to resuscitate him. He was presumed dead at that point, as he did not have a pulse and was not breathing. The rest of the group climbed out of the mine, but they weren’t able to carry Albert’s body with them.

By the time Troopers and Village Public Safety Officers arrived on the scene, it was dark and beginning to snow. Jensen said the entry point to the mine site looks like a 400-foot volcano, with a rope leading down from the rim to the mine shafts below.

“In order to go down in there and out, you need both arms, both legs to be working great,” Jensen said. “And be able to kind of hand-over-fist this rope coming out. It’s extremely sketchy, getting in and out of during daylight. Doing it at night time was a suicide mission.”

Troopers decided not to attempt a recovery that night but remained on scene and activated the Ketchikan Volunteer Search and Rescue Squad. Throughout Friday and Saturday teams descended into the mine using a helicopter, ropes and other equipment, but were unable to locate the body. On Sunday, Jan. 5, rescuers tried an alternate shaft entrance near the beach that extended nearly a mile into the depths of the mine, and they were able to locate and recover Albert’s body.

Jensen said there’s no foul play suspected, and that officials anticipate an underlying health issue to be at fault. But he said navigating the mine site is extremely stressful.

“I must emphasize that going in and out of there without the proper gear, training, you know, if somebody does get injured, you are looking at a very protracted time in order to get out of there,” Jensen said.

The body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Anchorage to determine the official cause of death.