Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Supreme Court Hears West Virginia Mine Widows’ Plea
Oct 19 2012 // Federal inspectors must share the blame — and therefore face a lawsuit — for a 2006 West Virginia coal mine fire that killed two miners, a lawyer for their widows argued at the state Supreme Court on Wednesday. Lawyer...
Risk Of Lawsuits Preventing Abandoned Mine Cleanup In Colorado
Sep 11 2012 // Colorado mining authorities have dug through a mountainside and reopened the dark granite shaft of an abandoned mine that turned deadly, trying to find options for dealing with one of the West’s worst environmental...
West Virginia Widows Press Case for Mine Inspectors’ Liability
Aug 21 2012 // The widows of two West Virginia coal miners killed in a 2006 fire want the state Supreme Court to rule that private and federal mine safety inspectors can be held legally liable when workers die as a result of their...
West Virginia to Decide Mine Inspectors’ Liability
Aug 6 2012 // The West Virginia Supreme Court has set a Oct. 17 date to consider whether Mine Safety and Health Administration inspectors can be held liable for coal miners’ deaths. A federal appeals court in Richmond last month...
West Virginia Mine Regulators Slow on Inspections, Permits
Jul 27 2012 // West Virginia mine regulators have failed to meet internal goals for timely inspections and permits, a legislative audit concluded, but agency officials disagree with the auditors over why. The report released this week to...
West Virginia Court to Hear Mine Inspectors’ Liability Case in October
Jul 25 2012 // The West Virginia Supreme Court has set an October argument date to consider the issue of whether Mine Safety and Health Administration inspectors can be held liable for coal miners’ deaths. A federal appeals court...
Mining Deaths Down in First Half of 2012
Jul 23 2012 // Nineteen mining deaths occurred during the first six months of the year, the second-lowest midyear toll ever recorded, federal regulators said. Fourteen miners died during the same period last year. The Mine Safety and...
West Virginia High Court to Decide Mine Inspectors’ Liability for Deaths
Jul 19 2012 // A federal appeals court said this week that the state Supreme Court should decide whether Mine Safety and Health Administration inspectors can be held liable for coal miners’ deaths, calling it “a matter of...
State’s Safety Inspections at Kentucky’s Harlan Mine Found Lax
Jul 17 2012 // A published report says Kentucky’s state investigators found few problems at a Harlan County mine where federal investigators found enough violations during a surprise safety blitz in May to shut the facility down...
Black Lung Protections for Miners Failing; Cases Continue to Rise
Jul 11 2012 // Black lung diagnoses have doubled in the last decade, and a new investigation blames a combination of factors, including operators who cheat the system and lax enforcement by regulators. Experts have warned of the...
West Virginia Mine Sealed
Jul 2 2012 // Alpha Natural Resources has completed sealing the West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers in 2010. Alpha spokesman Ted Pile told The Register-Herald that the seals are covered with fill dirt. The mine...
Alpha Seals West Virginia Mine Where 2010 Blast Killed 29
Jun 22 2012 // Alpha Natural Resources has completed sealing the West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers in 2010. Alpha spokesman Ted Pile told The Register-Herald that crews put the final concrete seal in place at the...
Kentucky Governor Promoting New Drug Law for Miners
Jun 21 2012 // Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is promoting a newly passed law that permanently revokes the credentials of miners who fail drug tests. Beshear was in Pikeville on Tuesday where he said the law sends a clear message that drug...
Prosecutors Say Alpha Has Improved Mine Safety Since West Virginia Settlement
Jun 19 2012 // Alpha Natural Resources has significantly cut its accident and injury rates in the six months since a landmark $210 million settlement that spared the company criminal charges over the 2010 mine explosion that killed 29...
West Virginia Mine Boss to Be Sentenced
Jun 15 2012 // The former superintendent of the Upper Big Branch Mine will be sentenced Oct. 4 for his actions before the disaster that killed 29 men. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger had scheduled Gary May’s sentencing for August...
W.Va. Families Head to U.S. Capitol Over Mine Safety
Jun 8 2012 // Relatives of three miners killed in West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch disaster are in Washington, D.C., to press for the passage of long-stalled mine safety legislation by July 4. Gary Quarles lost son Gary Wayne in...
West Virginia Mines Cited During May Safety Inspections
Jun 4 2012 // The Mine Safety and Health Administration says it issued 254 citations, 19 orders and one safeguard during special inspections at West Virginia coal mines last month. Among those targeted was Argus Energy’s Deep Mine...
Kentucky Coal Mines in Arrears on Safety Fines: Report
May 31 2012 // A published report says Kentucky coal operators owe more in delinquent fines to federal authorities for mine safety violations than any other state. The Courier-Journal said the finding is from an analysis it did of...
Former Drumlummon Mine Foreman Files Lawsuit in Montana
May 29 2012 // The former general foreman of the Drumlummon gold and silver mine northwest of Helena, Mont. says he was fired for enforcing safety standards and has filed a lawsuit against mine owner RX Gold and Silver. The Independent...
West Virginia Coal Miner Claims Alpha Fired Him Over Safety
May 24 2012 // A coal miner who says he was fired for enforcing safety standards that slowed down both production and the sealing of the Upper Big Branch mine in southern West Virginia is suing Alpha Natural Resources. The State Journal...
