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Events/Disaster · 2010

Upper Big Branch mine explosion

Disaster, 5 April 2010, United States.

What happened

At about 3:02 pm a coal dust explosion that began as a methane ignition killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine-South in Montcoal, West Virginia, run by Performance Coal Company, a Massey Energy subsidiary. MSHA blamed unlawful company practices.1,2

Why it matters

It was the worst US coal disaster in 40 years.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. South Bulli Colliery gas outburst

    The regulator uses it as a case study of gas outbursts at the coalface.3,4

  2. Westray mine explosion

    The inquiry report is titled A Predictable Path to Disaster.5,6

  3. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape inscribed

    UNESCO World Heritage listing event.7

  4. Sago Mine disaster

    Sago Mine disaster. Wikidata records 12 deaths.8

  5. Upper Big Branch Mine disaster

    Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. Wikidata records 29 deaths.9

  6. Glencore completes merger with Xstrata

    The merger joined a large trading house with a large mining group.10,11

  7. Soma mine disaster

    Soma mine disaster. Wikidata records 301 deaths.12

  8. Amasra coal mine explosion, Turkey

    Wikidata records 42 deaths.13

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

An example ofMonongah mine explosionThe worst US coal disaster in 40 years, in the state of Monongah's 361 deaths.1ExamplesSago mine explosionSago killed 12 in 2006. Upper Big Branch, also in West Virginia, killed 29 in 2010.14ExamplesPike River coal mine explosionPike River killed 29 in November 2010. Upper Big Branch killed 29 that year too.1

Sources

  1. Upper Big Branch Mine-South fatal accident report, Executive Summary US Mine Safety and Health Administration
  2. Montcoal (item Q1945670), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. 1991 South Bulli Colliery Outburst case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  4. Bulli (item Q4996904), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. The Westray Story: A Predictable Path to Disaster, executive summary Government of Nova Scotia
  6. Westray Mine (item Q3314812), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  8. Wikidata item Q7399333 (Sago Mine disaster)
  9. Wikidata item Q7898494 (Upper Big Branch Mine disaster)
  10. Glencore timeline
  11. Baar (item Q64087), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. Wikidata item Q16869476 (Soma mine disaster)
  13. Wikidata item Q114670156 (Amasra mine explosion)
  14. Fact Sheet 95-8: Historical Data on Mine Disasters in the United States US Mine Safety and Health Administration

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.