News and Story Categories

Upper Big Branch Updates
Don Blankenship: Investors, Politicians Begin Calling For Massey Head To Resign 15 weeks 3 days
4 missing W.Va. miners dead; final toll at 29 15 weeks 6 days
Meet Mr. Mining Disaster 16 weeks 15 hours
Crews to start search for mine disaster survivors 16 weeks 1 day
Last-Ditch Mine Rescue Attempt 16 weeks 2 days

List jobs, publish stories, and learn more about coal mining and Wild West Virginia!

If you're an employer, publisher, or wish to contribute something to the site, start here.

Coal Map

Javascript is required to view this map.

[detailed map]

Latest Jobs

Position Date added
Sample Job Morgantown West Virginia 19 weeks 18 hours ago

Coal Mining Facts

Methods Of Coal Mining
Surface mining is used for about 40% of coal production in the world. When coal deposits are near the surface, it may be inexpensive to extract the coal using surface mining methods. The different types of surface mining are modern surface mining,...

Uses of Coal
Coali is a solid hydrocarbon that burns. As such it can be used in the same way the liquid hydrocarbon, oil, is used as fuel and in the chemical industry. Fuel is used in:

Drift Mining
Drift mining is a method of accessing valuable geological material, such as coal, by cutting into the side of the earth, rather than tunneling straight downwards (see shaft mine). Drift mines have horizontal entries into the coal seam from a...

Slope Mining
Slope mines are another kind of underground mine.  With slope mines, the coal or minerals are far enough under ground that surface mining can’t reach it.With slope mining, the coal or mineral bed is located very deep and parallel to the ground...

Shaft Mining
Shafti mining or Shafti sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. When the top of the excavation is surface it is referred to as a shaft, when...

Coal Mining History

Don Blankenship: Investors, Politicians Begin Calling For Massey Head To Resign
The calls to oust Massey Energy Company Chairman and CEO Don Blankenship began in earnest Monday, with members of both the private and public sectors getting involved.The CtW Investment Group sent a letter to Massey's board of directors Monday...

4 missing W.Va. miners dead; final toll at 29
[LINK] 

Meet Mr. Mining Disaster
[LINK TO STORY]Even before the explosion in West Virginia that killed 25 of his company's employees, Don Blankenship was a Hollywood-caliber villain. Clara Bingham on a coal executive with a seeming disregard for worker safety.For the past five...

Crews to start search for mine disaster survivors
By DENA POTTER and ALLEN G. BREED (AP) – 6 hours agoMONTCOAL, W.Va. — Rescue crews planned to start the hourslong five-mile trek into a West Virginia coal mine Thursday to find signs of possible survivors of the worst U.S. mining disaster in a...

Last-Ditch Mine Rescue Attempt

Rescuers resumed drilling on Wednesday to ventilate toxic gas blocking their attempt to reach four workers still trapped in a West Virginia mine—though the process could take days. Monday’s explosion was “very violent,” a company executive said...

Coal Mining Technology

Reducing Chinese Coal Mining Deaths with New Technology
China is eager to address one of the primary culprits behind its alarming coal mining fatalities, as evidenced by the Pre-Mining Degasification Symposium held in South China's Guizhou province on March 31st and April 1st.

ImPact Technology Suite Digital Networks and Applications for Underground Mines
ImPact is a purpose designed WLAN network communications platform that extends a site’s Ethernet topology into the underground workings of a mine. One of the most critical applications the ImPact network is used for is tracking personnel and...

Coal Mining - Zigbee Safety Platform and Mining in China
China has experienced huge casualties from mining disasters, with over 9,000 deaths in year 2006 according to the official statistics, the government has pressured the larger mining operators to install mining safety monitoring system while...

Zigbee vs. RFID for Coal Miner Safety
This is a summary comparing RFID and Zigbee coal mining technology. This page works in conjunction wth the previous submission regarding the business development plans of such a program. The system in question was developed and is currently...

Coal Mining Safey Technology
Recent developments in wireless tracking technology has provided enormous growth and has opened new doors forcing industries to rethink how they manage their inventory, equipment, and people. While the technology itself may not be new, the cost of...

West Virginia Coal Mining newsletter

Stay informed on our latest news!

Previous issues

User login