Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Feds to Unveil Conclusions on W. Va. Sago Mine Disaster
May 10 2007 // Federal investigators will issue their report Wednesday on the Sago Mine disaster, which killed 12 West Virginia coal miners in a January 2006 explosion and prolonged entrapment underground. Mine Safety and Health...
Mountaintop Mining Becomes Issue in Kentucky Governor’s Race
May 10 2007 // Removing Kentucky mountaintops in search of coal is a noisy, jarring process. Warning sirens blare, followed by massive explosions that shake the earth and propel broken rocks skyward. Bulldozers rumble across parched...
U.S. probes 2005 W. Va. mine death
May 7 2007 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has decided to investigate a fatal 2005 West Virginia coal truck accident after all. MSHA and the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training did not...
N.Y. Family Sues Mine, Claiming Deaths Caused by Talc Exposure
May 2 2007 // Relatives of a 67-year-old man from upstate New York have filed a lawsuit against a mining company after he became the third family member to die from a rare cancer he allegedly contracted from exposure to asbestos-tainted...
W. Va. Hosts International Mining Health and Safety Symposium
Apr 26 2007 // Representatives of the coal industry, labor, government, academia as well as technology innovators and equipment manufacturers are expected to attend the second annual International Mining Health and Safety Symposium in...
Investigations Begin into Fatal Western Md. Mine Collapse
Apr 26 2007 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has launched a formal investigation into last week’s accident in a Maryland open pit coal mine that killed two men. “We evaluate all aspects of the mine...
U.S. to Probe 2005 W. Va. Mine Death
Apr 24 2007 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has decided to investigate a fatal 2005 West Virginia coal truck accident after all. MSHA and the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training did not...
Winn & Co. Hires Miner for P/C Team
Apr 17 2007 // Craig Miner has joined the Property Casualty Team of Winn & Co. based in Hollister, California. His primary focus will be in sales and client retention. Prior to joining Winn, Miner worked at a regional brokerage firm...
W. Va.: Mine Owners Seek Court Review of U.S. Air Requirements
Apr 13 2007 // The National Mining Association has asked a federal court to throw out a federal requirement that underground coal mines provide enough breathable air to keep trapped miners alive until they’re rescued. The...
W. Va. Gov. Manchin Signs Mine Safety, Workplace Bills
Apr 6 2007 // West Virginia has ratcheted up its coal mine safety laws. Gov. Joe Manchin signed the latest legislation spurred by last year’s fatal mining accidents. The bill approved by Manchin addresses such topics as...
Kentucky Coal Mine Widows Prove Powerful as Lobbyists
Apr 4 2007 // Claudia Cole would have considered herself an unlikely person to be a lobbyist in the state Capitol. She preferred the simple life of wife and mother. But when her husband was killed in a Kentucky coal mine, the country...
Kentucky Mine Owner Pleads Guilty to Workers Comp Fraud
Apr 3 2007 // Harold Simpson, owner and operator of Simpson Mining Co. in Perry County, Ky., pleaded guilty to mail fraud in U.S. District Court after special investigators with Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance discovered...
Some Worry Increased Fines Won’t Make Mines Safer
Mar 27 2007 // A new federal rule allowing increased penalties for mine safety violations could be meaningless if inspectors feel they cannot impose them, skeptics say. The changes, which take effect in late April, were required by the...
Federal Mine Safety Agency Increases Fines for Safety Violations
Mar 23 2007 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said this week it has finalized a rule that increases fines for all safety violations. “MSHA has structured the final rule so that higher penalties will induce...
W.Va. Expected to Approve First Coal Mine Shelters
Mar 12 2007 // Emergency shelters are about to become a reality in West Virginia coal mines. The state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training is expected to approve the first underground shelter designs this week, Randy...
State Alleges Cover-Up in Pa. Coal Mine Worker’s Death
Jan 30 2007 // Pennsylvania coal industry regulators have revoked the operating permit of a coal mine where a worker died in an explosion three months ago, alleging that a cover-up of a similar 2004 blast might have contributed to the...
W. Va. Tackles Mine Safety Rules to Address Sago Tragedy
Jan 19 2007 // Members of the state Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety say the panel may have a tough time crafting regulations to address the cause of the Sago Mine accident. The process of writing those rules officially began...
Wyoming Miners Trapped After Substation Failed
Jan 12 2007 // Nearly 100 miners at three mining operations were stranded underground in Wyoming Wednesday afternoon when an electrical substation near here failed at 1:30 p.m., officials said. The power failure affected the West Vaco,...
W.Va. report on Sago Mine blast leaves many questions unasnwered
Dec 25 2006 // The families of the Sago Mine victims aren’t the only ones who want more answers from the state about what went wrong Jan. 2. The United Mine Workers says the state’s theory is “cockamamie” and begs...
West Virgina Report on Sago Mine Explosion Expected Monday
Dec 8 2006 // The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training will release its report into January’s fatal Sago Mine explosion on Monday, Director Ron Wooten said. Before releasing the report to the public,...
