Firefighting and Coal Mining Common Bonds.

I've been wanting to write on this subject for quite some time now. I would like to share with you some of the common bonds the fire service shares with coal mining. First off a lot a firefighting equipment was developed for the mining industry. One example of this is the breathing apparatus. These were developed to rescue trapped miners underground in fire or explosion incidents. MSA (Mine Safety Appliances) still produce breathing apparatus for the fire service, in addition to many items for the mining industry. There are times when the mining industry and the fire service have collided. On November 13, 1909 the Cherry Hill mine in Illinois caught fire killing 259 men and boys. The fire was so fierce that, a Chicago fire pumper along with Chicago firefighters were loaded onto a train and transported to the mine to combat the blaze. Some of the original first aid crews were for underground mines. Some of these larger mines had their own underground ambulance. By now many of you have seen on the news miners wearing reflective clothing that resembles firefighting reflective clothing. This revolution in mine safety was thought of by a Massey Energy safety director who, happened to be a Volunteer Firefighter with the Kenova Fire Dept in West Virginia. He got his inspiration from firefighting protective clothing, which have had reflective material on them for years. It is hard to say how many miners lives has been saved by this innovation. Lastly, a large common bond between the two industries is the danger of the job and the brotherhood. Both activities require a certain amount of situational awareness. At any time you can be hurt or killed in both jobs. The brotherhood. This could be the most important bond of them all. Both jobs take a lot of time away from home life. Many times you are with your work family more than your own family. This creates a bond that can't be described to people who have never experienced it. In closing both jobs require you to look out for your fellow employees well being, in these jobs you are truly your brothers keeper.

Exciting times!

Folks, these are exciting times we are living in. The  news in the coal industry is all of the mergers and acquisitions that are taking place. The merger that is taking the spotlight now is the merger/acquisition of Massey Energy. Massey has had some major set backs in the last couple of years. It seems the UBB accident of last year was the proverbially nail in the coffin for Massey. I hope with the takeover Alpha will bring a breath of fresh air to the mining industry in Central Appalachia. In late 2010 Cliffs Natural resources took control of INR's Logan County operations. With this acquisition Cliffs will increase their annual out put of high grade Central Appalachia metallurgical coal.

Forgotten Mines of the New River Valley

The New River Valley Region of South Western Virginia is known for its beautiful mountains, crystal clear streams and Virginia Tech. Unknown to many is that this beautiful region dotted with farms and communities was once a thriving coal mining area. German and Scotch-Irish settlers settled this area, in the 1700’s. The coal is Semi-Anthracite, and outcrops on Brush Mountain near the present town of Blacksburg. Many of the settlers were blacksmiths and they would have recognized these black rocks as coal. It is believed that coal was mined as far back as 1750 to fuel the fires in local blacksmith shops. Later the coal was not only used locally but was shipped via horse and wagon to Lynchburg, Va. where it was offloaded onto barges and floated down the James River. Records from Montgomery county show that there were 200 tons of coal mined in 1840. Coal from this region was mined during the Civil War and helped to fuel the Confederacy war machine. It is legend that the Confederated ship Merrimac burned coal from the mines located at the present community of Merrimac, thus giving the mine and community its name. Mining in the valley remained small scale until the railroad arrived around the late 1800’s. Larger mining operations began to ramp up production around the early part of the 20^th century as Montgomery County 1907 records show the annual coal production to be around 22,000 tons. Coal Camps would spring up around the larger Mining operations and some would have company owned housing, stores and a post office. One of the Largest operations in the valley; The Merrimac mine produced coal until they shut down over a labor dispute in 1935. Other large-scale operations in the valley were; The Great Valley Anthracite Coal Corporation’s Great Valley Mine, Superior Anthracite’s Big Vein Mine and Parrot Mine in Pulaski County. The Great Valley Mine was the scene of the region’s single largest loss of life. On April 18, 1946, a methane explosion claimed twelve miners’ lives. This mine continued to produce coal for several more years until it was shut down due to ventilation and methane problems. The 1950’s were the end of the large-scale mining in the area with the shutdown of the Big Vein Mine in 1953. After the large-scale mines shut down, all that remained were small private owned “Truck Mines” or “Buggie Mines”. These mines provided coal for the local coal market, which included house coal, and coal to supply the boilers at Virginia Tech. Most of these mines only produced coal in the fall and winter months and would shut down during the summer months. Many miners during these months would farm and raise gardens to support themselves during this time. The late 1970’s saw the end of mining in the valley and the end of an era. In 1994 a small group of former miners and family members started up The Coal Mining Heritage Association to preserve the history of mining in the valley for future generations. The Coal Mining Heritage Association meets the first Monday of each month at various locations throughout the valley. The group is currently seeking a location to start a Coal mining museum and possibly an exhibition coal mine. There is currently a Coal Miners Heritage Park located on the Merrimac Mine site. Located on the Mine site are a coal car, hoist, hoist platform, tipple foundation and gob pile. The park was formed from a partnership between the Coal Miners Heritage Association and Montgomery County Parks and Recreation Department. There are two other Coal Miners Memorials located at McCoy, VA, and the Brush Mountain Coal Miners Memorial located on Glade Road near Blacksburg, VA. Unlike the Anthracite region of Pennsylvania this area has no active workings, the veins of coal lie in very steep and broken seams making it very difficult to mine. In a time where quality coal tops well over $100.00 a ton this may be the end of an industry and an almost forgotten way of life.

