Receiving a West Virginia State Mine Safety Awards honor in the underground category for 2010 achievements were Mingo Logan’s Mountain Laurel Mountaineer II operation in Wolf Run’s Imperial mine.

Among surface mines, Coal-Mac's Holden 22 mine and Eastern's Birch River operation were also tops, as well as Eastern’s Birch River plant and Wolf Run’s Sentinel plant in the preparation facility division.

The Holden 22 mine achieved the state's best injury-incidence rate among all surface/auger operations with more than 26 employees. With a staff of 300, it completed 599,653 hours without a medical reportable safety incident last year.

Wolf Run's 32-worker Sentinel preparation plant was also recognized for achieving West Virginia's best injury-incident rate among large surface facilities. Crews there worked 70,318 hours in 2010 without a medical reportable safety incident.

All of the honors were handed down at the recent West Virginia annual state council meeting of the Joseph A Holmes Safety Association in Roanoke.

"We are very proud of our mining employees for achieving these notable, statewide safety awards," Arch president John Eaves said.

"We commend these West Virginia employees for their personal commitment to working safely."

Arch owns 24 mining complexes across the US and sold 179 million tons of coal in 2010. The company’s 2010 lost-time incident rate was 0.46 per 200,000 hours worked, five times better than the national average of 2.52 per 200,000 hours worked.