Feature Stories
Breathing New Life Into Old Coal Mine Site in W. Va.
August 15, 2017
A small plot of budding lavender overlooks a mostly barren, partly-reclaimed mountainside, contrasting the old and new. “That’s what it all used to look like before it was reclaimed,” Aaron Smith, of Charleston, said as he pointed to the mountainside.
South Africa’s Blyvoor Goes from One of the World’s Richest Gold Mines to Ghost Town
August 7, 2017
Thousands of unemployed miners in South Africa are calling on the Government to save their town. The Blyvoor gold mine, near Johannesburg, shut down in 2013 when it became unprofitable. Once one of the richest gold mines in the world,
Quecreek Lessons Learned: Pennsylvania Mine Nears Closure 15 Years After Near-tragedy
July 25, 2017
Some five dozen miners gouged coal from the dark depths of the Quecreek Mine last week as a Somerset County community prepared to mark the 15th anniversary of the mine rescue that riveted a nation and forever changed the industry.
Soudan Underground Mine Tours in Minnesota Give Visitors a Front Seat to Mining’s History
July 24, 2017
Imagine walking three-quarters of a mile through a mine tunnel in complete darkness to find iron ore, park interpreter James Juip tells the tour group. The lights click off to help people imagine that scenario and the 20 people stand
Lost Mining Jobs and Mothballed Mines in South Africa Unlikely to Be Reopened
July 17, 2017
More job cuts are inevitable in the mining industry, and it’s unlikely those jobs will ever be replaced. With the industry bleeding 1200 to 1500 jobs a month, according to Connie Prinsloo, Solidarity’s deputy general secretary for mining, workers should
NMA President Quinn Encouraged by Trump’s Resource Development Policies
July 14, 2017
After eight years of battling anti-mining policies being promulgated by the Obama Administration, the National Mining Association is cautiously optimistic about the positive change in the tone and substance of U.S. resource development policies since Donald Trump has moved into
Mine-to-Mouth Model in North Dakota Produces Some of the Cheapest Power in the Country
July 10, 2017
The chimneys of Coal Creek Station, North Dakota’s largest power plant, tower 60 stories over the prairie. Nearby, an excavator that looks like a giant crane looms over a big coal mine. The mine feeds the plant owned by Maple
A New Generation of Mining Shown in Ilmenite Processing Technology
June 29, 2017
Recent metallurgical research by Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) and Process Research Ortech (PRO) on an area ilmenite deposit has shown to produce high quality titanium dioxide. Ilmenite is the mineral from which titanium dioxide and eventually titanium metal comes.
NMA’s Luke Popovich: Coal Jobs Rise, Media Blames Trump
June 26, 2017
Here’s one irony emerging from the tumultuous early months of the Trump administration. The president’s support for the coal industry, and his rollback of costly federal regulations, is gradually helping put coal communities back on their feet. But the president
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