Rockhouse Creen Development

America is in a recession, or so says top economic analysts. GM and Ford both are cutting production and laying off workers. Many manufacturing jobs are leaving the U.S. to be outsourced in other countries with cheaper costs. The economic future of the country is unknown, but there are parts of the country that are doing quite well. Appalachia is enjoying a coal boom that it has not seen since the 1970’s. We recently went to a small town nestled in the mountains of Southern West Virginia just to see how things are. Gilbert, West Virginia is located in Mingo County and is typical of most small mining towns in that mining is not only a job but also, a way of life. International Resource Partners is a mining company which owns and operates three subsidiaries around the Gilbert area: Hampden Coal, Rock House Creek Development and Chafin Branch Coal. Hampden Coal is the preparation and shipping division, operating a prep plant and two load outs served by both Norfolk Southern railway and CSX railway. Chaffin Branch, the surface division operates one surface operation at this time with future operations possible. Rockhouse Creek Development, the underground division, has seven operating units in five underground mines with more units opening in the near future. Rockhouse Creek, which can trace its history, all the way back to the 1950’s, produces about 1.1 million tons of high-grade metallurgical coal from the Cedar grove and No 2 gas seams and ships to Brazil, India, China and Canada.

We had a chance to visit Rockhouse Creek Developments number eight mine. Number eight is their top producing underground mine producing fifty to sixty thousand clean ton of coal per month from three continuous miner sections in the No.2 gas seam. What is really impressive is how well organized this operation is. Underground height was observed from forty-five inches to around fifty inches. A combination of Joy fourteen series continuous miners and DBT 25 mo continuous miners are used with Joy/Narco 21sc shuttle cars providing haulage. International Resource Partners also own Logan and Kanawha coal sales. Logan and Kanawha is the country’s oldest coal sales group.

We also sat down and spoke with Rockhouse Creek Development’s Underground Mine Manager, Scott Mills. Mr. Mills is a coal miner with thirty-seven years underground experience with top producing companies such as Massey Energy, Arch Coal, Consol Energy, and the once mighty Island Creek Coal Company. Mr. Mills is a graduate from Southern West Virginia Community College in Business and has received many management classes from prior employers. Commenting on his employer, Mills said “I am very excited to be with a growth and employee orientated company.” He also further pointed out that since he had been with the company it had grown from a company with two underground mines and seventy-four employees to five underground mines and two hundred and ninety five employees. “We have and continue to invest in the future by making capital improvements by purchasing new equipment and property acquisitions,” said Mills. Rockhouse Creek Development is not without its growing pains. They have had to train an almost entirely new workforce. This is evident in that the company has its very own electrical apprentice training program and Mine foreman certificate program. Rockhouse also provides management and legality classes for its mine supervisors. Rockhouse Creek Development is an equal opportunity employer and has an employee open door policy. For all inquiries please contact:

Scott Mills
General Manager- Underground Mines (304) 784-8455
smills@hampdencoal.com