Latest Mining Headlines

All the headlines from our Mining Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Ex-Coal CEO Asks Supreme Court to Toss West Virginia Mine Blast Conviction

Sep 18 2017 // Attorneys for former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship have made a last pitch to the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out his conviction connected to a 2010 West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 miners. Attorneys for Don...

West Virginia Miner Who Survived 2006 Sago Blast Dies on Job

Aug 28 2017 // A coal miner who died on the job in West Virginia was the brother of one of the 12 killed in the Sago Mine disaster of 2006.The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that authorities identified the miner found dead Friday as...

CNA Hardy Appoints IMIU’s Fryer as Class Manager, Mining Specialist

Aug 24 2017 // CNA Hardy, a specialist commercial insurance provider for clients within the Lloyd’s and company markets, announced the appointment of James Fryer as class manager, mining specialist.Reporting to Lloyd Tunnicliffe,...

Fatalities Rising as Coal Mine Production Increases

Aug 8 2017 // Ray Hatfield Jr. was six months into his latest coal job when he was crushed to death in a Kentucky mine.Hatfield, a 23-year industry veteran, was cleaning a conveyor belt that shuttled coal to the surface of the...

Safety Lapses Blamed for Death of Kentucky Coal Miner

Jul 21 2017 // Federal regulators say an accident that killed a coal miner in Pike County happened because a conveyor belt didn’t have adequate safety guards. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the U.S. Mine Safety and Health...

British Columbia’s Wildfires Threaten Lumber Supplies, Force Mine Closures

Jul 18 2017 // Wildfires sweeping across British Columbia, the world’s biggest exporter of softwood lumber, sent timber prices surging and forced the closure of two copper mines in the western Canadian province.More than 375 fires...

Kentucky Reduces Number of Coal Mine Safety Inspections to Cut Costs

Jul 11 2017 // Kathy Bartlett watched helplessly this spring as Kentucky lawmakers cut back on mine safety inspections and replaced them with coaching sessions on miners’ safety habits.She knows more than most what’s at...

Officials Say 7 Coal Miner Deaths This Year Raise Questions About Training

Jun 22 2017 // Seven U.S. coal miners died in accidents so far this year, most of them with less than a year of experience at that particular job and mine, according to federal officials. In all of last year, eight miners died.Tim...

1 Killed in Alabama Mining Accident

Jun 22 2017 // Officials say an accident at a coal mine near Birmingham, Ala., has left one person dead.A statement from the West Virginia-based Seneca Coal Resources says a rail-hauling accident happened Monday night at the...

Hackers Target Canada Miners, Casinos, Demanding Bitcoin Ransoms: FireEye

Jun 19 2017 // The same hacker targeting Canadian casinos and mining companies for extortion since 2013 is planning more attacks, researchers at cyber security company FireEye Inc said in a report on Friday.FireEye said it believes that...

Ex-Coal CEO Blankenship Urges Trump to Probe 2010 Mine Blast in West Virginia

May 18 2017 // A former coal executive who last week finished a yearlong prison sentence for conspiring to violate safety standards at a mine where a deadly blast occurred, has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to “get to the...

Mine Owned by West Virginia Gov Faces Fines for Safety Violations

Apr 28 2017 // A West Virginia mining operation owned by Gov. Jim Justice faces fines of more than $10,000 for six safety violations following a workers’ fatal fall in February. The West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health,...

Coal Mining Company Proposes Turning Kentucky Mine Into Solar Farm

Apr 21 2017 // A former strip mine would be converted into a solar farm under a proposal announced Tuesday by an Appalachian coal company that says it wants to place hundreds of thousands of panels in the Kentucky mountains.The Berkeley...

Ohio Coal Miner Creates Fake Employment Records in Workers’ Comp Fraud

Apr 10 2017 // A former coal miner from northeast Ohio owes the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) more than $40,000 after BWC investigators found him creating phony employment records to secure BWC cash benefits, the...

U.S. Judge Tosses Lawsuit Over 1968 Mine Blast in West Virginia

Apr 6 2017 // A federal judge in West Virginia has tossed out a lawsuit filed by relatives of 78 miners killed in a 1968 mine explosion in the state. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley in Clarksburg...

Losses from Colorado Mine Spill Could Be Far Less than Feared

Apr 4 2017 // Economic damage from a Colorado mine waste spill caused by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may be far less than originally feared after attorneys drastically reduced some of the larger claims, The Associated Press...

Falling Rock Kills Kentucky Coal Miner; State’s Second Mining Death of 2017

Apr 4 2017 // A miner killed by falling rock at a Kentucky coal mine early Thursday is the state’s second mining fatality this year, matching the total from all of 2016, authorities said.Joseph W. Partin died when a 15-foot-tall...

Australia Floods in Wake of Cyclone Debbie Kill 4, Disrupt Mining

Apr 3 2017 // Damage to rail lines in cyclone-hit northeast Australia is set to disrupt exports of the steel-making material from the world’s largest coking coal region, underpinning prices and raising the prospect of major...

UK at Risk of Exiting EU on ‘WTO Terms,’ Thereby Opening Legal Minefield

Mar 29 2017 // Failure to strike a trade deal with the European Union by a two-year deadline would force Britain to adopt World Trade Organization arrangements, bringing with it a host of new negotiations and complications.In a nutshell,...

Kentucky Lawmakers Approve Reducing State Coal Mine Inspections

Mar 16 2017 // Kentucky lawmakers have agreed to loosen inspection requirements for underground coal mines. The Kentucky Senate gave final approval to House Bill 384 on Tuesday. It would give the Department of Natural Resources...