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Events/Disaster · 1976

Scotia mine explosions

Disaster, 1976-03-09, United States.

What happened

Two explosions hit the Scotia mine in Kentucky. The first, on 9 March 1976, killed 15 of 116 miners underground. The second, on 11 March during recovery work, killed 11 of 13 workers underground, including several inspectors.1,2,3

Why it matters

It shows that recovery work can be deadly: inspectors died in the second blast.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. African mine workers' strike on the Witwatersrand

    The strike was crushed, but SAHO says it had lasting effects on African trade unionism and politics.4,5,6

  2. Coalbrook colliery collapse

    The Heritage Portal says the rescue effort brought no positive result.7,8

  3. Newman: inception recorded

    Newman has an inception date of 1966 in Wikidata.9

  4. Mount Newman railway opens

    Mount Newman railway opens.10

  5. Panguna mine: inception

    Panguna mine: inception.11

  6. Roros Mining Town inscribed

    UNESCO World Heritage listing event.12

  7. Giant Mine strike explosion

    The mine's later arsenic trioxide legacy made Giant a major remediation case.13,14

  8. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape inscribed

    UNESCO World Heritage listing event.15

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

An example ofFederal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act signedSeven years after the 1969 Act, two Scotia blasts killed 26, including inspectors.16An example ofWilberg mine fireKentucky 1976, Utah 1984: Wilberg's fire killed 27.1

Sources

  1. Fact Sheet 95-8: Historical Data on Mine Disasters in the United States US Mine Safety and Health Administration
  2. Underground Coal Mine Disasters 1900-2010: Events, Responses, and a Look to the Future NIOSH (Brnich and Kowalski-Trakofker)
  3. Letcher County (item Q505499), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. 1946 African Mineworkers Strike South African History Online
  5. The African Mine Workers strike of 1946 South African History Online
  6. Witwatersrand (item Q587808), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. The 1960 Coalbrook Disaster The Heritage Portal (H. Muller)
  8. Coalbrook mining disaster (item Q19903859), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Wikidata item Q651074 (Newman)
  10. Wikidata item Q6922402 (Mount Newman railway opens)
  11. Wikidata item Q17060798 (Panguna mine: inception)
  12. Roros Mining Town and the Circumference UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  13. Giant Mine Historical Timeline Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
  14. Giant Mine (item Q1423887), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  15. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  16. Statement on signing the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (30 Dec 1969) American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Chuquicamata from the ISS by Alexander Gerst (ESA), CC BY-SA 2.0.