The mining industry is alive and well in Southwest Indiana, and Vincennes University has the funding to prove it.
The university serves as the state's designated recipient of federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration.
This week the department announced that VU has received $257,137 to provide federally mandated training to those enrolled in the university's mining program.
VU's mining program was initiated in October 2005 and it's targeted toward miners in all segments of the industry, from coal and clay to sand and gravel.
The mining program, director Greg Xanders said, is all about safety.
“In the early part of the century, thousands of miners were being killed in explosions, mostly in coal and underground mines,” he said. “Then through Congress and the MSHA, money was allocated for this grant program and divided by the states.”
Fall protection, confined space, and electrical certification are all covered in the program, and instructors also do industry-specific fire responder and EMT training.
“We also do mine rescue training and train mine rescue teams because, unfortunately, there are times when there might be an accident, and these teams are trained to go into a mine,” Xanders said. “As everybody else is leaving a mine that's on fire, the mine rescue teams are going in, much like firefighters.”
The bulk of the grant funding goes toward new miner training and annual refresher courses that are federally mandated for miners.
New miner training, which must be completed before individuals can actually go to work in a mine, requires 40 hours for underground and 24 hours for surface.
The annual refresher training requires 8 hours.
The grant money is used to pay instructors and purchase booklets, workbooks, projectors, screens, CPR mannequins — all the things it takes, Xanders said, to run a course.
Most of the training is kept to the classroom, he added, but instructors try to do as much hands-on work as possible. The new, nearly 40,000-square-foot mining simulation center that debuted this summer in Fort Branch, for example, provides the opportunity for participants to experience a mock mine environment.
“We can go into the mine, do simulated smoke, they can find their way out of a smokey area, we can do some roof control and ventilation,” Xanders said. “This grant is a good deal for the miners — and it's not just for coal miners. … The MSHA is also very supportive of it, too. They come in here and monitor the classes and review our training materials.”
ON THE UPSWING
In the state of Indiana, Xanders said, there are 290 mining operations. Here in the southwest portion of the state, there are somewhere between 25 and 30 coal mines, both surface and underground.
Most other mines, he said, are sand, gravel, limestone and clay.
Some mining companies have started hiring again, Xanders noted; employment agencies are even contacting the Gibson Center because they're looking for people to hire in the mines and can't find enough.
“In this area, there were a few mines that closed down or idled, like the Gibson mine here next to Princeton, but they've kept that mine on air and there's talk that they will open it back up,” Xanders said. “Sunrise Coal up in Carlisle was idled, but there's talk they're going to bring it back online. Several of the surface operations, like Vigo Coal and Solar Sources, have been ramping up, too.”
So the need for qualified miners, he added, is definitely there — and VU continues to fill it.
Last year, the university trained just shy of 5,800 people through its new miner and refresher training programs.