Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
How a King of Coal Conspired Against Mine Safety
Dec 4 2015 // To hear Donald L. Blankenship tell it, the U.S. coal industry has been undone by inept regulators, evil unions, the media and “global warming hoaxers.” But for jurors at his criminal trial in Charleston, West...
Blankenship Found Guilty of Conspiracy in W. Virginia Mine Blast
Dec 3 2015 // Former Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship was found guilty in federal court on Thursday of conspiring to violate safety standards at the Upper Big Branch mine, the site of a 2010 blast that killed 29...
Blankenship Jury Still Deadlocked in West Virginia Mine Blast Case
Dec 2 2015 // Jurors at former Massey Energy Co. Chief Donald Blankenship’s criminal trial ended their eighth day of deliberations after telling the judge they remain deadlocked on charges the coal executive plotted to ignore...
Brazil Mining Disaster to Lead to Stricter Insurance Standards, Oversight
Nov 20 2015 // Brazil’s worst mining accident will lead to stricter insurance standards under a revised version of an industry bill first introduced to Congress two years ago. The cost of damage to communities, loss of life and...
Mine Disasters Show Real Cost of Using Cheap Solutions for Waste Storage
Nov 18 2015 // As miners globally review the way they store waste in the wake of another horrific dam spill, the solution may be as simple as it is dramatic: spend a lot more. Images of sludge spewing into towns and rivers could be a...
Defense Rests in West Virginia Mine Blast Trial, Blankenship Stays Mum
Nov 17 2015 // Former Massey Energy Chief Donald Blankenship won’t take the witness stand to explain what happened when a company mine exploded in 2010 killing 29 workers, choosing instead to leave his fate in the hands of jurors...
Brazil Mine Disaster Could Devastate Ecosystem for Many Years
Nov 16 2015 // The collapse of two dams at a Brazilian mine has cut off drinking water for quarter of a million people and saturated waterways downstream with dense orange sediment that could wreck the ecosystem for years to come. Nine...
Brazil Slaps Initial Fine of $66 Million on Mine for Burst Dam Disaster
Nov 13 2015 // Brazil’s president slapped preliminary fines of 250 million reais ($66.2 million) against a mine in the country’s southeast where two dams burst, killing nine people and coating a two-state area with mud and...
Brazil Vows to Make BHP & Vale Pay Fine & Cleanup Costs for Mine ‘Catastrophe’
Nov 12 2015 // Brazil’s government said on Wednesday it may fine mining giants BHP Billiton Ltd and Vale SA for the “environmental catastrophe” caused by ruptured dams at an iron ore mine jointly owned by the companies...
Kentucky Court: Mine-Safety Laws Don’t Apply to Subcontractors
Nov 12 2015 // Kentucky’s mine-safety laws and regulations didn’t apply to a subcontract worker who died while installing a massive garage door on a building at a mine site in Muhlenberg County, the state’s Supreme...
Insurers Face Claims of $600 Million from Brazilian Mine Disaster: Sources
Nov 11 2015 // Insurers covering risks for a Brazilian mine where two dams burst last week, killing at least six people, could pay up to $600 million in claims, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday. A property...
West Virginia Official Says Miner Drug Abuse Rising
Nov 3 2015 // The director of West Virginia’s mine safety office says there is a growing substance abuse problem among miners. Director Eugene White of the Office of Mine Health, Safety and Training told legislators last month...
Former West Virginia Mine Worker Talks Safety Shortcuts in Blankenship Trial
Oct 26 2015 // A key government witness testified in West Virginia that prosecutors had threatened to charge him alongside his old coal boss, and he was under an immunity agreement Friday when he took the stand. In the criminal trial of...
Patriot Coal Reaches Mine Site Clean-Up Deal with West Virginia
Oct 15 2015 // Patriot Coal and West Virginia environmental regulators have reached an agreement in which the company will set aside more than $50 million to cover cleanup costs at its former mine sites in the state. The Department of...
Trial Update: Ex-Massey CEO Blankenship Downplayed Black-Lung Threat to Miners
Oct 14 2015 // Ex-Massey Energy Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship downplayed the threat that miners develop black-lung disease in shafts choked with coal dust, jurors in the executive’s criminal trial heard in a recorded...
Secret CEO Recordings Allowed in Massey Mine Blast Trial
Oct 12 2015 // Donald Blankenship’s own words may come to haunt the former Massey Energy Co. chief executive officer at his criminal trial as a federal judge said prosecutors can let the jury hear conversations secretly recorded...
Massey Mines Alerted Workers When Safety Inspectors on Site: Testimony
Oct 9 2015 // Massey Energy executives used an advanced warning system at the company’s Upper Big Branch mine to alert workers as soon as federal inspectors arrived on site, a former miner testified Thursday at the criminal trial...
Deadly West Virginia Mine Explosion Trial Puts Spotlight on Massey’s King Coal
Oct 6 2015 // Before death came to Upper Big Branch Mine, Donald L. Blankenship managed his patch of Appalachia like King Coal incarnate. Outside homes in rural West Virginia flew the banner of his company, Massey Energy Co.: a flame...
Lessons from the Gold King Mine Contamination
Oct 5 2015 // On Aug. 5, 2015 an environmental contractor acting under the EPA’s authority breached a bulkhead at the entrance to the Gold King Mine in Southwestern Colorado. As a result, 3 million gallons of heavy metal laced...
Trial Set to Start for Former Energy CEO in Deadly West Virginia Mine Blast
Sep 29 2015 // Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship hits the courtroom for a criminal trial Thursday, facing charges that he conspired to break safety laws and lied to financial regulators about safety practices at the site of the...
