The mine recorded the lowest injury frequency rate among the state's large underground mines for the year ended June 2002.

The 2002 Best Injury Frequency Rate Award from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Department of Mines and Minerals, was presented September 25 in Springfield, at the 110th annual meeting of the Illinois Mining Institute.

Rend Lake Mine, located in Sesser, Illinois, was the winner among five nominees in the Division I category, for mines registering more than 450,000 employee hours during the 12 months. Rend Lake won the same award in 1990 and 1991.

“This award is a credit to every employee at Rend Lake Mine," said superintendent Charles Shaynak, who accepted the award. "We mined through some difficult geology during the past year, but our employees remained focused and performed their jobs safely every day. This proves once again that working safely and responsibly is an attitude held by all of our employees."

The Rend Lake Mine employs 325 people and in 2001 produced 1.9 million tons of coal, utilizing one longwall mining machine and one continuous mining machine. The mine is currently idle because of soft market conditions.