The company did not indicate the date operations restarted, but the Uneeda, Boone County, operation had been closed since June 4 due to a longwall move, roof conditions and negotiations regarding proper ventilation plan implementation with federal officials.

“MSHA originally insisted that the upcoming longwall mine panel at Revolution be ventilated under an agency mandated plan that was similar to the system the federal authority imposed on Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch facility just prior to the mine experiencing an explosion on April 5, 2010,” Massey officials said.

“In light of complaints from mine personnel, site engineers and miners, Massey did not wish to operate Revolution under MSHA’s ventilation plan, because it provided an insufficient amount of fresh air to the working face.”

The producer said MSHA agreed to a revised, improved ventilation proposal after conducting discussions with mine representatives.

The revised plan will improve air distribution, in part because conveyor belt air is now permitted to ventilate Revolution’s longwall, a move not allowed at UBB, which will increase longwall face air.

Additionally, Massey beleives the new plan is beneficial because adjacent longwall panels can be ventilated using return air.

This method will keep fresh air from being wasted in these areas, instead being sent to crews in active areas of the mine.

Finally, officials said, stopping lines are no longer mandated at the longwall to establish an isolated tail entry.

While the company is pleased with the decision to increase fresh air distribution and improve miner safety, it is still “perplexed” by federal officials’ continued stance prohibiting scrubbers at Massey mines.

“These air filtering devices remain idled despite reports from the US government’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that document 98 per cent of the dust in the mine air can be removed by these scrubbers,” the producer said.

“MSHA’s inexplicable prohibition on the universal and uniform application of scrubbers undermines the agency’s mission of safeguarding the health and safety of American miners.”

MSHA did not offer comment prior to press time.

Revolution’s longer-than-anticipated idle, along with other factors such as increased federal enforcement, was cited for a shipment shortfall announced last week by the Appalachia-focused producer.

In a public guidance update relating to its expectations for 2010 and 2011 results, Massey said on September 16 that it expects to ship approximately 39 million tons at an average $US71 per ton.

The average cash cost of shipped tons is anticipated to be $60/t.

"Our operations have continued to struggle since April," Massey chairman Don Blankenship said.

"As we have noted earlier, increasingly stringent enforcement actions by MSHA across our operations and throughout the central Appalachian region have resulted in lost shifts and loss of productivity. As a result of these and other factors, we now expect our third-quarter shipments to approximate 10 million tons and we expect to report an operating loss for the quarter."