Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Former Kentucky Mine Safety Inspector Faces Ethics Charges
Nov 12 2014 // A former Kentucky mine inspector indicted for taking bribes from a state lawmaker is now facing charges from the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. The commission charged Kelly Shortridge with four counts of violating...
550 West Virginia Coal Miners Flunk Drug Tests
Oct 22 2014 // In the last two years, more than 550 West Virginia coal miners have temporarily lost their mining certifications because they failed a drug test. State Office of Miner’s Health, Safety and Training Eugene White...
Company Fined $1M in Double Fatality at Colorado Silver Mine
Oct 21 2014 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration imposed a roughly $1 million fine following an investigation into the deaths of two miners at Revenue Mine in Colorado on Nov. 17, 2013. The...
Illinois School District Awarded $10M in Collapsed Mine Case
Sep 12 2014 // An Illinois school district has been awarded nearly $10 million in a lawsuit against Union Pacific Railroad after claiming a collapsed mine left an elementary school damaged. Macoupin County Judge Patrick Londrigan awarded...
State Says Old Mines to Blame for Sagging SE Ohio Highway
Aug 27 2014 // State transportation officials believe a section of a main highway in southeast Ohio is sagging because of abandoned coal mine space beneath the road, and they are trying to pinpoint the problem areas that might need to be...
Mine Owner to Pay $1.5B Penalty to Kentucky for Environmental Violations
Aug 21 2014 // West Virginia billionaire Jim Justice has reached a $1.5 million settlement with Kentucky officials over dozens of violations at several of his coal mines in eastern Kentucky. The agreement between Justice and the...
Court Upholds Federal Mine Safety Rules Over Owners’ Opposition
Aug 21 2014 // New federal rules that labor officials say could save lives at dangerous mining sites have survived a court challenge from mining industry groups. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week dismissed the lawsuit...
Judge Says Inspectors Must Have Full Access to North Dakota Mine
Aug 8 2014 // A North Dakota company must allow federal inspectors unfettered access to a sand and gravel mine that is the subject of workplace safety complaints, a federal judge ordered Aug. 6. The U.S. Department of Labor filed a...
Climate Change Debate in Denver Pits Coal Miners vs. Skiers
Jul 30 2014 // Coal miners took on skiers, and environmentalists dueled with business groups as the public debated sweeping rules from the Obama administration to combat global warming in a nationwide series of hearings yesterday. At the...
Congress Urged to Help Miners with Black Lung Disease
Jul 25 2014 // A retired coal miner who suffers from black lung disease urged Congress this week to help clear a backlog of claims of fellow miners who have the disease. “I look to y’all to help us to get that which we...
Mine Safety Agency Settles with 2 West Virginia Miners’ Widows
Jul 18 2014 // The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit over the deaths of two miners in a 2006 fire at an underground coal mine in West Virginia, according to court documents. Under...
West Virginia Mine Disciplines Managers After Black Lung Risk Exposed
Jul 9 2014 // Rhino Eastern LLC changed management at its Eagle Mine 3 after inspectors warned that coal miners faced the risk of deadly explosions and developing black lung disease. The company acknowledged falling short of safety...
Kentucky Budget Cut Means Staff Reduction at Mine Safety Agency
Jun 2 2014 // A budget cut in the state office that inspects the safety of mining sites is forcing a reduction in its staff. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that the staff of 141 full-time positions at the Office of Mine Safety and...
Labor Unrest Follows Turkey’s Deadliest Mine Disaster
May 15 2014 // Turkey’s labor unions went on strike today after at least 282 people died in the nation’s worst mine accident, which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said was “part of the nature of the...
West Virginia Mine Where Two Died Had Pattern of Safety Violations
May 14 2014 // The West Virginia coal mine where a collapse this week killed two workers had “chronic compliance issues” and received numerous citations from inspectors last year, federal authorities said on Tuesday. The...
Coal Companies Challenge Black Lung Mining Regulation
May 4 2014 // More than a dozen coal companies, including a unit of Patriot Coal Corp., challenged a new federal mine-safety regulation aimed at reducing black lung disease, with some arguing the objectives are unattainable. The...
Mining Industry Vows to Fight Obama Administration Coal Dust Rule
Apr 23 2014 // The Obama administration ordered a 25 percent cut in the levels of coal dust in U.S. mines to reduce deadly black lung disease, a move that drew criticism from the mining industry and the threat of a lawsuit. The rule...
West Virginia Mine Board Approves Detection System Rule
Apr 15 2014 // A new state mine safety rule will require coal operators to install detection systems that automatically shut down continuous mining machines when people get too close. The rule gives companies until July 1, 2017, to...
How Robots, Drones Are Transforming Mining and Mine Safety
Apr 4 2014 // Mines without miners? Not quite. Still, a technology boom in robots, drones, driverless trucks and pilotless trains is beginning to reshape one of the world’s most labor-intensive industries, portending automation of...
Allianz Expands in Canada to Energy, Mining Markets
Apr 4 2014 // Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer, is expanding in Canada, targeting protection for the energy and mining industries. The insurer, which offers corporate property and casualty coverage in Canada through brokers,...
