With an attendance roster totalling 241 participants for the first day and 164 for the second and final day, the tally was a record for the groups.

Registration coordinator Mary DelRosso told International Longwall News she has received positive feedback, calling the overall event “well received and accurate”

DelRosso added that even a first-time attendee would have gained insight into the industry through the informative sessions on Thursday and Friday.

“[I] didn't know what to expect, but enjoyed the conference,” shared one guest. Others echoed similar opinions, including: “Many papers addressed current and confusing issues facing the industry today.”

Keynote addresses during the two-day gathering were offered by WVU Extension and Outreach Program director James Dean, as well as NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) Pittsburgh Research Laboratory director Guner Gurtunca.

Dean presented “A New Day for Emergency Prevention and Response”, while Gurtunca’s talk outlined “The Response of the NIOSH Mining Program to Recent Coal Mine Disasters in the United States”

Other than the absence of planned keynote speaker US Senator Arlen Specter, the only other schedule change was that of Foundation Coal’s eastern operations vice-president, Jim Bryja, replacing the company’s safety director, John Gallick, who could not attend.

Bryja’s presentation, “How Does the Safety Culture Impact Emergency Prevention,” focused on culture, standards and risk, and outlined the producer’s thoughts on risk assessment and how a safety culture at operations can be adopted and used successfully.

Another highlight in the event’s itinerary was Thursday’s luncheon keynote presenter, American Energy’s Century mine superintendent, Ryan Murray. Murray, who at 28 is perhaps the youngest individual in his position in the country, brought along a photo presentation of all of the company’s operations. The images included the Utah properties which his father, coal icon Bob Murray, had just purchased from Andalex Resources.

With a total of seven longwalls, Murray said the company has become second only to Consol Energy in the number of faces held. However, he admitted with a laugh that although American Energy now has properties in five states, their second place longwalls ranking is a distant second.

Consol, incidentally, was one of seven large operators present for a career fair that the groups held Thursday onsite at the Hilton Garden Inn. Others looking for new talent included Foundation Coal, PinnOak Resources, MEPCO, Drummond, International Coal Group, Luck Stone Corporation and Kiewit.

DelRosso said earlier this month that the annual meeting is a labour of love of sorts for the organisers: “The joint entire committee, comprised of actively employed and retired professionals, works hard throughout the year to put together this educational and informative event.”

For information in attending or exhibiting at the 2007 meeting, the dates for which have not yet been announced, contact DelRosso at (412) 835-7387 or at mary412d@aol.com