Alpha Affiliated Mine Rescue Teams Take Top Honors at Nationwide Mine Rescue Skills Contest

BRISTOL, Va., Oct. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR), a leading U.S. coal supplier, today announced that its affiliated mine rescue teams swept the top spots in the overall experienced teams' competition at the Nationwide Mine Rescue Skills Contest, which is sponsored by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and is held biennially in even-numbered years.  The event was held Oct. 2-5 in Beckley, W.Va.

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Twenty-three teams participated in the competition: eight in Division-1 for teams with less than three years of experience and 15 teams in Division-2 for experienced teams. Alpha-affiliated teams took the top spots in several categories in the experienced teams' competition.

Below are the highlights of the contest for teams sponsored by Alpha affiliates:

Division 2 - Overall Winners

First Place - Kingston White
Second Place - Rockspring Gold
Third Place - Brooks Run South

Division 2 - Individual Blocks:

Mine Rescue Field Problem

First Place - Brooks Run South

First Aid/ Bench/ Gas Test/ Written Exam

First Place - Kingston White

Smoke Problem/ Firefighting

First Place - Kingston White

"This was a very successful effort for our affiliated mine rescue teams in the most important event of the year," said Rob Asbury, Alpha's mine rescue coordinator. "They were put to the test against other elite competitors, but our teams work hard year round preparing for any possible situation. We congratulate them on a job well done."

MSHA also sponsors a National Mine Rescue Contest in odd-numbered years, which an Alpha affiliate, Black Mountain White Team from Southern Kentucky, won in Columbus, Ohio in 2011.  Alpha affiliates also performed well in a number of regional contests throughout the year.

About Alpha Natural Resources

With $7.1 billion in total revenue in 2011, Alpha Natural Resources ranks as America's second-largest coal producer by revenue and third-largest by production. Alpha is the nation's largest supplier of metallurgical coal used in the steel-making process and is a major supplier of thermal coal to electric utilities and manufacturing industries. In 2011 the company had more than 200 customers on five continents. More information about Alpha can be found on the company's Web site at www.alphanr.com.

SOURCE Alpha Natural Resources