US environmentalist to restart three met-coal mines

Workers in South Africa's coal sector are expected to return to their posts on Tuesday after the unions and the SA Chamber of Mines signed a two-year wage agreement, ending an eight-day strike. 150,000 workers at miners Anglo American Thermal Coal, Delmas Coal, Exxaro Coal Mpumalanga, Kangra Coal, Optimum Coal and Xstrata Coal were on strike over wages. Talks with striking workers in the country's gold sector, where 200,000 workers are on strike continued on Monday. Mineworkers are asking for a 14% wage increase – far above the inflation rate in Africa's largest economy which hovers around the 4% level.

Two separate accidents at mines in Ukraine have claimed the lives of 37 miners, Reuters reported Sunday: Rescue work ended on Sunday at two Ukrainian coal mines where accidents killed 37, and the former Soviet republic held a national day of mourning. An explosion in a mine in the Luhansk region early on Friday killed at least 26 people and injured two, according to an updated report on the Emergencies Ministry website. Also early on Friday, 11 miners died and four were injured at a state-owned mine in the neighbouring Donetsk region when a piece of heavy machinery collapsed.

A grassroots movement opposed to coal-seam gas (CSG) mining got a boost of star power on Saturday, when 70s pop singer Olivia Newton-John panned the controversial practice. The Australian singer, who starred alongside John Travolta in the hit movie-musical Grease, launched a scathing attack on the mining industry after learning several sites near her luxury Byron Bay resort were under threat, The Sunday Telegraph reported. In an open letter to Australians warning about the health effects of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, Newton-John says she is "horrified to learn of the extensive plans for coal-seam gas and shale gas exploration in Australia." Image of Olivia Newton-John is from Wikimedia, by gdcgraphics.

The most toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants can be found in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, according to a new study released by the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Wales Online reports mining at the historic Tower Colliery in Wales could begin again as soon as Christmas after a £30m scheme to regenerate the site was given the green light by councillors of the nearby town of Rhondda Cynon Taf earlier in the week. Tower Colliery was the oldest continuously worked pit coal mine in the United Kingdom at the time of its closure by British Coal in 1994 with a history dating back to at least 1805. It was bought out by the laid off miners and re-opened the next year before finally shutting down in 2008.

Arch Coal Inc.'s (ACI: News ) second-quarter net income plummeted to $11.1 million or $0.06 per share from $66.2 million or $0.41 per share a year earlier. Excluding charges, adjusted net income for the second quarter of 2011 was $78 million, or $0.44 per share, the company said. On average, 22 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.60 for the quarter.

Anglo American, one of the world's largest miners, today reported strong first half growth with operating profit ahead 40% to $6bn. Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll said that investments made during the downturn would stand them in good stead in the near-term future. "We believe that the fundamentals for the mining industry are very, very strong, and therefore the longer-term outlook is extremely positive." Image by shizhao

Sixteen miners died and another 10 were missing after a nighttime explosion in a coal mine in the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine, the emergencies ministry said on Friday. As a result of the early Friday accident, two more workers received burn injuries and were hospitalized, the ministry said in a statement.

Diversified miner Teck Resources doubled its quarterly profit on higher copper and coal prices, the company announced on Thursday. Teck said it brought in $756 million in profits in the second quarter of 2011, a 90 percent increase from the same period in 2010, or $1.12 a share compared to 59 cents per share in Q2 2010. President and CEO Don Lindsay attributed the doubling of profits to higher prices for coal and copper — the company's chief commodities — along with a US$2 billion rights offering in July that cashed up the company to the tune of $3.4 billion. Photo of Teck's Elkview operation in southeastern British Columbia, by Teck Resources Limited.