According to local newspaper the Morning Call, R&D has filed plans with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to resume operations in the area the operation had already been working.

Currently government inspectors are still at the mine, evaluating the safety and stability of the working area.

The closing of the mine occurred on October 23 when miner Dale R Reightler, 43, was killed.

Pennsylvania DEP mine inspectors and members of the Tremont-based state mine rescue team entered the mine and recovered the victim in the afternoon of the same day, but were unable to begin the investigation until repairs were made to the mine's ventilation system, which was damaged in the accident.

Six other miners inside the R&D Coal Company mine at the time of the accident escaped uninjured and contacted emergency responders around 10.30am.

During early December the Pennsylvania DEP temporarily suspended the mine official certificates of three miners involved in the fatal accident.

R&D was also issued 23 citations by the DEP, and the US Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration filed 10 citations.