NMA hands out Sentinels of Safety awards

The National Mining Association, the organizers and hosts for MINExpo International 2021, has announced the winners of its annual Sentinels of Safety awards – with 40 mining operations taking home honors this year from the Las Vegas event.

The Sentinels of Safety were bestowed to 12 coal mines and 28 metal/nonmetal operations in 10 categories for recording the most hours in the last calendar year without any lost-time injuries. This year mines were honored for performances in both 2019 and 2020.

Recipients for 2020 include the following:

Large Group Category
  • Large Coal Processing, No. 7 Mine, Warrior Met Coal, Inc. Brookwood, Ala.  
  • Large Metal/Nonmetal Mill, Freeport-McMoRan Chino Mines Company, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Bayard, N.M.  
  • Large Surface Coal, San Miguel Lignite Mine, NACG Texas, Inc. Christine, Texas
  • Large Underground Coal, Century Mine, Belmont County Coal Resources, Inc. Beallsville, Ohio
  • Large Underground Metal, Cortez District, Nevada Gold Mines LLC Crescent Valley, Nev.
  • Large Bank or Pit, Tabasco Pit, Upper Valley Materials, LLC Penitas, Texas
  • Large Dredge, Briggs Plant, Fordyce Holdings Inc. Victoria, Texas
  • Large Open Pit, Goldstrike Mine, Nevada Gold Mines LLC Carlin, Nev.
  • Large Quarry, Pennsuco Quarry, Titan Florida LLC Medley, Fla.
  • Large Underground Nonmetal, Intrepid Potash – East, Intrepid Potash – New Mexico, LLC Carlsbad, N.M.
Small Group Category
  • Small Coal Processing, Buckskin Mine, Buckskin Mining Company Gillette, Wyo.
  • Small Underground Metal, Eagle Mine, Eagle Mine, LLC Champion, Mich.
  • Small Bank or Pit, Odessa Sand, Stone, Gravel, Lavette Development Corp. Ithaca, N.Y.
  • Small Dredge, Riverside Plant #11, Holliday Sand & Gravel Lenexa, Kan.
  • Small Metal/Nonmetal Mill, Carmeuse – Portage Operation, O-N Minerals Portage Company, LLC Portage, Ind.
  • Small Open Pit, L R Chapman Inc., L R Chapman Inc. Lewisport, Ky.
  • Small Quarry, Yard 99 – Ashkum, VCNA Prairie LLC Ashkum, Ill.
  • Small Surface Coal, Barrackville Refuse Pile, LP Mineral LLC Barrackville, W.Va.
  • Small Underground Coal, Genesis Mine, Kentucky Land Resources, Inc. Centertown, Ky.
  • Small Underground Nonmetal, Rich Hill Underground Mine & Plant, Hanson Aggregates Pennsylvania LLC Connellsville, Pa.

Last year’s ceremony was postponed due to the pandemic; winners will be recognized at this year’s event. Winners from 2019 were:

Large Group Category
  • Large Surface Coal, Kosse Strip, Luminant Mining Company Kosse, Texas
  • Large Coal Processing, MC #1 Mine, M-Class Mining LLC Franklin County, Ill.
  • Large Metal/Nonmetal Mill, North Shore Mining Company, North Shore Mining Company Silver Bay, Minn.
  • Large Underground Coal, Leer Mine, ACI Tygart Valley, LLC Grafton, W.Va.
  • Large Underground Metal, Cortez District Underground, Nevada Gold Mines LLC Crescent Valley, Nev.
  • Large Bank or Pit, Vista Sand, Vista Proppants & Logistics Granbury, Texas
  • Large Dredge, Briggs Plant, Fordyce Holdings Victoria, Texas
  • Large Open Pit, Boron Operations, US Borax, Inc. Boron, Calif.
  • Large Quarry, Tower Rock Stone – St. Genevieve FA, Tower Rock Stone Company Sainte Genevieve, Mo.
  • Large Underground Nonmetal, Mississippi Lime Company – St. Genevieve, Mississippi Lime Co. Sainte Genevieve, Mo.
Small Group Category
  • Small Surface Coal, Highwall Miner #1, Ramaco Resources LLC Verner, W.Va.
  • Small Coal Processing, Black Thunder, Thunder Basin Coal Company LLC Wright, Wyo.
  • Small Underground Metal, Eagle Mine, Eagle Mine LLC Champion, Mich.
  • Small Bank or Pit, U.S. Aggregates – Swisher Plant, Heritage Aggregate LLC Indianapolis, Ind.
  • Small Dredge, Tarburton Pit, Pennsy Supply Inc. Kent, Del.
  • Small Metal/Nonmetal Mill, Chattanooga Quarry, Martin Marietta Materials Chattanooga, Tenn.
  • Small Open Pit, Edgar Minerals Inc., Edgar Minerals Inc. Hawthorne, Fla.
  • Small Quarry, Kinkaid Stone Company, Kinkaid Stone Company Ava, Ill.
  • Small Underground Coal, Access Energy, Deane Mining LLC Deane, Ky.
  • Small Underground Nonmetal, Springfield Pike Mine & Plant, Hanson Aggregates Pennsylvania LLC Connellsville, Pa.

A minimum of 4,000 hours was required for award consideration, the NMA noted.

“We are pleased to be able to come together once again in-person to celebrate these great accomplishments in safety,” said Rich Nolan, NMA president and CEO. “When the pandemic hit, many industries shut down or stayed home. But the demand for mined materials for virtually every global supply chain never stopped and our nation’s miners remained focus on delivering for every American.”

Technology Awards

The NMA, on behalf of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), also recognized winners from this and last year with NIOSH’s annual Mine Safety and Health Technology Innovation Awards. The honors are given to those with significant advancements toward enhancing mine safety via technology or improved process innovations.

Recognized for 2021: Coeur Mining, for developing and utilizing technology to solve the exposure and risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic; and Matrix Design Group  for combining multiple technologies to improve proximity detection for battery scoops in underground coal mines.

Recognized for 2020 were Freeport-McMoRanfor developing the Haul Truck Operator Scorecard, pairing multiple existing sensor technologies on haul trucks with big data technology to detect operator behaviors that fall outside of established safe operating practices; and once again to Matrix Design Group, for developing a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to prevent collisions of mobile surface equipment, as well as collisions involving machines and workers.

Source: nma.org

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