The National Mining Association (NMA), the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), gathered on September 27 to honor outstanding achievements in mine safety, environmental stewardship and technology.
NMA’s Sentinels of Safety Award recognizes coal and mineral mining operations in 10 categories for recording the most hours in a calendar year without a single lost-time injury. A minimum of 4,000 hours is required for award consideration. The award categories reflect the safety accomplishments of both small and large mines.
Twenty American mining operations — six coal mines and 14 mineral/metal mines — were honored with the award recognizing performance in 2017.
“Through these awards, we acknowledge outstanding accomplishments in safety and hope that these companies’ achievements can serve as a model for others in industry,” NMA President and CEO Hal Quinn said.
Recipients include the following:
Large Group:
• Underground Coal: Bull Mountains mine No. 1 – Signal Peak Energy LLC;
• Quarry: Drake Quarry – Drake Cement LLC;
• Underground Metal: Exodus – Newmont USA Ltd.;
• Open Pit: Genesis – Newmont USA Ltd.;
• Metal/Nonmetal Mill: Grand Saline Operations – Morton Salt;
• Coal Processing Facility: Kayenta mine – Peabody Western Coal Co.;
• Underground Nonmetal: Kerford Limestone – Kerford Limestone Co.;
• Surface Coal: Kosse Strip – Luminant;
• Dredge: Samsund LLC – Samsund LLC; and
• Bank or Pit: Santosh DBA – CalPortland Co.
Small Group:
• Underground Metal: Buckhorn mine – Crown Resources Corp.;
• Underground Nonmetal: Burning Springs mine – Martin Marietta Materials Inc.;
• Metal/ Nonmetal Mill: Columbus Quarry LLC – Columbus Quarry LLC;
• Underground Coal: Cooper Ridge Deep mine – Kopper Glo Mining LLC;
• Bank or Pit: CR5 – Oldcastle SW Group Inc.;
• Dredge: Danz – Peoria Concrete Construction Co.;
• Coal Processing Facility: Holden No 22 Preparation Plant – Arch Coal Inc.;
• Open Pit: Materion Natural Resources – Materion Natural Resources;
• Quarry: SBM Materials – SBM Materials; and
• Surface Coal: Solomon Run – Elk Resources Inc.
The U.S. Department of the Interior recognized two coal companies, two hard-rock companies and one equipment manufacturer for their outstanding environmental performance, mine reclamation accomplishments and community outreach programs.
OSMRE 2018 winners include:
• National Award: Peabody Midwest Mining LLC – Wild Boar Mine – Barren Fork Pit – Lynnville, Indiana;
• National Award: Big Sky Coal Company – Big Sky Mine Area B – Rosebud County, Montana;
• Good Neighbor Award: Peabody Midwest Operations LLC – Bear Run Mine – Carlisle, Indiana; and
• Good Neighbor Award: Trapper Mining Inc. – Trapper mine – Craig, Colorado.
BLM 2018 winners include:
• Hard rock Mineral Environmental Award: M-I LLC (Wyoming)
• Hard rock Mineral Small Operator Award: Western Mining and Minerals Inc. (Utah)
• “Fix A Shaft Today!” Award: Comstock Mining Inc. (Nevada)
In addition, NIOSH will recognize this year’s Mine Safety and Health Technology Innovations Awards winners. Honorees are selected due to the significant advancements they have made to enhance mine safety by applying technology or improved processes in innovative ways.
The following companies were recognized for 2018: Anglo American, CONSOL Energy and Komatsu Mining.
