Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Study: Black Lung Cases Among Appalachian Coal Miners On the Rise
Feb 13 2018 // A new research letter published in a medical journal details hundreds of cases of black lung disease in the Central Appalachian coalfields. Three clinics in southwestern Virginia identified 416 coal miners with the disease...
University of Arizona Gets $1.6M Mine Safety Grant
Feb 9 2018 // The University of Arizona’s public health college and its mineral resources institute will use a $1.6 million grant to help improve mine safety training. The federal grant announced this week will be used to develop...
Underground Coal Miner Killed in West Virginia
Feb 8 2018 // Authorities say a coal miner has been killed at an underground mine in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says the incident occurred shortly before 4 a.m. Tuesday...
More Than 1,000 South African Gold Miners Rescued
Feb 5 2018 // All the miners who were trapped underground for more than 24 hours after a storm knocked out power lines supplying electricity to the Beatrix gold mine in South Africa have been rescued, operator Sibanye-Stillwater said on...
Investigation: Worker Killed in Iowa Mine Sought Crystals, Despite Warning
Jan 25 2018 // A federal investigation has concluded a worker wasn’t following safety protocols when he was killed last year in a limestone mine collapse in Iowa’s Scott County. The Quad-City Times reports a Mine Safety and...
PolyMet Secures $544M in Surety Bonds, Funding for Wisconsin Mine Costs
Dec 15 2017 // PolyMet Mining Corp. is offering the state a $544 million package of financial assurances to serve as an insurance policy to protect taxpayers from potentially having to cover the costs of closing and cleaning up a...
EPA Won’t Require Mining Firms to Prove Cleanup Costs
Dec 5 2017 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last Friday it would not act on a proposal to require hardrock mining companies to show they can afford to clean up their sites. “EPA is confident that modern industry...
Miner Dies on Blackhawk Mining Property in West Virginia
Dec 1 2017 // West Virginia mining officials say that a 28-year-old equipment operator for a coal mining company has died. The Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says the incident occurred about 3 p.m. Tuesday on...
Mining Jobs to Focus on Community Relations as Robots and Sensors Take Over
Nov 30 2017 // Some mines in the next decade will run without humans and instead rely on robots, virtual models and sensors, according to Anglo American Plc. Anglo is betting on technology, such as computerized drills with...
Investigators Probe Death of Miner at West Virginia Coal Processing Plant
Oct 25 2017 // State and federal investigators are trying to determine what killed a 48-year-old miner found Monday at a coal mining operation in Raleigh County. James Ray Adkins of Colcord, West Virginia, was discovered missing at...
Trump Nominee for Mine Safety Post Is Retired Coal Executive
Oct 23 2017 // The retired coal company executive from West Virginia chosen by Republican President Trump to oversee U.S. mining safety says his first priority is preventing people from getting hurt and that he replaced the managers of a...
Ex-Coal CEO Asks Supreme Court to Toss West Virginia Mine Blast Conviction
Sep 18 2017 // Attorneys for former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship have made a last pitch to the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out his conviction connected to a 2010 West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 miners. Attorneys for Don...
West Virginia Miner Who Survived 2006 Sago Blast Dies on Job
Aug 28 2017 // A coal miner who died on the job in West Virginia was the brother of one of the 12 killed in the Sago Mine disaster of 2006. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that authorities identified the miner found dead Friday as...
CNA Hardy Appoints IMIU’s Fryer as Class Manager, Mining Specialist
Aug 24 2017 // CNA Hardy, a specialist commercial insurance provider for clients within the Lloyd’s and company markets, announced the appointment of James Fryer as class manager, mining specialist. Reporting to Lloyd Tunnicliffe,...
Fatalities Rising as Coal Mine Production Increases
Aug 8 2017 // Ray Hatfield Jr. was six months into his latest coal job when he was crushed to death in a Kentucky mine. Hatfield, a 23-year industry veteran, was cleaning a conveyor belt that shuttled coal to the surface of the...
Safety Lapses Blamed for Death of Kentucky Coal Miner
Jul 21 2017 // Federal regulators say an accident that killed a coal miner in Pike County happened because a conveyor belt didn’t have adequate safety guards. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the U.S. Mine Safety and Health...
British Columbia’s Wildfires Threaten Lumber Supplies, Force Mine Closures
Jul 18 2017 // Wildfires sweeping across British Columbia, the world’s biggest exporter of softwood lumber, sent timber prices surging and forced the closure of two copper mines in the western Canadian province. More than 375 fires...
Kentucky Reduces Number of Coal Mine Safety Inspections to Cut Costs
Jul 11 2017 // Kathy Bartlett watched helplessly this spring as Kentucky lawmakers cut back on mine safety inspections and replaced them with coaching sessions on miners’ safety habits. She knows more than most what’s at...
Officials Say 7 Coal Miner Deaths This Year Raise Questions About Training
Jun 22 2017 // Seven U.S. coal miners died in accidents so far this year, most of them with less than a year of experience at that particular job and mine, according to federal officials. In all of last year, eight miners died. Tim...
1 Killed in Alabama Mining Accident
Jun 22 2017 // Officials say an accident at a coal mine near Birmingham, Ala., has left one person dead. A statement from the West Virginia-based Seneca Coal Resources says a rail-hauling accident happened Monday night at the...
