Two 1,500-horsepower electric motors that run a hoist at the former Homestake gold mine were started Friday for the first time since the mine was closed in 2003, according to a news release by the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority.

"This is a big event," Greg King, director of operations for the Sanford Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory at Homestake, said.

The state Science and Technology Authority is reopening Homestake for use as an underground laboratory.

"This is going to provide us a second entrance into the mine in preparation for some of the first experiments," King said.

Hoists at the nearby Ross Shaft were started last year, and mining technicians are continuing to refurbish shafts and tunnels on that side of the mine.

The first step Friday was starting a motor generator set that converts 2,400 volts of AC power into 600 volts of DC power to run the two hoist motors.

"That's the system we tested today," King said Friday. "With minimal effort, it was put back into production mode. It was very well preserved."

Oren Loken, 23, of Lead engaged the giant clutch wheel that set the whole drive train in motion shortly after 2 p.m.

The next step will be to lower a cage - similar to an industrial elevator car - into the 5,000-foot Yates Shaft.