BECKLEY, W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – This year, the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine will celebrate its 60th year, and now, due to updates currently being done underground, the site is expected to last another 60 years.
Leslie Baker, Director of Operations at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine and Youth Museum, says they are always doing routine maintenance to try to make underground as safe as possible but, recently, when looking over records with her mine foreman, Tony Basconi, she noticed no major work has been done on the mine since the 1990s.
“It’s not a producing mine, so we don’t have the rules and regulations that others do, but we always want it to be as safe as we possibly can,” Baker stated.
Baker also said that the mine has seen several rib blowouts over the years. While these are common, she explained it’s still not pleasing to see bits of rock laying on the tracks. To remedy this issue, the mine needed roughly 100 roof bolts but was having issues finding supplies. That is when Jenmar, Affinity Coal Company and Mentinvest- Affinity’s mother company- stepped in to help, offering to complete $75,000 worth of work for free. Jenmar is supplying the labor in addition to supplying equipment alongside Affinity.
Crews are now underground at the mine working to complete these updates. Baker said they are replacing outdated materials with their modern counterparts, installing core holes so that a camera can be inserted to inspect the mine top and conducting further safety checks with an engineering team to inspect the parts of the mine that aren’t used.
She expects the work to continue for another two to three weeks.
“They are going so much above and beyond than just coming in and putting in roof bolts,” Baker said. “They said it’ll be good for another 60 years…I can’t think of a better way to start the season than by totally renovating our underground attraction.”
The Exhibition Coal Mine is expecting an increase in visitation this year, and Baker believes the work done by Affinity and Jenmar will help better share the mine’s history with its visitors.
“The Exhibition Coal Mine will be able to present a truly accurate and historical narrative of coal in our region. We are so excited about the upcoming year.”
When presenting this information to the City of Beckley earlier this week, Baker said they are currently working on new signage to designate the updates and improvements.