TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US fossil-fuels producer Consol Energy on Wednesday said it had halted production from its Blackville No 2 mine, in Pennsylvania, after smoke was on Monday seen billowing from the Orndoff shaft near Wayne, in Greene County.
The company said all 121 day-shift underground employees were safely evacuated through the Kuhntown portal and none sustained injuries.
Consol said it had identified the general location of a fire in cooperation with federal and state authorities and had begun implementing an aggressive plan to contain and extinguish it.
The plan entailed continuous carbon monoxide- and methane-levels monitoring, in order to learn whether the source of heat was growing, trending down or levelling off.
Teams were drilling holes in the ground and flushing the area with water in an effort to eliminate the source of heat.
“It is unknown when mine operations will resume, as no personnel will re-enter the mine until it is determined safe to do so,” Consol said.
Blacksville No 2 produces about 400 000 t/m under normal operations.