Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Virginia Mine Where Worker Died Had 48 Safety Violations
Apr 25 2008 // The owner of a southwest Virginia coal mine where a worked was killed Tuesday had been cited 48 times for safety violations since 2005, according to state documents. The violations at the Wise County mine included seven...
West Virginia Mining Co. Blames Losses on Structural Issues, Labor Shortage
Apr 25 2008 // West Virginia-based International Coal Group says its first-quarter loss widened nearly 42 percent due to lagging production and other problems. ICG said Wednesday it lost $11.5 million, or 8 cents per share, in the first...
Kentucky Gov. Blocking Mine Safety Appointment of Ex-Fletcher Aide
Apr 23 2008 // Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s administration is blocking the appointment of his predecessor’s top aide to Kentucky’s Mine Safety Review Commission. Stan Cave, who was former Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s...
Safety Award at West Virginia Mine Stirs Critics
Apr 16 2008 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration plans to give a safety award to a Massey Energy Co. underground mine in West Virginia where two men were killed in a January 2006 fire. Massey announced the award for its...
Long-Sought Pennsylvania Mine Safety Bill Hits New Snags
Apr 10 2008 // A new disagreement has erupted over efforts to overhaul Pennsylvania’s 1961 mine safety law, threatening a compromise forged more than five years after the rescue of nine miners in western Pennsylvania spurred a push...
Mines Lack Safety Equipment 2 Years After Sago Tragedy, U.S. Says
Apr 10 2008 // Underground coal mines lack stockpiles of breathable air and communications gear for trapped workers, according to a federal report released this week, nearly two years after a series of mine fatalities led to Congress...
Utah Coal Mine Closed Over Safety Problems
Apr 4 2008 // The deepest coal mine in the United States abruptly shut down, a week after the company was hit with a huge safety fine and was being assessed for other violations at a nearby mine. UtahAmerican Energy Inc. said...
Families of 6 Dead Miners Sue Owners Over Utah Cave-In
Apr 4 2008 // The families of six men killed in a Utah mine cave-in sued the mine’s Ohio owners, claiming that the collapse occurred because they were harvesting coal unsafely. The lawsuit filed in 3rd District Court contends...
Citations Issued in Kentucky Coal Mining Death
Mar 28 2008 // Kentucky mine safety officials issued multiple citations in the death of an eastern Kentucky coal truck driver who was killed at Blue Ridge surface mine in Letcher County. Authorities say 29-year-old Roy D. Sturgill died...
Mine Co. Fined $4,456 for Violations Tied to Fatal West Virginia Accident
Mar 26 2008 // Massey Energy has been fined nearly $4,500 for safety violations the state says contributed to a fatal accident at a West Virginia coal mine. Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training inspectors found the...
Kentucky Miner Videotapes Safety Hazard, Receives Reprimand
Mar 21 2008 // When Kentucky coal miner, Charles Scott Howard, played an eye-catching videotape last year that showed barriers so cracked that water gushed through them, he prompted a federal investigation that led to citations against...
Update: Kentucky Senate Passes Mine Safety Bill
Mar 20 2008 // The Kentucky Senate passed legislation that would require coal companies to post their global positioning system (GPS) coordinates at mine sites so that medical helicopters can be given precise directions in cases of...
West Virginia’s Massey Coal Mine Cited for 2007 Accident
Mar 20 2008 // Massey Energy Co. is facing fines for safety violations that state inspectors say contributed to a fatal accident at a West Virginia coal mine. Miner David Neal suffered critical injuries after falling about 39 feet from a...
Kentucky Lawmakers Want Faster Med-evacs after Mine Accidents
Mar 19 2008 // A severely burned Ora Murphy lay on a gurney at a coal mining operation in the remote mountains of eastern Kentucky waiting for a medical helicopter to transport him to a hospital nearly 100 miles away. Problem was, no one...
Virginia Receives $260K Grant for Mine Safety Training
Mar 12 2008 // Virginia is getting more than $259,000 in mine health and safety grants. The funds come from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration. The agency says it has announced more than $8.2...
Feds Give West Virginia $543,898 for Mine Safety Training
Mar 12 2008 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has given West Virginia about $544,000 for mine safety training. The grant is part of more than $8 million the agency is providing nationally for training in 49 states and...
Feds Toughen Limit on Asbestos Exposure in Nation’s Mines
Mar 3 2008 // A federal limit on asbestos exposure at mining operations nationwide is now in line with the standard for other industries. A final rule issued Friday by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration limits asbestos...
W. Va.: Survivor and One Victim’s Family Settle Sago Mine Lawsuits
Feb 28 2008 // Randal McCloy Jr., the lone survivor of the Sago Mine disaster of 2006, and the family of one victim have settled lawsuits in West Virginia against the mine’s owner. Lawyers for McCloy and the estate of David Lewis...
Judge: Trapped Miners Can Sue Company, Not 3 Others
Feb 22 2008 // Eight of the nine miners trapped underground in July 2002 when a Pennsylvania mineshaft flooded can continue their suit against the firm that controlled the mine, a judge ruled. Six other miners who narrowly escaped being...
Seal Breaks at Abandoned W.Va. Mine, Floods Yards, Highway
Feb 14 2008 // The earthen seal at a former underground coal mine in Delbarton, W. Va., sprung a leak, sending thousands of gallons of water through the yards of several homes and onto a state highway, officials said Tuesday. The seal...
