Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Brazil Tailings Dam Disaster Pushes Mining CEOs to Make Safety Changes
Feb 27 2019 // After last month’s deadly tailings dam disaster at a Vale SA facility in Brazil, Freeport-McMoRan Inc Chief Executive Richard Adkerson sent a memo to his 29,000 employees telling them to immediately report any safety...
Brazil Miner Vale Knew Its Tailings Dam Had Higher Risk of Collapse: Reuters
Feb 12 2019 // Vale SA , the world’s largest iron ore miner, knew last year that the dam in Brazil that collapsed in January and killed at least 165 people had a heightened risk of rupturing, according to an internal document seen...
Brazil’s Burst Dam Disasters Blamed on Cheap Storage of Mining Waste
Feb 1 2019 // The deadly collapse of a Vale SA tailings dam in Brazil is serving as a wake-up call for an industry that regularly cuts costs by storing mining waste in the cheapest possible way. The slurry of ground rock and effluents...
Brazil Dam Disaster Could Delay Settlement for 2015’s Samarco Mine Disaster
Jan 30 2019 // Brazil’s deadly tailings dam collapse is likely to complicate a settlement for a similar disaster less than four years ago at the Samarco iron ore mine, owned jointly by Vale SA and BHP Group, investors said on...
Brazil Weighs Management Overhaul at Vale After Mine Disaster; Death Toll Rises
Jan 29 2019 // Brazil’s government weighed pushing for a management overhaul at iron ore miner Vale SA on Monday as grief over the hundreds feared killed by a dam burst turned into anger, with prosecutors, politicians and...
Collapsed Brazil Mining Dam Kills at Least 58, in Echoes of 2015 Disaster
Jan 28 2019 // Brazilian rescuers searched into the night on Sunday for hundreds of people missing after a burst mining dam triggered a deadly mudslide, as the death toll rose to 58 and was expected to keep climbing more than two days...
Kentucky Coal-Mining Deaths at Record Low in 2018
Jan 14 2019 // The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration says coal-mining related deaths have reached a record low in Kentucky where a single miner died last year. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the agency said Jan. 8 that...
Tropical Cyclone Penny Slams North Australia Coast Near Rio Tinto Mine
Jan 2 2019 // Tropical Cyclone Penny slammed into the far north coast of Australia’s Queensland state near Rio Tinto Group’s Weipa bauxite mine, triggering warnings of flash flooding and damaging winds. The category 1...
Australia Court Narrows Class-Action Suits Against BHP over Brazil Mine Disaster
Dec 19 2018 // The Federal Court of Australia on Tuesday ordered that the number of class-action lawsuits against BHP Group over a Brazilian mine collapse be narrowed to one from three. BHP is facing legal challenges over the 2015...
BHP Readies for Largest English Group Lawsuit over 2015 Brazil Mine Disaster
Nov 26 2018 // Mining giant BHP says it will fight an unprecedented English lawsuit filed by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians for multi-billion pound damages over Brazil’s worst environmental disaster. SPG Law, a British...
West Virginia Gov Makes 3 Appointments to Miners’ Health Safety Office
Nov 16 2018 // West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has made three appointments to the state’s Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Justice said in a news release that he appointed...
Man Dies 2 Days After $2.6M Verdict in Montana Mine Lawsuit
Nov 9 2018 // A man who fought for more than a decade to maintain his rights to a mining claim in northwestern Montana died two days after a jury awarded him nearly $2.6 million. A Lincoln County jury awarded the money to Arnold Bakie...
North Carolina Emerald Mine Robbed of $100K in Rare Gems
Oct 29 2018 // A heist has wiped a North Carolina emerald mine out of an estimated $100,000 in rare precious gems and gold jewelry. An Alexander County Sheriff’s Office release says thieves broke into, vandalized and robbed Emerald...
Injury Rates Jump at Coal Giant Murray’s West Virginia Mines
Oct 26 2018 // Injury rates have more than doubled at five West Virginia coal mines acquired by Murray Energy Corp. in 2013, according to a Reuters review of federal data, as the firm sharply increased the amount of coal produced per...
Kentucky Fines Justice Companies Additional $3M Over Coal Mine Clean-Ups
Aug 24 2018 // West Virginia Governor Jim Justice’s family coal companies are breaching their environmental responsibilities, according to Kentucky regulators, who are seeking millions in additional fines for surface mining areas...
Safety Agency Finds 10% of Veteran Coal Miners Have Black Lung Disease
Jul 20 2018 // More than 10 percent of America’s coal miners with 25 or more years of experience have black lung disease, the highest rate recorded in roughly two decades, according to a government study released on Thursday that...
Kentucky Coal Mine Supervisors Face Charges Over Rigged Dust Monitoring
Jul 16 2018 // Eight former supervisors and safety officers at a Kentucky coal company were indicted on federal charges that they rigged dust monitoring in underground mines, forcing miners to work in the kind of dirty conditions that...
West Virginia Coal Miner Killed on Job Site
Jun 11 2018 // West Virginia regulators say a 43-year-old coal miner has been killed on the job. The Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training says shuttle car operator Ronald R. Taylor of Belington died of head injuries when...
Coal Industry Tax Cut Threatens Miners’ Benefits Fund as Black Lung Cases Surge
Jun 1 2018 // As a young man, Barry Shrewsbury dug coal in the West Virginia mines and spent his time off hunting and fishing in the rolling hills. Now, at 62, he struggles to breathe and accomplish basic tasks such as shopping and...
2 Dead, 3 Trapped at Polish Mine After Quake
May 6 2018 // Rescue teams have confirmed the death of a second Polish coal miner and are searching for three more trapped nearly a kilometer underground after a quake, the chief executive of the mine owner said. The quake hit the...
