Published: June 21, 2011 |

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A well-established Bland County, Va., business that has a long record of meeting the underground communication needs of the coal mining industry, will be able to improve its products as well as its production capability thanks to a grant from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.

American Mine Research Inc., joined together with the Tobacco Commission, federal, state and county leaders June 16 to host a ground breaking ceremony for a major expansion project at AMR’s facility in Rocky Gap. The commission’s $800,000 grant along with AMR’s $800,000 match will bring 10 new mechanical and engineering jobs to the area and will help AMR meet the demand for the company’s present product lines as well as its new Mine Net Mesh system — a new generation of wireless communications and monitoring for underground coal mining.

Robert Graf, AMR founder said that the company has always been committed to underground coal mine safety. “The first products we produced were designed to enhance underground coal mine safety,” he said. “Right from the start we moved into mine and atmospheric monitoring and improved products that save coal miner’s lives.”

Graf said that AMR was fortunate to have been able to expand to develop products for use at surface mines and in the aggregates industry as well. However, events during the past five years including the coal mine disasters at the Sago Mine, Aracoma, Crandall Canyon in Utah and more recently at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal have underscored the need for improved monitoring and communications underground.

David Graf, manager of business development at AMR, said that the new wireless system AMR has developed allows coal miners to communicate with each other via voice and text messages as well as atmospheric monitoring. “The coal miners that we work with say that text messages are a much better way to communicate in the mine. Our customers want a system that can wirelessly communicate and provide many functions such as tracking, voice and text communication and mine monitoring,” David Graf said. In addition to improving communications, AMR is developing other products than will improve safety as well as productivity, according to Graf.

The advance in wireless communications is one of the major developments here,” State Senator Phillip P. Puckett, D-Russell said. “Early on, wireless communications could be interrupted above ground just by a tree or a building blocking the signal, but the technology is improving in terms of wireless communications in underground coal mines.”

During the formal check presentation and ground breaking ceremony at the facility, David Graf explained that a similar ground breaking ceremony took place at the site in 1984. He pointed out now AMR along with its sister companies, East River Metals and Custom Manufacturing Services have “close to 200 employees” that are stable and provide a diversified group of products. “Thankfully, we also now have the trust and financial support from Bland County and the State of Virginia to help improve our products, grow our companies and provide quality jobs for our employees,” Graf said.

In addition to the public officials on hand for the event including Karen Hodock, chair of the Bland County board of supervisors, Eric Workman, Bland County administrator, Terry Sivert, representative of U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., Gwyn Dutton, representative of U.S. Senator Jim Webb, D-Va., State Delegate James W. “Will” Morefield, R-Tazewell and Linda Diyorio, who serves with Puckett on the Tobacco Commission, Graf also thanked Bob Saxton, AMR general manager and Jim Gunnoe, AMR’s head engineer, who approached him with the idea of developing underground wireless tracking.

“All of you have helped to create this success, from the technicians showing up at the mines at 4 a.m., to our electronics and metal folks working countless hours of overtime to get the product out the door, to the engineers pulling all nighters, testing their code or finishing up with (Mine Safety and Health Administration) documentation, it truly has been a wonderful team effort,” David Graf said.

Employees joined with dignitaries for a luncheon after the formal ground breaking ceremony.

“This is truly a family-oriented business,” Trish Trail, a plant employee said. “They treat people just like family even when they don’t have to,” she said.

— By Bill Archer, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.

Read more about AMR’s new Mine Net Mesh system in the Business Spotlight section, CLICK HERE

Related AMR news on Mining Connection;

February 1, 2011: American Mine Research and Bland County Receive Grant for New Jobs

June 16, 2011: Jerry Hess Named to Sales Position for Western US Territory at American Mine Research