HUNTINGTON, Utah &#8212 Lashing out at criticism he was abandoning six trapped coal miners, the mine chief promised Wednesday to keep searching through the weekend and punch yet another hole into “this evil mountain.”

Bob Murray, the face of the rescue effort since the Aug. 6 cave-in, dropped from public view for a time after three men died trying to tunnel toward the miners, but he said he’s always been focused on finding the six – dead or alive.

“I didn’t desert anybody,” Murray, the mine’s co-owner, told The Associated Press. “I’ve been living on this mountain every day.”

Crews searching for the miners finished drilling a fifth hole into the Crandall Canyon Mine on Wednesday. Officials planned to bang on a drill bit and wait for a response, take air readings and lower a microphone and camera, but said they expect the results to be the same as before.

Murray said a sixth hole would be drilled Thursday if the latest attempt is unsuccessful. He said he might resume mining in parts of the mine, but not in the area where the miners are trapped.

Murray said there was no indication before the collapse that the mine was anything but stable.

“I have weekly reports from the mine, and they were telling me that the mining in this mine was going better in the last couple months than it ever had,” he said. “Safety first, then production. That’s all we focus on – safety.”