Black Thunder recently marked two years and almost 6 million employee hours without a single lost-time injury. It recently earned the 2010 Governors Safety Award for the state’s best safety program as well as the Wyoming State Mine Inspectors Safety Award in the large mines category.

The Coal Creek operation has worked 4.5 years, logging more than 1.3 million hours without a single LTI. Staff at that operation earned a second place honor from the Wyoming State Mine Inspectors for the small mines division.

Both surface mines are operated by Arch subsidiary Thunder Basin Coal in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

Thunder Basin president Kenneth Cochran congratulated the employees of both complexes for their accomplishments.

“Their ongoing commitment to risk minimization and safe work practices is exemplified in these remarkable safety accomplishments,” he said.

In total, the Thunder Basin subsidiary employs approximately 1800 workers and its mines produce more than 10% of the national’s annual coal supply.

Arch said that, company-wide, its mines had an LTI incident rate of just one-fourth the national coal industry average in 2009, a record for the producer.