Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Alpha Natural Facing Big Insurance Buy for Abandoned Mines Shortfall
Apr 20 2015 // Alpha Natural Resources Inc, a struggling U.S. coal company, may be forced to buy costly new insurance or otherwise ensure it can cover obligations for cleaning up any abandoned mines, according to officials in West...
Ex-Massey Mine CEO: ‘I Don’t Want to Go to 100 Funerals’
Apr 9 2015 // Former Massey Energy Co. Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship, facing criminal trial over an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners, said the year before that he feared a disaster with 100 deaths. “I...
Former Massey CEO Pleads Not Guilty to New Indictment in Mine Blast
Mar 25 2015 // The former chief executive of Massey Energy Co. pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a revised federal indictment arising from a 2010 West Virginia coal mine explosion that killed 29 miners. The former chief executive, Donald...
Former Kentucky Mine Inspector Pleads Guilty to Bribery
Mar 20 2015 // A former state mine inspector has pleaded guilty in federal court to taking bribes from former Kentucky lawmaker Keith Hall. Kelly Shortridge agreed to a plea that was filed in court on Wednesday. It says Shortridge, who...
Lawsuit in 2011 Nevada Gold Mine Death Settled
Mar 3 2015 // A lawyer for the Utah family of a contract worker at a Nevada gold mine that paid more than $100,000 in U.S. safety fines after he was killed there in 2011 says they’ve settled a wrongful death suit with Newmont USA,...
Australia Cyclone Causes Power Cuts, but Spares Miners, Farmers
Feb 23 2015 // Commodities producers were spared the full wrath of a powerful cyclone that smashed into the east coast of Australia packing winds up to 285 kph (175 mph), but thousands of coastal residents on Monday faced a third day...
Former Massey CEO Requests Dismissal of Charges from West Virginia Mine Explosion
Feb 10 2015 // A former coal company executive is seeking the dismissal of charges stemming from a 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 workers in West Virginia. Don Blankenship, former chief executive officer of Massey Energy, also has...
More Inspections, Fewer Mines Result in Lowest Number of Miner Deaths
Dec 30 2014 // Less than five years after an explosion fueled by excess coal dust killed 29 men deep inside a West Virginia underground mine, the nation’s coal mines are on pace for an all-time low in work-related deaths. Federal...
Third Worker This Year Dies at Kentucky Patriot Mine
Dec 17 2014 // A worker was killed Tuesday in a Kentucky mine owned by Patriot Coal Co., the company’s third such fatality this year. Eli Eldridge, 34, of Sturgis, Kentucky died after he was struck by a vehicle shuttling coal to...
Workers Inhaled Uranium at Wyoming Mine, NRC Says
Dec 9 2014 // Six workers at a Wyoming uranium mine inhaled the radioactive element while cleaning up a spill inside a processing building just days before the mine delivered its first shipment last year, according to the Nuclear...
Blankenship Pleads Not Guilty to Charges Linked to Massey Mine Explosion
Nov 21 2014 // Former Massey Energy chief Donald Blankenship pleaded not guilty to charges linked to the West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers in the worst U.S. coal industry disaster in almost 40 years. The former...
Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship Faces Criminal Charges Over 2010 Mine Explosion
Nov 18 2014 // The former Massey Energy chief, scorned by regulators and a U.S. senator, may face three decades in prison if convicted of charges stemming from a West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers, the worst U.S. coal...
Hydraulic Leak Contributed To Wyoming Coal Mine Death
Nov 14 2014 // A hydraulic leak and the failure to use a safety block contributed to the crushing death of a contractor at a Wyoming coal mine. The Mine Safety and Health Administration investigated the June 6 death of 25-year-old Joshua...
Former Kentucky Mine Safety Inspector Faces Ethics Charges
Nov 12 2014 // A former Kentucky mine inspector indicted for taking bribes from a state lawmaker is now facing charges from the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. The commission charged Kelly Shortridge with four counts of violating...
550 West Virginia Coal Miners Flunk Drug Tests
Oct 22 2014 // In the last two years, more than 550 West Virginia coal miners have temporarily lost their mining certifications because they failed a drug test. State Office of Miner’s Health, Safety and Training Eugene White...
Company Fined $1M in Double Fatality at Colorado Silver Mine
Oct 21 2014 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration imposed a roughly $1 million fine following an investigation into the deaths of two miners at Revenue Mine in Colorado on Nov. 17, 2013. The...
Illinois School District Awarded $10M in Collapsed Mine Case
Sep 12 2014 // An Illinois school district has been awarded nearly $10 million in a lawsuit against Union Pacific Railroad after claiming a collapsed mine left an elementary school damaged. Macoupin County Judge Patrick Londrigan awarded...
State Says Old Mines to Blame for Sagging SE Ohio Highway
Aug 27 2014 // State transportation officials believe a section of a main highway in southeast Ohio is sagging because of abandoned coal mine space beneath the road, and they are trying to pinpoint the problem areas that might need to be...
Mine Owner to Pay $1.5B Penalty to Kentucky for Environmental Violations
Aug 21 2014 // West Virginia billionaire Jim Justice has reached a $1.5 million settlement with Kentucky officials over dozens of violations at several of his coal mines in eastern Kentucky. The agreement between Justice and the...
Court Upholds Federal Mine Safety Rules Over Owners’ Opposition
Aug 21 2014 // New federal rules that labor officials say could save lives at dangerous mining sites have survived a court challenge from mining industry groups. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week dismissed the lawsuit...
