AP reported that the number of mine injuries has been cut in the five months since Alpha Natural Resources bought Massey Energy, which had owned the coal mine where 29 men died in a blast last year.

Mr Kevin Crutchfield CEO of Alpha Natural said that "The year to date incident rate for legacy Massey operations has decreased by more than 13% compared to the incident rate of these operations in 2010."

He added that "Alpha operations have typically experienced a violation rate of something on the order of 0.5 to 0.6 per inspector day, where Massey's have been in the 0.8 to 1.0 (range). I would expect to see that fall over time as we continue to emphasize that we are going to need to do the right thing."

Alpha acquired Massey on June 1st 2011 in a deal worth USD 7 billion, creating the second biggest US coal producer, with about 150 mines and 40 preparation plants.

(Sourced from Associated Press)