Feature Stories
Nova Scotia’s New Gold Rush: Seeking Riches in Flecks of Metals
June 23, 2017
Amid the dull claystone of a tube-shaped sample of rock, the gleaming, pulse-quickening swirl of gold is unmistakable. “It’s quite a special specimen of gold — it’s by far the best visible section of gold we’ve ever intersected,” said Tim
Study Exposes Huge Flaws in EPA Science
June 20, 2017
After three years, researchers have finally published a study claiming to have debunked science the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used to justify imposing costly regulations on U.S. industries. The study led by veteran statistician Stan Young found “little evidence
Ron Klink: War on Coal Doesn’t End With Pennsylvania or West Virginia
June 19, 2017
Very few members of Congress have actually shoveled tons upon tons of coal. I have. I started working in a coal yard at the age of 13 and I know what coal has meant to the development of this great
Newmont’s Supply Warehouse Brings Efficiency to Its Mines
June 13, 2017
Everything from toilet paper to oil filters finds its way to various mines across Nevada thanks to Newmont Mining Corp’s central warehouse, and the operation has plans to make the process even more efficient. Newmont’s warehouse opened in June 2008
Mining the Asteroid 16 Psyche Between Mars and Jupiter Would Net $10 Quintillion
June 13, 2017
A common element in sci-fi movies is asteroids. We’re either blowing them up, landing on them, living inside them or mining them for profit. That last cliché might actually become reality in the near future, thanks to one of the
A Split Second a Half-mile Below Ground in Butte Changed Course of Mining History
June 8, 2017
Half an hour before midnight on the 8th of June 1917, one simple, wrong move in a single, split second a half-mile below ground sparked what was then the worst hard-rock mining disaster in U.S. history. Today, a century later,
Mining Oregon’s Gemstone
June 6, 2017
It may not have the historic allure and Americana nostalgia of the great gold rush, but tucked away in a quiet corner of Lake County is a place where novice and expert collectors alike work side-by-side in pursuit of one
Threats of Canadian Coal Export Ban Echo in Wyoming
June 2, 2017
When the premier of British Columbia suggested a coal export ban in late April as retaliation to the Trump administration’s proposed tariff on lumber, some heard a campaign sales pitch to win over environmentally friendly voters in Canada’s westernmost province.
GE’s New Innovation Center in Virginia to Showcase Coal Efficiencies
May 31, 2017
No matter what the prospects for renewable energies might be, with more than 500 years of reserves in the U.S. alone, coal will be here to stay for a good long time. Coal plants currently generate more than 40 percent
Bernard L. Weinstein: Don’t Write Off Coal
May 30, 2017
Conventional wisdom has it that the U.S. coal industry peaked a decade ago and is in a state of permanent decline. Recent data would seem to bear this out. Domestic coal production has dropped from 1.2 billion short tons in
