Latest Mining Headlines
All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Settlements Reached in Remaining West Virginia Sago Mine Lawsuits
Nov 18 2011 // Settlements have been approved in the six remaining wrongful-death lawsuits filed by the families of miners who died in the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia. Circuit Judge Charles King also signed off on several...
Kentucky Reports Year’s 7th Miner Death
Nov 9 2011 // A foreman has been killed at an underground mine in eastern Kentucky, the third mine-related fatality in the state in 10 days. State officials said in a statement that due to the recent deaths, analysts from the Office of...
Settlement Near in West Virginia Sago Mine Disaster
Nov 7 2011 // A West Virginia judge will consider approving a settlement in the six remaining wrongful-death lawsuits filed by the families of miners who died in the Sago Mine disaster. The workers were killed after a powerful methane...
Alpha Says Safety Improving at Massey Mines
Nov 4 2011 // The number of mine injuries has been cut in the five months since Alpha Natural Resources bought Massey Energy, which had owned the coal mine where 29 men died in a blast last year, Alpha’s CEO said...
Ex-Mine Official Convicted in Deadly West Virginia Disaster
Oct 26 2011 // The former security chief at a West Virginia coal mine where 29 miners died last year was convicted of two felonies Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. Hughie Elbert Stover, 60, was convicted by a federal...
Safety Crackdown Not Harming Mining Industry: Official
Oct 24 2011 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s continuing crackdown on the coal industry hasn’t deterred the industry’s growth, director Joe Main said Friday. From April 2010 to June 2011, the number...
West Virginia Orders Emergency Mine Inspections
Oct 19 2011 // West Virginia mine safety officials have ordered emergency inspections of up to 500 rescue shelters in the state’s underground coal mines. The Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training issued the order...
Kentucky Mining Company Sued Over Flooding Death, Damage
Oct 14 2011 // A lawsuit filed by residents in southeastern Kentucky blames a mining company’s surface mining practices for stoking a flood that killed a man and damaged homes in Knox County this summer. The suit against Nally...
Mining Industry Launches Safety Program
Sep 19 2011 // The National Mining Association says it’s launching a program to get companies collaborating so mine operators with poor safety records can learn from those with good ones. The goal is to eliminate deaths and cut...
Pennsylvania Mining Firm Fined $900K Over Deadly Explosion
Aug 15 2011 // An administrative judge has ordered a small Pennsylvania mining company to pay $900,000 in fines related to the 2006 explosion that killed a miner and resulted in criminal charges against three others, a newspaper reported...
14 Mining Deaths Reported Thus Far in 2011
Jul 28 2011 // Federal mine safety regulators said that eight miners have been killed in coal mining operations, and six in the metal and nonmetal sector this year through the end of June. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety...
Marsh Launches Global Mining Practice
Jul 6 2011 // Marsh has announced the formation of a new “Global Mining Practice,” which it said “harnesses all of its mining expertise, experience, and relationships around the world.” The move comes as...
Marsh Forms New Global Mining Practice
Jul 6 2011 // As mining organizations pursue growth opportunities outside their home countries, they are challenged by a number of new and emerging exposures. Marsh has formed a new Global Mining Practice that will combine its global...
Federal Report: Coal Dust, Deception in Fatal West Virginia Mine Blast
Jun 30 2011 // The blast that killed 29 men in a West Virginia coal mine last year was probably caused by coal dust ignition, compounded by safety failings, intimidation and deception by the mine’s owner, the U.S. mine regulator...
Mine Owner Massey Kept 2 Sets of Safety Records: NPR
Jun 29 2011 // The owners of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 men died in a blast last year kept two sets of safety records, one that it concealed from federal safety officials, National Public Radio reported Wednesday, The...
3 Men Rescued from Collapsed Kentucky Mine
Jun 22 2011 // Three men who spent more than half a day trapped underground in a flooded southeastern Kentucky coal mine waded out and were on their way home after just a quick hospital evaluation. Relief was on the faces of Pernell...
Mining Rule on Coal Dust Becomes Permanent
Jun 22 2011 // Federal regulators are making permanent an emergency rule implemented last year requiring underground mines to do more to control explosive coal dust. The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the final rule this...
Coal Industry Blasts New Federal Mine Safety Rules
Jun 9 2011 // Coal industry officials this week roundly criticized two sets of new safety rules proposed by federal regulators following an explosion that killed 29 West Virginia miners last year. The West Virginia Coal Association and...
Massey Criticizes Federal Report on West Virginia Mine Disaster
Jun 6 2011 // The company that owned the coal mine where 29 miners died in the worst U.S. mining disaster in four decades concluded the explosion was the result of unpreventable natural gas buildup and not coal dust, contradicting the...
Feds Demand Workplace Injury Records from Mining Firms
May 26 2011 // An administrative law judge has ordered two major coal producers, Massey Energy Co. and Peabody Energy Corp., to turn over information about coal mine accidents, injuries and work-related illnesses, federal regulators...