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Gary Chapman, 33, of South Williamson, Kentucky, died after sustaining injuries at the mine near Sharples on Friday evening, Gov. Jim Justice�����Ƶ�s office announced that night.

The office said MSHA and the West Virginia Office of Miners�����Ƶ� Health, Safety and Training were investigating the incident. MSHA has classified the incident as resulting from a �����Ƶ�fall of roof or back�����Ƶ� but has not yet released a preliminary report on the incident.

The mine has been issued 409 penalties categorized as �����Ƶ�Significant and Substantial�����Ƶ� by MSHA since 2019. The agency uses that designation for hazards reasonably likely to result in serious injury.

Standards violated in the �����Ƶ�Significant and Substantial�����Ƶ� category this year have included those requiring:

• Development and following of a MSHA-approved roof control plan suitable to geological conditions and the site�����Ƶ�s mining system
• Control of the roof, face and ribs of working or traveling areas to protect people from roof, face or rib falls and coal or rock bursts
• Installation of stairways or mechanical escape facilities in shafts part of designated escapeways
• Maintenance of methane monitors in permissible and proper operating condition and calibration with a known air-methane mixture at least once every 31 days

Death is second at �����Ƶ Arch-controlled mines in two months

Chapman�����Ƶ�s death marks the third fatality at an Arch Resources-controlled mine since Aug. 5 and second in West Virginia.

William �����Ƶ�Joe�����Ƶ� Crandall, 57, a motorman employee at the Arch-controlled Leer Mine in Taylor County, died Aug. 7 after he was struck in the head two days earlier while using an air-lifting bag to rerail a longwall electrical power car, according to a MSHA report.

Mine operator ACI Tygart Valley had received 744 citations from MSHA for safety and health violations since the start of 2020 as of last month �����Ƶ� the equivalent of one citation every 2.3 days. Of those 744 citations, 161 were listed by MSHA as �����Ƶ�Significant and Substantial.�����Ƶ�

Arch is also the controller of a Colorado mine at which another fatal powered haulage incident occurred last month, according to MSHA records.

Fines unpaid amid lucrative merger

The Mountaineer II Mine has amassed $145,249 in current MSHA penalties in 2024 alone, with just $24,921 paid to date, according to agency records. Many of the penalties have been contested, per agency data. Of $1.52 million in current penalties accrued since 2019, nearly $300,000 is unpaid.

Mountaineer II is an underground coal mine controlled by Arch Resources Inc., a St. Louis-based metallurgical product company.

Last month, Arch announced it had agreed to merge with Washington County, Pennsylvania-based thermal and metallurgical coal producer and exporter CONSOL Energy Inc.

Arch said the all-stock merger would result in a new coal producer and exporter focused on global markets called Core Natural Resources, which Arch indicated would have a market value of roughly $5.2 billion as of last month.

The merger is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2025, subject to approval by both companies�����Ƶ� stockholders and regulatory approvals, Arch said last month.

Arch did not respond to requests for comment.

Eleven mine fatalities in W.Va. since 2022

Chapman�����Ƶ�s death marks the fourth fatal mining incident in West Virginia this year.

There were three mine fatalities in West Virginia in 2023 and four in 2022.

MSHA has recorded 19 fatal incidents nationwide since the start of 2024, making West Virginia the site for over one out of every five such incidents this year.