Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Grants Class Action Status to West Virginia Miner Lawsuit
May 6 2016 // A lawsuit filed by miners in West Virginia who say they were unlawfully laid off in Wyoming County has been certified as a class action. The Register-Herald reports Judge Irene Berger granted the certification Tuesday in...
Company to Pay $10.3M for Cleanup of South Dakota Mine
Apr 18 2016 // A Colorado mining company will pay $10.3 million to the state of South Dakota and the federal government to cover part of environmental cleanup costs at an abandoned gold and silver mine in the northern Black Hills, a...
Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship Sentenced to 1 Year in Jail for Fatal Mine Explosion
Apr 6 2016 // Former coal baron Donald Blankenship was sentenced to a year in prison for evading mine-safety rules in one of the final chapters of a fatal mine explosion that was the worst U.S. coal industry accident in almost 40...
6 Years After Upper Big Branch Tragedy, Ex-CEO of Mine Faces Sentencing
Apr 6 2016 // Six years after 29 miners were killed in a West Virginia coal dust explosion, the man who ran the mining company like a fiefdom — a coal baron and power broker who earned millions of dollars a year — will learn...
Miner Killed in Eastern Kentucky Mining Accident
Mar 29 2016 // State officials say an eastern Kentucky coal miner has died in an accident at a Harlan County mine. A statement from the Energy and Environment Cabinet says 48-year-old Mark Frazier of Line Fork died Friday after being hit...
Lawmakers Seek Audit of Mine Cleanup Insurance Program
Mar 9 2016 // Federal auditors should examine a program that has allowed leading coal companies to lower cleanup insurance costs and could leave taxpayers on the hook if the miners declare bankruptcy, Democratic lawmakers said on...
Samarco, BHP & Vale Agree to Pay $5B in Damages for Brazil Mining Disaster
Mar 3 2016 // Mining company Samarco and its owners, BHP Billiton and Vale SA , reached a deal with the Brazilian government on Wednesday to pay an estimated 20 billion reais ($5.1 billion) in damages over 15 years for a deadly dam...
Brazil & Samarco Close to Agreeing on Damages from Mining Disaster
Feb 26 2016 // Brazil’s government and Samarco Mineracao SA are meeting on Friday to finalize the settlement of a lawsuit for damages caused by a deadly dam spill at a mine in November, with the attorney general’s office...
U.S. Says Coal Mine Companies Should Cover Full Cleanup
Feb 25 2016 // The ailing coal industry must face the costs of cleaning up spent mines even as companies get pushed toward bankruptcy, the U.S. Interior Secretary said this week. The mining industry is responsible for restoring old mine...
Wyoming Acknowledges Coal Mine Cleanup Insurance Policy is Flawed
Feb 18 2016 // A program that has allowed U.S. coal companies to forego cleanup insurance on massive western mines is flawed and needs to be fixed, Wyoming officials have told federal regulators. Coal companies must restore the land...
Midwest Group Challenges Peabody Energy’s Plan to Self-Bond Mines
Feb 16 2016 // A Midwestern environmental group has followed through on its promise to formally challenge Peabody Energy’s ability to guarantee it has enough money for future cleanup of its Illinois and Indiana coal mines. The...
U.S. Mine Safety Rule to Curb Black Lung Goes Into Effect
Feb 3 2016 // Underground coal mines will ramp up testing for the dust that causes breathing problems and leads to black lung disease under a new federal rule that took effect February 1. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration...
Coal Miner Killed in Kentucky, 3rd Industry Fatality in 2016
Jan 22 2016 // A coal miner in western Kentucky died after being pinned against a wall by a mobile digging machine in an underground mine, the first coal mining death in the state this year and the third nationally. The death prompted a...
Brazil Police Accuse Vale, Samarco of Environmental Crime for Mine Disaster
Jan 15 2016 // Brazil’s Federal Police accused Vale SA and its Brazilian joint venture with BHP Billiton Ltd of environmental crime related to a November dam collapse that destroyed a city in the country’s southeast and sent...
Coal Miner Killed in West Virginia
Jan 6 2016 // State officials are investigating a fatal accident at an underground coal mine in southern West Virginia. The fatality involving a belt roller occurred early Monday at Greenbrier Minerals LLC’s Lower War Eagle Mine...
Brazil Mine Disaster Shows Value (and Harm) of Public Relations Responses
Jan 4 2016 // Within hours of a deadly mining spill in November that would become Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, BHP Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie was in front of a camera offering his sympathies to those...
Coal Mine Deaths at Record Low of 11 in 2015
Dec 31 2015 // Amid layoffs and idled operations, the U.S. coal industry is close to setting a record low for on-the-job deaths in coal mines. In late December, there were 11 deaths in coal mines nationwide for the year, putting the...
Ironshore Launches Professional Liability Coverage for Global Mining Sector
Dec 16 2015 // Ironshore International has launched a professional liability product designed to provide protection for risk exposures within the mining sector worldwide. Ironshore’s dedicated product provides coverage to engineers...
Blankenship Sentencing Set For Next Year in West Virginia Mine Case
Dec 14 2015 // Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship will be sentenced next year on a conviction of conspiring to violate safety rules at the mine where a deadly explosion occurred. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger on Dec. 10...
Kentucky Mining Company Fined for Clean Water Act Violations
Dec 10 2015 // Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet has agreed to levy a stiff fine against a coal mining company that acknowledged thousands of Clean Water Act violations, effectively barring the company from operating in...
