Latest Mining Headlines

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

Inspections Improving Mine Safety, Says U.S. Official

Apr 3 2012 // Aggressive inspections at troubled mines are helping create safer working environments for coal miners, the head of the federal government’s mine safety agency said during a visit to Kentucky.U.S. Mine Safety and...

Ex-Mine Chief Pleads Guilty in West Virginia Blast

Mar 30 2012 // The former superintendent of the West Virginia mine where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal conspiracy charge that he tipped off employees to safety inspections.Gary May, 43, is...

Regulators Say West Virginia Mines Warned of Inspectors

Mar 30 2012 // Three times in a month, regulators have caught West Virginia coal companies illegally warning miners that federal inspectors were onsite.Mine Safety and Health Administration director Joe Main says such warnings let...

West Virginia Passes Mine Safety Measure

Mar 19 2012 // West Virginia will update its mine safety laws in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four decades.The House of Delegates sent the measure to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who proposed the legislation. Delegates...

Feds Claims Kentucky Mine Owes $1.6M in Safety Fines

Mar 13 2012 // Federal mining officials are suing a southeastern Kentucky mine for more than $1.6 million owed in delinquent fines for violations of safety laws. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration said it issued 1,244...

Feds Announce Charges in Deadly Utah Mine Collapse

Mar 12 2012 // Misdemeanor criminal charges have been filed and fines levied against the operator of a Utah mine where a 2007 collapse killed six miners, two rescuers and a federal inspector, Federal prosecutors said Friday.U.S. Attorney...

West Virginia Lawmakers Pass Mine Safety Measure

Mar 8 2012 // West Virginia will update its mine safety laws in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four decades.The House of Delegates sent the measure to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Delegates approved several changes made by...

$100,000 Settlement for Maryland Coal Miners’ Families

Mar 5 2012 // Two families will split $100,000 in a settlement of a wrongful death suit brought after two coal miners were killed in a high-wall collapse. The Times-News of Cumberland, Maryland, reports that the families of 51-year-old...

Agency Blames Lack Of Control For Alaska Mine Accident

Mar 2 2012 // A federal agency blames inadequate management policies, procedures and controls for a fatal accident at an Alaska mine last year.The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration on Wednesday released its report on the...

Ex-Security Chief at West Virginia Mine Gets 3 Years in Jail

Mar 1 2012 // A U.S. judge sentenced the former security chief at a West Virginia mine to three years in prison after being convicted of two felonies related to a federal probe into the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in 40 years, in...

Kentucky Screenings of Miners Highlights Risk of Drug Use

Feb 27 2012 // More than 1,500 coal miners have tested positive for drug use since Kentucky began screenings six years ago, a state attorney told lawmakers, and he urged lawmakers to close legal loopholes that can allow miners who test...

Massey Mine Superintendent Charged with Conspiracy in West Virginia Blast

Feb 23 2012 // The former superintendent of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion was charged on Wednesday with felony conspiracy by tipping off mine operators to safety inspections, allowing them to...

Firm Develops ‘Guardian Angel’ for Miners

Feb 20 2012 // A West Virginia company is working on a piece of equipment designed to keep miners safer. Trinity Resources, headquartered in Putnam County, demonstrated its mobile mine safety chamber recently at the West Virginia Mining...

Mine Safety Chief Seeks to End Complacency Over Safety

Feb 20 2012 // After every high-profile disaster, regulators step up their enforcement and most coal operators take a second look at safety. Then, over time, both grow complacent. Until the next disaster.“You look away for a...

Firm Develops ‘Guardian Angel’ for Miners

Feb 20 2012 // A West Virginia company is working on a piece of equipment designed to keep miners safer. Trinity Resources, headquartered in Putnam County, demonstrated its mobile mine safety chamber recently at the West Virginia Mining...

Mine Safety Chief Seeks to End Complacency Over Safety

Feb 20 2012 // After every high-profile disaster, regulators step up their enforcement and most coal operators take a second look at safety. Then, over time, both grow complacent. Until the next disaster.“You look away for a...

West Virginia Lawmakers Urged to Hold Mine Operators Accountable

Feb 9 2012 // West Virginia must hold coal operators accountable for any negligence or misconduct to prevent another Upper Big Branch, the worst U.S. coal mine disaster in four decades, the state’s special investigator of that...

West Virginia Firm Develops ‘Guardian Angel’ for Miners

Feb 7 2012 // A West Virginia company is working on a piece of equipment designed to keep miners safer.Trinity Resources, headquartered in Putnam County, demonstrated its a mobile mine safety chamber this week at the West Virginia...

Global Mining Insurance Market Capacity Down 30% After Losses: Willis

Feb 6 2012 // In 2011, the mining insurance market was not only hit by $2.7 billion in natural catastrophe losses, but over 60 operational losses totaling $835 million. The $3.5 billion total estimate of losses facing mining insurers...

Mine Safety Chief Seeks to End Complacency Over Safety

Feb 5 2012 // If there’s one lasting cultural change Mine Safety and Health Administration Director Joe Main wants to make in both the federal agency and the industry it regulates, it’s ending the cycle of intensity and...