On Tuesday, December 1, 2020, Bevill State Community College will host a Groundbreaking Ceremony at 11:00 a.m. for the longwall expansion to the Mine Training Facility located on the Sumiton Campus. Speakers at the event will include Senator Greg Reed (Senate Majority Leader), Patrick Cagle (President of the Alabama Coal Association), Dr. Chris Cox (Interim President of Bevill State), and Kelli Gant (CAO of Warrior Met Coal). A tour of the facility will take place following the groundbreaking. (Masks will be required. Social distancing protocols will be in place. Agenda and invitation attached.) 

Bevill State Community College is the only college in the state that offers Mine Technology curriculum. In 2019, the Alabama Legislature passed, and Governor Ivey signed an Education Budget that included $950,000 in funding to expand Bevill State’s mine training facility to include longwall mining training.   

Longwall mining is a highly productive coal mining technique. The expansion of the mine training center will enable all Underground New Miner Trainees to have a greater understanding of the extraction of the coal process from not only a continuous miner section but longwall mining as well. Miners will be shown the safest way to handle all aspects of tasks assigned.  The focus of the training center is to instruct on safe job/procedures of how to do the job right with safety at the forefront. Protecting the health and safety of miners is the #1 priority. 

Currently, the training center has a mock continuous miner section where miners are trained on the safest way to build and maintain all of the necessary equipment. The expansion will give the training center a state-of-the-art mock longwall with all of the necessary equipment and processes, including a modern classroom inside the mine.  The additions to the facility will make the center an incredible training venue for mine rescue team scenarios. 

For more information contact Tana Collins-Allred at 800.648.3271 ext. 5742 or by email at tana.collins@bscc.edu.  Please visit the BSCC website at www.bscc.edu.