It is our intent to keep you and your colleagues abreast of pertinent developments within the coal industry on a frequent basis. 

Accordingly, Coal Forum Headlines is a compilation of daily articles and stories about coal from around the region and the world. Upon reviewing this news stream, if you have suggestions to improve it or make it more useful please let us know.  And lastly, please share this with your colleagues and if they have an interest simply have them visit here to receive future editions directly.

Guess & Co. completes $3 billion West Virginia energy-asset acquisition
World Oil
Guess & Co. says it has completed a $3 billion acquisition of energy assets in West Virginia. The transaction puts a major new investment development at the top of Friday’s regional energy and coal-industry watch list.

MSHA issues alerts after two fatal mining incidents in July
Occupational Health & Safety
The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued fatality alerts following two separate July incidents. The notices reinforce safe-work planning and hazard-control lessons for mine operators and workers.

Federal charges allege Illinois mine managers concealed fire hazards
KFVS12
Federal prosecutors allege that managers at a southern Illinois mine bypassed emergency procedures, concealed a 2021 fire and attempted to interfere with gas monitoring and the subsequent safety investigation.

Kentucky researchers pursue synthetic graphite made from regional coal
WYMT
The University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Research is developing a process to convert regional coal into synthetic graphite. Researchers say successful commercialization could create a higher-value market for coal and support economic activity in eastern Kentucky.

Coal generation rose as data-center demand reshaped the U.S. power grid
Aspen Public Radio
A report on federal energy data says U.S. coal-fired generation increased 13 percent last year as electricity demand grew, including load associated with data centers. The shift also contributed to higher power-sector carbon emissions.

Study finds fossil-energy workers have broadly transferable skills
Nature
New research finds that many occupations in fossil-energy industries share skills with jobs across the wider economy. The findings add evidence to workforce-planning discussions in coal-producing regions facing technological and market change.

Analysis warns China’s lowest-cost coal reserves are becoming harder to sustain
Renew Economy
An analysis of China’s enormous coal sector argues that the industry faces rising extraction costs as its easiest and lowest-cost reserves diminish. The outlook examines how those pressures could affect production and consumption in the world’s largest coal market.