Newsletter...
January 2007
  • Mining Suppliers, Please Join us for the 2007 Mining Workshop
  • NSSGA, MSHA 2007 Noise and Dust Workshops in the Works
  • AEM and MSHA Establish Alliance
  • MSHA issuing more than $7.9 million in new mine rescue and safety training grants
  • Vulcan quarterly profits rise with record sales and earnings
    Mining Suppliers, Please Join us for the 2007 Mining Workshop
    Dear Miners, Mine Operators, and Stakeholders: Dear South Carolina Mining Industry Suppliers:

    I hope you are already considering participating in the upcoming Workshop, which the Mining Association will put on in Columbia SC this spring. In fact, it is now only about 50 days away, and we are delighted with the incoming registrations from both producers and associates. From 250 to 300 people are expected to attend. But, we have not yet received registrations from your company, so we do ask that you register promptly, by the end of January.

    Most vendors do want a booth. But they are on a “first-come” basis, and all will likely be taken. Plus it is time to decide who will attend, to mark the calendars, and prepare materials and displays. Some of you want to suggest topics that you might present in the breakout sessions. And those subjects must be received by the end of January to be considered.

    As indicated in my previous letter, this new format is aimed toward one purpose, to offer vendors such as yourself, more and better time with all the South Carolina producers, in a nice setting. And all the people who sign the purchase orders will be in attendance, as you can see from the attached list of current registrants.

    I assure you that your participation in this inaugural event will be appreciated by the Industry. And it will offer you an unprecedented opportunity to visit with all of our people.

    You can see detailed information and register via the Association website www.scmines.com . If you have questions, you may contact the association office at 803.772.5354, 800.438.7106 or via e-mail at chrissmith@as-irmo.com or one of us listed below.

    Sincerely,
    Roger Dunlap
    MASC Past President

    Doug Larson at (864) 968-1310
    David Dorroh at (803) 926-4169
    Roger Dunlap at (864) 299-4782

    Doug.Larson@Hanson.Biz
    ddorroh@blanchardmachinery.com
    DunlapR@VMCmail.com

    *If you have already registered for the 2007 MASC Mining Workshop Please disregard this notice…

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    NSSGA, MSHA 2007 Noise and Dust Workshops in the Works
    Since 1997, the award-winning Noise and Dust Workshops have been conducted at approximately 40 aggregate mine sites across the country, educating more than 400 students. This is a unique opportunity to learn how to conduct noise and dust exposure monitoring, record and interpret results, and develop plans to reduce exposures below U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) permissible limits.

    The three-day workshop is instructed by MSHA’s Rocky McKinney, and is two days of classroom application and one day of fieldwork. During the field exercise, the participant is given the opportunity to actually conduct noise and dust exposure monitoring of employees located at the mine site.

    The 2007 workshops will occur April 24-26 in Little Rock, Ark., and Aug. 28-30 in Gainesville, Ga. McGeorge Contracting Co., Inc.’s Granite Mountain Quarry and Hanson Aggregate’s Gainesville Quarry are the locations of the course.

    This workshop is recommended for operations personnel, safety and health professionals, and consultants.

    NSSGA, January 2007.

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    AEM and MSHA Establish Alliance
    The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) have formed an alliance to develop and distribute “best practices” training materials and other information to help protect miner health and safety related to equipment operation and maintenance.

    AEM and MSHA officials participated in a special signing ceremony January 23, 2007 in Washington, DC, with MSHA represented by Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Richard Stickler and AEM represented by AEM President Dennis Slater.

    The leading issue at the outset of the cooperative effort is accident and injury prevention through the proper use of equipment operator restraint systems, such as seat belts.

    Through the alliance, AEM and MSHA plan to also address other equipment-related safety issues, time and resources permitting. These include slips and falls from equipment, equipment roll-overs and tip-overs, operator fatigue, equipment fires, cab penetrations, entanglements, collisions, and equipment misuse.

    Variety of “Best Practices” Training Materials Planned
    “This agreement between MSHA and AEM is another step this agency is taking to make safety and health the number one priority for the mining industry,” said MSHA’s Stickler. “MSHA and AEM will work closely together to address issues related to mining equipment safety and, thereby, foster an improvement in safety and health for working miners.”

    “We have a long history of cooperation with MSHA. Equipment manufacturers are committed to investing time and resources to have a positive impact on safe machine operation, and this new alliance provides a unique and direct way to accomplish this goal,” added AEM’s Slater.

    The two organizations will work cooperatively through the alliance to develop and disseminate various mining equipment safety training materials, such as DVDs, posters, stickers and fliers to the mining community. Distributed through a variety of print and electronic media, including MSHA and AEM web sites, the materials will be designed to help miners recognize, avoid and prevent equipment safety hazards.

    The alliance agreement also calls for development of new ways to effectively communicate hazard warnings and messages, including use of consistent, industry recognized pictorials for safety materials. AEM recently announced the availability of an expanding database of such pictorials on its web site (http://pictorials.aem.org) .The database is free of charge to the public for the development of consistent safety signage.

    Additional Alliance Cooperative Efforts Detailed
    In addition to the tasks cited earlier, the alliance agreement specifies these cooperative efforts:

    • Develop a centralized compendium of mining equipment safety materials, bulletins, advisories, DVD’s, manuals, etc. for use by the mining community.

