Canyon Fuel Company’s Dugout Canyon and Sufco mines have received two major multi-state safety awards from the Rocky Mountains Coal Mining Institute (RMCMI). Dugout Canyon mine received the RMCMI Safety Award for the second consecutive year. The award was among small underground mines and Dugout Canyon mine achieved a perfect safety record. Dugout Canyon employees worked 239,763 hours with a total incident ratio of zero, compared to the national underground coal average of 5.05 incidents per 200,000 employee hours. Sufco mine received the RMCMI 2013 Safety Award among large underground mines for achieving a perfect safety record. In 2012, Sufco employees worked 593,557 hours with a total incident rate of zero, compared to the national underground average of 5.05 incidents per 200,000 employee-hours.

Gene DiClaudio, President of Arch Western Bituminous Group said “The employees of Sufco and Dugout truly deserve this recognition for their unwavering commitment to operating safely. Congratulations to our employees for operating a safe and productive workplace.”

To qualify for the eight-state award, mines must have produced substantial coal volumes without a reportable safety incident during 2012. Mines then were compared using incident rate data as reported to MSHA for the calendar year. The RMCMI bestowed a total of three safety awards in 2013 to Arch Coal subsidiaries, including Thunder Basin’s Coal Creek mine in the surface mine category. Canyon Fuel Company is Utah’s largest coal producer and a large state employer, with a workforce of more than 700. It operates the Dugout Canyon, Skyline and Sufco mines.