US-based coal miner Peabody on Wednesday reported that a fire had broken out at its Shoal Creek mine, in Alabama. All personnel have been safely evacuated from the mine, which employs 419 people.
Peabody said that the incident remained subject to investigation and that it could not provide an estimate as to the impact of the fire or on the overall operations at this time.
The company explained that the fire involved void material that was used to stabilise the roof structure of the metallurgical coal mine, near Birmingham.
The mine extracts coal from the Mary Lee and Blue Creek coal seams at depths of about 300 m to 400 m below the ground.
Shoal Creek produced 800 000 t of coal in 2022.