Viper, a 244-worker operation owned by ICG Illinois, was recognised by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Office of Mines and Minerals for having the lowest accident frequency rate in the state between July 2005 and last month. This was the mine’s fifth such award.

Its Sentinel coal preparation plant in West Virginia, a 10-person facility managed by Wolf Run Mining, was also awarded for having the lowest injury rate last year among surface operations in its district within its employee range. The US Mine Safety and Health Administration bestowed the honour to Sentinel.

ICG president Ben Hatfield said the awards reaffirm the company’s “commitment to the safety of our people”, adding that its dedication “extends to developing and implementing state-of-the-art mine safety technologies, such as voluntarily allowing ICG mines to be used as test sites for new wireless communication devices, and conducting a test installation of the recently approved proximity devices that should better protect our continuous miner operators.”