The COAL Hard Facts: ‘Old King Coal’ is Still King - Can America get its fiscal house in order or could it fall into bankruptcy?

Aggregate For Concrete Is High Tech - Think there is nothing new about aggregate for concrete?  Well, you are wrong.  There is a lot more to concrete and aggregate than meets the eye. 

Shale Oil Another Coal Based Synthetic Fuel - As petroleum prices continue to go up, another energy source is gaining a lot of attention – oil shale. 

August/September 2011

Walter Energy Continues The 200 Year Tradition Of Mining Coal In Alabama - While few associate Alabama with coal mining, the Alabama coal industry is nearing its bicentennial.  And, during those nearly 200 years, it has fueled one of America’s largest steel manufacturing centers – Birmingham, Alabama, which was to be known as “The Pittsburgh of the South.”

The World Of Coal And Its Contribution To A Friday Night At The Bar - Think coal is mined just to produce energy?  Wrong.  Coal is an indispensible part of our lives and its impact extends to things we never associate with coal. 

“Mexico Will Make You Laugh…Sorta” -  I just couldn’t pass it up.  It won’t fill this entire column, but you have to read what Mexican leaders in Sonora state recently complained about to Arizona state leadership.

Coal Jobs Versus Green Jobs -  Ever since the 2008 presidential campaign started, Obama has been promising us more “Green jobs” – enough to offset those dirty brown jobs like those found in the coal industry. 

Time To Yodel In The Yukon, Canadian Stock Exchanges - Yukon’s fame started with the famous Klondike gold rush of 1896 to 98 and continued more or less to today with a few “boom and bust cycles” thrown in over the years. 

Mining’s “Lost Generation”: Never Again - “Now is the time,” my professor friend emphasized to me once more, “to invest in training, to put money into education. With metal prices high, the industry should be investing some of that money into education and training the next generation of engineers.”

Safety Shoes – The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly - What was the ugliest safety shoe in history?  Probably the wooden shoes worn by European workers called sabots. 

Miners, Prospectors, And The Rough Riders - The best known member of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry (Rough Riders) may have been Col. Theodore Roosevelt, but many others were miners who later made a name for themselves.