A preliminary report from the US Mine Safety and Health Administration and a report by the Knott County coroner to local news station WKYT both identify the contract worker killed April 25 at the McCoy Elkhorn KC No.1 mine as 61-year-old Delmer Miller.
Miller, who worked for T&B Transport, was part of a crew retained to dismantle a conveyor stacker belt from the surface area of the mine.
“When the victim completed the final torch cut from the elevated upslope stacker frame support beam that contained the counter-weight, the structure fell, contacting the walkway (catwalk) where the victim was located down slope,” MSHA said in its preliminary findings.
“This section of the walkway, approximately 25 feet in length, broke loose from the main structure causing the victim to fall approximately 20 feet to his death.”
The worker had 20 years of industry experience but had been with the contractor for just three days.
MSHA commenced its investigation into the incident shortly after it was reported.
Kentucky state mining office spokesman Dick Brown told ILN that, because the incident occurred at a non-licensed site, the agency would not be involved in the probe.
McCoy Elkhorn, located in Pike and Floyd counties, is a subsidiary of James River Coal.
According to federal data, the NC No. 1 underground mine last produced bituminous coal in 2009, when it had 98,592 tons of output.
According to JRC, the McCoy Elkhorn complex’s mines include underground and surface operations. Crews mine from the Millard, Alma, Elkhorn 2 and Elkhorn 3 seams.