"I asked the governor to talk to mining officials so they can continue the search, but with a new strategy and in whatever capacity possible," said Consul Salvador Jimenez.

Three of the six missing miners are Mexicans. Jimenez acknowledged that Thursday's events have changed the rescue effort significantly.

Jimenez met with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. Friday morning just before the governor spoke to the families of the trapped miners - Kerry Allred, Don Erickson, Luis Alfonso Hernandez, Brandon Phillips, Juan Carlos Payan and Manuel Sanchez - at Canyon View Junior High School.

The consul said Huntsman told him officials were "going to continue all of their efforts and would not give up," and later relayed the message to the families inside the school.

When the governor left, Jimenez spoke with some family members of miners Hernandez and Payan and said the two families appreciated the governor's words.

"They know that their miners will be brought out," he said.

But one man, 18-year-old Colby Horton, seemed less optimistic as he left the family briefing. His father is a member of the rescue crew, and although he was not injured during Thursday's cave-in, Horton has decided to stay away from mining, he said.

He had planned to follow in his father's footsteps and work in a local mine, but after Thursday, he said he will be going to college instead.

omunoz@sltrib.com