WASHINGTON, D.C. – Twenty American mining operations – six coal mines and fourteen mineral/metal mines – won “Sentinels of Safety Awards” awards today in recognition of their outstanding mine safety achievements during 2014. An American mine also won the annual Mine Safety and Health Technology Innovations Award from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The awards were presented to company representatives at a dinner ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The Sentinels awards, sponsored annually by the National Mining Association (NMA), recognize coal and mineral mining operations in ten categories for recording the most hours in a calendar year without a single lost-time injury. A minimum of 4,000 hours are required for award consideration. The award categories reflect the safety accomplishments of both small and large mines.

“These awards are a timely reminder of the importance of safety in the mining industry and of the further progress we are making to ensure every miner returns home safely after each and every shift,” said NMA President and CEO Hal Quinn.

“The companies we honor today are the true sentinels of safety, not only the safest mines in this country but among the safest mines in the world,” Quinn said. “The industry is inspired by the example they have set.”

Initiated in 1925 by then Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, a former mining engineer, the Sentinels of Safety Award program has helped foster a strong safety commitment on the part of U.S. mines.

In addition, R.J. Matetic, director of the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, Office of Mine Safety and Health Research, NIOSH, awarded the 2015 Mine Safety and Health Technology Innovation Award for extraordinary efforts, above and beyond mandatory requirements, to apply technology in ways that will improve mine worker safety or health. This year’s award recognized NMA member Murray Energy Corporation of Columbus, Ohio, for developing a fire suppression technology utilizing a stored energy compressed air foam system that can be deployed in coal mines.

Sentinels of Safety Award winners in 2014 include:

Underground Coal

Skyline Mine
Bowie Resource Partners, LLC
577,486 Injury-Free Hours

Carbon Hill Mine
Prospect Mining and Development Company, Inc.
89,576 Injury-Free Hours

Surface Coal

Jewett Mine
Texas Westmoreland Coal Co.
836,853 Injury-Free Hours

No. 1 Strip
Beechwood Coal, LLC
31,400 Injury-Free Hours

Coal Processing Facility

Bull Mountain Mine #1
Signal Peak Energy, LLC
292,390 Injury-Free Hours

Red Bud Dock No. 1
Appalachian Mining & Reclamation LLC
27,029 Injury-Free Hours

Underground Metal

Lee Smith Mine
Small Mine Development LLC
174,710 Injury-Free Hours

Troy Mine Inc.
Hecla Mining Company
100,758 Injury-Free Hours

Underground Nonmetal

Maysville Mine
Carmeuse Lime and Stone Co.
212,385 Injury-Free Hours

Rich Hill Underground Mine
Hanson Aggregates
47,160 Injury-Free Hours

Open Pit

Sheppard
Arcilla Mining & Land Company, LLC
180,913 Injury-Free Hours

BPM Lovell Mine
Bentonite Performance Minerals LLC
16,938 Injury-Free Hours

Quarry

Ste. Genevieve Facility
Tower Rock Stone Co.
202,659 Injury-Free Hours

Portable #1
West Hawaii Concrete
12,080 Injury-Free Hours

Dredge

Briggs Plant
Fordyce Holdings Inc.
203,452 Injury-Free Hours

Country Side
Country Side Sand & Gravel, Inc.
10,394 Injury-Free Hours

Bank or Pit

Vista Sand
Lonestar Prospects LTD
184,867 Injury-Free Hours

Portable Plant #1
Associated Constructors, LLC
9,367 Injury-Free Hours

Metal/Nonmetal Mill

Copperton Concentrator
Kennecott Utah Copper LLC
649,385 Injury-Free Hours

Nokomis Quarry
Hanson Material Service
21,549 Injury-Free Hours