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Peabody Energy's Kayenta Mine has earned the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute's (RMCMI) Safety Award for achieving superior results in 2001, performance that recognizes Kayenta Mine as the safest surface operation west of the Mississippi River. The award is based on the Mine Safety and Health Administration's strictest standards.

Kayenta Mine's nearly 400 employees posted an accident rate of just 0.37 per 200,000 hours worked, a record that was 87 percent better than the coal industry average for surface mines. In fact, last year was the safest year in Kayenta Mine's history, continuing a five-year trend. Workers achieved more than 1.7 million hours without any accident causing an employee to miss work, results that embody Peabody's new Safety: A Way of Life campaign that reinforces a constant focus on the fundamentals.

"Our continuous improvement reflects a relentless focus on teamwork, training, communications, awareness and behavior," said Scott Pearson, Kayenta mine manager. "A commitment to employee safety is one of our most fundamental values. We want to make sure that every worker goes home safely every day."

Kayenta Mine annually produces more than 8 million tons of low-sulfur coal for the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Ariz. Black Mesa Mine, its sister operation, ships nearly 5 million tons of coal each year to the Mohave Generating Station near Laughlin, Nev. The two generating stations provide electricity to nearly 3.5 million Southwest families. Mining activities inject nearly $2 million in direct economic benefits into tribal communities; mine royalties provide about 80 percent of the Hopi's annual budget and about 30 percent of the Navajo's general budget.

The RMCMI promotes educational programs for coal mining technologies and production techniques, mining management, safety and other related issues. The Institute has an extensive college scholarship program and provides continuing education seminars for Professional Engineers.

Peabody Energy is the world's largest private-sector coal company, with 2001 sales of 194 million tons of coal and $2.7 billion in revenues. Its coal products fuel more than 9 percent of all U.S. electricity generation and more than 2 percent of worldwide electricity generation.

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SOURCE: Peabody Energy