The Kanawha Valley Mining Institute will hold its first monthly meeting of 2014 onThursday, January 9 beginning at 6 p.m.at the Holiday Inn & Suites in South Charleston.

The Honorable Justice Brent Benjamin of the WV Supreme Court of Appeals is the scheduled speaker with Strata Products as the sponsor.  To register for the meeting go to:  http://www.kvmi.org/cntract.html

The 41^st Annual Coal Mining Symposium is set for January 29 – 31^st, 2014 at the Charleston Civic Center.  Exhibit and Sponsorship information was sent to everyone the end of last week and responses have been numerous.  The general registration will be sent later today by e-mail and will also be available on-line at http://www.wvcoal.com/2014-symposium-registration.html

A block of sleeping rooms have been reserved at the Holiday Inn Express (directly across from the Civic Center) at a rate of $99.00 per night.  To reserve your room please call the Holiday Inn Express directly at 304.345.0600 and let them know you want to be in the block of WVCA rooms.

Remember The Miners will hold its 3rd Annual Bob Huggins Fish Fry on January 31st at Mylan Park in Morgantown, WV. The event will help support Remember The Miners Scholars Program and the Norma Mae Huggins Cancer Research Endowment Fund. You won't want to miss this signature event, with VIPs including Honorary Chairman Coach Bob Huggins and many more to be announced.

According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly production report, for the week ending 12/14/13, U.S. metallurgical exports through October 2013 were down 6.2% as compared to the same period last year (55.7million tons v. 59.4 million tons) and steam coal exports were off by 8.5% (43.4 million tons v. 47.4 million tons). Imported coal was also down 4.5% for this period (7.3 million tons v. 7.6 million tons).   West Virginia’s 2013 year-to-date production, through 12/14, was down 2.2% statewide when compared to the same period in 2012 (113.2 million tons v. 115.7 million tons), with northern WV production up 1.9% (40.5 million tons v. 39.7 million tons) and southern WV off 4.4% (72.7 million tons v. 76 million tons). U.S. year-to-date production through 12/7 was down 1.9% (957.1 million tons v. 975.5 million tons).

Earlier this week, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the EPA’s retroactive veto of Mingo Logan Coal Company’s permit in Logan County.  Twenty-six other states’ Attorneys General joined in the brief thanks to the coordinating efforts of AG Morrisey.  A related story is attached to this Coal Bits.