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Bureau of Mines Home

The Bureau of Mines, headquartered in Vincennes, Indiana, inspects all Indiana underground coal mining operations and certifies specific mining occupations. The Bureau also maintains a mine rescue station, trains mine rescue teams, and collects and indexes mine maps. There are six underground mines in the State of Indiana (view list).

Bureau of Mines Contact: Don “Blink” McCorkle, Vincennes University Technology Building, 1002 N. First Street, Vincennes, IN 47591.  Telephone:  (812) 888-4514.

The Mining Board oversees all certification testing for underground miners on a quarterly basis.  The five mining board members are appointed by the governor.  Testing takes place for certifications for mine foreman, mine examiner, belt examiner, hoisting engineer, and shot firer.

ANNUAL COAL REPORTS

MINE INSPECTION REPORTS

Indiana has a full-time Chief Mine Inspector who is in Indiana's mines nearly every workday, inspecting underground and surface prep plants, and covering all shifts.

Mine Inspection Reports

OTHER MINING NEWS

  • The Bureau of Mines, on April 25, 2008, completed three of four command center training drills involving each of Indiana’s underground coal mines.  Training in smoke, fire, confined space, underground rescue team practice, and command center practice in collaboration with MSHA officials, law enforcement officials, Bureau of Mine officials and mock press and family briefings was undertaken.  Federal and state Department of Labor officials were also present to observe the drill. 

  • The Bureau of Mines was awarded a $50,000 competitive federal grant from MSHA in September 2007 for enhanced command center training for Indiana’s underground coal mines.  The training is being conducted quarterly, and includes mock command center drills and additional underground training for mine rescue teams. The Bureau of Mines was a co-recipient of the grant together with Vincennes University where the federally funded miner refresher training is located.

  • Bureau of Mine's March 3, 2008 Final Accident Report for Gibson Mine/Frontier Kemper Fatalities of August 10, 2007

  • Bureau of Mine's Preliminary Accident Report for Fatality at Gibson Mine August 10, 2007

SAFETY FACTS

Indiana Coal Mine Safety Statistics PowerPoint August 2007

Coal mining is regulated under a comprehensive federal safety law (Federal Mine Safety and Health Act) that is administered by the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

  • Underground coal mines are thoroughly inspected at least four times a year.
  • With 584 coal mine inspectors - about one for every four coal mines - MSHA spends on average over 200 hours annually inspecting each coal mine.
  • MSHA and its inspectors:
    • issue citations and establish a time frame for correcting violations;
    • remove miners from all or part of a mine in the face of hazardous conditions or repeated failures to correct violations; and
    • levy fines that increase with the severity of the violation.
  • Coal miners can report violations and can request additional inspections and cannot lose their jobs for doing so.