The Nevada Mining Association this week announced the recipients of its 2019 Mine Operator Safety Awards. The awards celebrate Nevada’s mining operations that make an extraordinary effort to ensure all miners return home safely after every shift.
U.S. Silica’s EP Minerals’ Lovelock (Colado) mine took First place in the Non-Metal category. EP Minerals’ Lovelock is the world’s largest producing diatomaceous earth (DE) mine and has been in operation since 1959.
We’d like to recognize our Lovelock mine team and Peter McKenzie, Nevada Mines Manager on winning the Nevada Mining Association Safety Award.
“Nevada mine operators continue to demonstrate that workplace safety is the most important value,” said Dana Bennett, NvMA president.
“The Safety Awards reflect the strong safety culture that Nevada operators have created, where working hard and working safely go hand in glove. Congratulations to all of the mine operators receiving these much-deserved awards this year.”
The NvMA Safety Awards are based on performance in the previous calendar year. This year, 34 mine operators will be recognized during an awards luncheon at the NVMA’s annual convention in Lake Tahoe on Saturday, Sept. 7.
In addition to the operator awards, the NvMA will also recognize 53 individuals for their commitment to workplace safety. Lovelock’s Don Childs, Jack Phillips, and Chris Ruprecht will be recognized at that event.
Operator awards are given to the top mines in designated categories based on their safety rate, which is calculated through a formula that factors the number of employees on site, number of hours worked in 2018, penalties for lost-time accidents, number of reportable incidents, and lost-time days. Many of these 34 mines recorded the impressive “triple zero” – no reportable injuries, lost time incidents or restrictive days.
Well done, Lovelock mine team!
