Coal Age

JUN 2013

Coal Age Magazine - For nearly 100 years, Coal Age has been the magazine that readers can trust for guidance and insight on this important industry.

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e d i t o r 's n o t e The Changing Face of the Coal Business T hey say perception is everything. Situations are perceived and a mental image is conjured on years of experience. As an example, if one were to pull a vendor aside at a mining trade show or seminar and ask, "How's business," the reply would probably be pessimistic. Depending on the amount of time that vendor has pursued the coal business and the quality of their equipment and services, the answer would vary from it's awful (e.g., I have only been in the business for five years or less) to it's BY STEVE FISCOR never going to be as great as it once was (e.g., I have been doing / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF this for way too long). During the last 20 to 25 years, the U.S. coal business maybe had two good years in the 1990s, a couple of good years shortly before the global financial crisis, and this decade is shaping up no differently. Despite the soft market and the negativity that seems to constantly pervade this segment, American coal miners have produced more than 1 billion tons per year, at the highest productivity levels, and much more safely than imaginable in the 1970s or 1980s. Coal Age recently sponsored two fairly successful trade shows: Haulage & Loading, which caters to the surface mining business; and Longwall USA, which serves the underground coal sector. In general, surface and underground mine operators are not usually found in the same setting. Their approach to mining coal is completely different, but they do have some things in common: a strong commitment to safe operations, abiding by regulations and profitability. Attendance at both events was as good if not better than previous years. If the conference is compared to one that took place 10 or 20 years ago, when there was a larger group of mines and vendors, then attendance was in fact way down. The most noticeable difference between the current conference and the one that took place two years ago is that our business is changing. Yet, this has not registered with a lot of people. They are so focused on who is not there they tend to overlook who is present. There were a number of new, young faces, and the people in our business tend to discount the younger crowd based on perception. In three very similar scenarios, I listened to complaints from middle-aged marketers, who did not realize that the young people they were seeing had incredible purchasing power. On two separate occasions, at a luncheon and on the show floor, representatives from two competitive OEMs at the two different venues complimented Coal Age [Mining Media International] on an improved technical program and then complained about the lack of mine operators, only to find out that they were completely surrounded by mine operators. These men were 35 years or younger. Even though the market we serve hasn't changed a whole lot, a new generation is getting ready to take over. They probably do not immediately recognize that many of the brands they see are the result of several classic companies merged into one new name. They probably have a direct link to an owner or a CEO in today's connected world. They are fewer in number, they may be a little less formal, and they are accomplishing more with less. www.mining-media.com Mining Media International Editorial Office 11555 Central Parkway, Suite 401 Jacksonville, Florida 32224 U.S.A. Phone: +1.904.721.2925 Fax: +1.904.721.2930 Editor-In-Chief—Steve Fiscor, sfiscor@mining-media.com Western Field Editor—Russ Carter, rcarter@mining-media.com European Editor—Simon Walker, simon.iets@btinternet.com Latin American Editor—Oscar Martinez, omartinez@mining-media.com Associate Editor—Gina Tverdak-Slattery, gtverdak@mining-media.com News Editor, Mining—Joseph W. Kirschke, jkirschke@mining-media.com Assistant Editor—Jennifer Jensen, jjensen@mining-media.com Graphic Designer—Austin St. Clair, astclair@mining-media.com Mining Media International Corporate Office 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1 Denver, Colorado 80231 U.S.A. Phone: +1.303.283.0640 Fax: +1.303.283.0641 President/Publisher—Peter Johnson, pjohnson@mining-media.com Vice President of Sales & Marketing—John Bold, jbold@mining-media.com Midwest/Eastern U.S. & Canada, Sales—Victor Matteucci, vmatteucci@mining-media.com Western U.S. & Canada, Sales—Mary Lu Buse, mlbuse@mining-media.com Scandinavia, UK and European Sales—Colm Barry, colm.barry@telia.com Germany, Austria & Switzerland Sales—Gerd Strasmann, info@strasmann-media.de Australia/Asia Sales—Lanita Idrus, lanita@mining-media.com Japan Sales—Masao Ishiguro, ishiguro@irm.jp Indonesia Sales—Dimas Abdillah, dabdillah@mining-media.com Classified Advertising—Norm Rose, nrose@mining-media.com Show Manager—Tanna Holzer, tholzer@mining-media.com Ad Traffic Manager—Erica Freeman, efreeman@mining-media.com Coal Age, Volume 118, Issue 6, (ISSN 1040-7820) is published monthly by Mining Media Inc., 10 Sedgwick Drive, Englewood, