Arch spokesperson Kim Link told ILN on Friday that the individual, whose name was not released, was working at a structure associated with the West Elk mine’s idled preparation facility in Gunnison County on Thursday when the incident occurred.
“[The] … worker was injured when he fell from a catwalk platform and struck an I-beam on the ground below, a distance of about eight feet,” a US Mine Safety and Health Administration spokesperson told ILN on Friday.
“He was conscious initially and was being transported by ambulance to a local hospital when he stopped breathing. Ambulance attendants administered CPR and continued resuscitation efforts until arrival at the hospital, where hospital personnel continued CPR … [but] were unable to revive the victim and he was pronounced dead.”
A federal investigation led by Coal District 9, which oversees operations in the region, has begun.
The West Elk longwall mine in Somerset, which produces bituminous coal, is operated by Arch subsidiary Mountain Coal.
According to federal data, the mine produced over 4.79 million tons of coal in 2007, when it recorded four operator Non-Fatal Days Lost injuries and four contractor NFDL injuries.
The worker’s death is the sixth in US coal in 2011, and the first in the state of Colorado since 2007.
