ST. LOUIS, July 25, 2016 – Arch Coal today announced that Thunder Basin Coal Company’s Coal Creek mine and Mountain Coal Company’s West Elk mine recently received major multi-state safety awards from the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute (RMCMI).

Coal Creek mine received the RMCMI 2015 Safety Award among small surface mines for achieving a perfect safety record. Coal Creek employees worked 310,145 hours with a lost-time incident rate of zero, compared to the national surface coal average of 0.99 incidents per 200,000 employee-hours. In all, Coal Creek mine has operated more than two years without a reportable incident. This is the third year that Coal Creek earned the RMCMI Safety Award.

West Elk mine received the RMCMI 2015 Safety Award among large underground mines for achieving an outstanding safety record. In 2015, West Elk employees worked 781,726 hours with a lost-time incident rate of zero, compared to the national underground average of 3.29 incidents per 200,000 employee-hours.

In addition, to their exemplary safety records, both mines also achieved a perfect environmental record during 2015.

“The employees of Coal Creek and West Elk truly deserve this recognition for their unwavering commitment to best-in-class safety practices,” said Keith Williams, president of Arch’s Western Operations. “We thank our employees for their ongoing efforts and commend their sharp focus on operating safe and productive mining complexes.”

To receive the eight-state award, mines that meet the initial requirements are then compared using incident rate data (NFDL and NDL rates) as reported to MSHA for the calendar year.

U.S.-based Arch Coal, Inc. is a top coal producer for the global steel and power generation industries, serving customers worldwide. Its network of large-scale, low-cost mining complexes is the most diversified in the United States, spanning every major coal basin in the nation. For more information, visit archcoal.com.