The bureau, which released the results of the event at engineering university New Mexico Tech’s campus in Socorro last week, hosted groups from several western states for first aid, bench, mine rescue and pre-shift competitions during the week of September 11-15.

In the coal section of the event, teams from Energy West took first and second place in first aid, with Twentymile placing third. In the combination competition, Energy West was again gold. It was followed by the team from Twentymile in second place and Bowie Resources in third.

In pre-shift, Gary Christensen (Energy West) was first, while fellow Energy West competitor Ray Guymon took second. Third was earned by BHPB San Juan’s Mike Harjala.

Shiloh May of Bowie Resources grabbed first place in the bench (Bio) contest, while second and third went to West Elk’s Bill Mazutis and San Juan’s Ivan Benally respectively. First place in the Bio novice division of bench was San Joan’s Dave Moffett.

In bench BG-4, the top three spots went to a trio of Twentymile miners – Chuck Harvey, Chad Day and Jody Gregory.

Overall, the mine rescue competition results were dominated by teams from two mines: Energy West teams took first and second place while the team from Twentymile earned the third spot.

According to New Mexico mine inspector Rebecca Boam, the bureau is in existence for all types of mining and offers many resources for the state’s workers including training, education, certification information and details on state laws.

The New Mexico Bureau of Mine Safety, based in Socorro, offers a 24/7 mine emergency operations centre for all of the state’s operations.