Latest Mining Headlines

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

Lawsuit in 2011 Nevada Gold Mine Death Settled

Mar 3 2015 // A lawyer for the Utah family of a contract worker at a Nevada gold mine that paid more than $100,000 in U.S. safety fines after he was killed there in 2011 says they’ve settled a wrongful death suit with Newmont USA,...

Australia Cyclone Causes Power Cuts, but Spares Miners, Farmers

Feb 23 2015 // Commodities producers were spared the full wrath of a powerful cyclone that smashed into the east coast of Australia packing winds up to 285 kph (175 mph), but thousands of coastal residents on Monday faced a third day...

Former Massey CEO Requests Dismissal of Charges from West Virginia Mine Explosion

Feb 10 2015 // A former coal company executive is seeking the dismissal of charges stemming from a 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 workers in West Virginia.Don Blankenship, former chief executive officer of Massey Energy, also has...

More Inspections, Fewer Mines Result in Lowest Number of Miner Deaths

Dec 30 2014 // Less than five years after an explosion fueled by excess coal dust killed 29 men deep inside a West Virginia underground mine, the nation’s coal mines are on pace for an all-time low in work-related deaths.Federal...

Third Worker This Year Dies at Kentucky Patriot Mine

Dec 17 2014 // A worker was killed Tuesday in a Kentucky mine owned by Patriot Coal Co., the company’s third such fatality this year.Eli Eldridge, 34, of Sturgis, Kentucky died after he was struck by a vehicle shuttling coal to the...

Workers Inhaled Uranium at Wyoming Mine, NRC Says

Dec 9 2014 // Six workers at a Wyoming uranium mine inhaled the radioactive element while cleaning up a spill inside a processing building just days before the mine delivered its first shipment last year, according to the Nuclear...

Blankenship Pleads Not Guilty to Charges Linked to Massey Mine Explosion

Nov 21 2014 // Former Massey Energy chief Donald Blankenship pleaded not guilty to charges linked to the West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers in the worst U.S. coal industry disaster in almost 40 years.The former...

Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship Faces Criminal Charges Over 2010 Mine Explosion

Nov 18 2014 // The former Massey Energy chief, scorned by regulators and a U.S. senator, may face three decades in prison if convicted of charges stemming from a West Virginia mine explosion that killed 29 workers, the worst U.S. coal...

Hydraulic Leak Contributed To Wyoming Coal Mine Death

Nov 14 2014 // A hydraulic leak and the failure to use a safety block contributed to the crushing death of a contractor at a Wyoming coal mine.The Mine Safety and Health Administration investigated the June 6 death of 25-year-old Joshua...

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...