    • Encourage equipment operators and maintenance personnel to become members of MSHA’s Professional Miners Program. This program provides opportunities for miners to continue developing their health and safety skills. Members of the Program will receive recognition for this continued development. Selected training courses and modules will be recommended for those miners who want to keep current with safety and health best practices.

    • Speak, exhibit, or appear at MSHA or AEM conferences, other industry conferences, or local meetings attended by equipment operators, maintenance personnel and mine operators to promote the safe use and maintenance of mining equipment.

    • Convene and participate in forums, round-table discussions or stakeholder meetings on equipment hazards mitigation to help forge innovative solutions.

    • Participate in programs, short courses or activities offered by MSHA at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beckley, West Virginia, or other MSHA facilities and/or by AEM at member training facilities and proving grounds.

    • Review final accident reports which have been published and accident data that involve equipment within AEM’s scope and develop solutions to identified equipment safety and health concerns.

    Operating Procedures for the Alliance
    An “implementation team” of AEM and MSHA representatives will meet periodically to oversee the program as well as to track and share information on activities and results.

    MSHA representatives on the implementation team will include personnel from Technical Support, Coal Mine Safety and Health, Metal and Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health, Educational Policy and Development, and other areas deemed appropriate.

    AEM representatives will include designated staff and industry members from the association’s Technical and Safety Council as well as other AEM product groups related to mining equipment.

    AEM Press Release, January 2007.

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    MSHA issuing more than $7.9 million in new mine rescue and safety training grants
    The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced the availability of more than $7.9 million in health and safety training grants being issued by MSHA in fiscal year 2007.

    “These grants are part of MSHA’s ongoing commitment to advance miner safety and health through funding training programs,” said Richard E. Stickler, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health.

    Grantees will use the funds to provide federally mandated training to miners. The grants cover training and retraining of miners working at surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines, including miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone and sand and gravel mining operations.

    The monetary amount of the grants MSHA is awarding in fiscal year 2007 is the same level as the previous fiscal year, because the federal government currently is operating under a continuing budget resolution from Congress.

    Training grant funds will be awarded to every state, except Hawaii, and to the Navajo Nation and Puerto Rico. States apply for the grants, which are administered by state mine inspectors’ offices, state departments of labor or state-supported colleges and universities. Each recipient tailors the program to its state miners’ individual needs and provides technical assistance. The grants will be given to the states upon receipt and approval of their applications.The Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969 authorized the state grant program. States first received funding in 1971 to provide health and safety training to miners.

    MSHA’s primary mission as a federal agency is to help ensure worker safety and health in the nation’s mines.

    The following table lists the FY 2007 grants for the states, Puerto Rico, and the Navajo Nation.

    Fiscal Year 2007 Mine Rescue and Safety Training Grants: Alabama $182,669 Alaska $ 42,974 Arizona $273,314 Arkansas $ 94,504 California $322,149 Colorado $200,172 Connecticut $ 41,996 Delaware $ 3,720 Florida $155,134 Georgia $183,462 Idaho $ 88,074 Illinois $209,250 Indiana $177,442 Iowa $108,578 Kansas $ 76,706 Kentucky $597,131 Louisiana $ 76,476 Maine $ 50,202 Maryland $ 52,702 Massachusetts $ 62,459 Michigan $204,990 Minnesota $260,538 Mississippi $ 57,948 Missouri $192,835 Montana $120,373 Navajo Nation $ 25,534 Nebraska $63,382 Nevada $220,704 New Hampshire$36,909 New Jersey $47,527 New Mexico $137,983 New York $246,292 North Carolina $145,685 North Dakota $55,696 Ohio $250,076 Oklahoma $97,646 Oregon $98,945 Pennsylvania $491,564 Puerto Rico $50,648 Rhode Island $8,927 South Carolina $62,630 South Dakota $54,487 Tennessee $132,131 Texas $397,014 Utah $163,657 Vermont $67,055 Virginia $253,990 Washington $140,068 West Virginia $535,860 Wisconsin $175,961 Wyoming $176,831 Total $7,973,000

    Aggregate Manager, January 23, 2007.

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    Vulcan quarterly profits rise with record sales and earnings
    Birmingham, Ala.-based-Vulcan Materials Company announced record fourth-quarter and full year sales and earnings. Earnings from continuing operations were $115 million or $1.19 per diluted share in the fourth quarter as compared with $92 million or $0.89 per diluted share in the prior year.

    Net sales increased 9 percent from the prior year’s fourth quarter. Full-year net sales increased 16 percent to $3 billion. Earnings from continuing operations were $477 million or $4.79 per diluted share, a 45 percent increase per diluted share from the prior year.

    Vulcan Chairman and CEO Don James, Vulcan’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said in a written statement from Vulcan that the company’s coast-to-coast footprint serves many of the fastest-growing U.S. markets and provided regional economic diversification in 2006.

    He also said that the increasing demand for aggregates in a broad range of public infrastructure and nonresidential construction helped offset the correction that has occurred in residential construction.

    Aggregate Manager, February 1, 2007.

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