Gold mining output in South Africa fell 16.5 percent in January from the same period last year because of power cuts, the national statistics agency said Thursday.
“Gold production decreased by 16.5 percent for the month of January 2008 compared with January 2007,” Statistics South Africa said in a statement.
And overall, “the reported electricity supply shortages [...]

Alcoa Inc. announced that it has reviewed Alcan’s continuity agreement with the Government of Quebec which identifies the requirements that Alcoa must meet regarding Alcan’s future operations in the Province in order to maintain certain of Alcan’s hydroelectric and water rights. In a letter to Alcan’s Board of Directors, Alcoa outlined the many ways in [...]

State inspectors have closed a preparation plant and part of a strip mine after finding explosives residue associated with the disposal of old munitions from defense contractor Talon Manufacturing.
Magnum Coal’s Samples Mine cannot reopen those parts of its operation until company officials submit and receive approval of a cleanup plan.
The mine’s preparation plan and an [...]

One of the last great relics of coal mining in Northeastern Pennsylvania may be dismantled and sold for scrap - or preserved as a monument to a bygone industry.
Either way, the owner of the Huber Breaker - a huge, hulking, boxy steel-and-glass structure once used to crush, wash and sort anthracite coal - is determined [...]

Armed Fijian troops have taken over a failed gold mine owned by an Australian-listed company after some 1,600 local workers were sacked.
Emperor Mines, which owns the Vatukoula mine in Fiji’s west, said armed troops arrived at the site over the weekend, demanding keys and access to critical infrastructure.
The mine - previously Fiji’s largest private employer [...]

Newly unemployed mine workers packed a union hall here Tuesday, looking for work, unemployment benefits and friendly faces after a Canadian company shut down its increasingly costly coal field.
“Those young men down there just kind of had like a glaze over their eyes, it was such a shock to them,” said Bob Guenther, president of [...]

A mining company sued state environmental regulators, claiming that the business was singled out for unequal regulatory enforcement that cost 500 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The Department of Environmental Protection allowed similar mining operations elsewhere in the state, but unfairly forced the closure of the High Quality Mine in Washington [...]

A half-century ago, Darrell Welch’s father pried coal out of the Appalachian Mountains with pick and shovel.
Welch, now 46, followed his father into the mines to pursue a noisy, dirty and at times dangerous living - though one that pays far better than almost any other job in rural Garrett County. For the past two [...]

The biggest order for coal mining equipment for decades has been signed by a company re-opening a colliery, safeguarding hundreds of jobs.
Powerfuel will spend £37 million on state-of-the-art machinery to be used at the Hatfield pit near Doncaster in South Yorkshire.
Two sets of coal cutting and ancillary equipment will be bought from Joy Mining Machinery, [...]

The biggest order for coal mining equipment for decades is set to give a huge boost to a Midlands manufacturing operation.
Powerfuel will spend £37 million on state-of-theart machinery to be used at the Hatfield pit near Doncaster in South Yorkshire.
Two sets of coal-cutting and ancillary equipment will be bought from Joy Mining Machinery, to be [...]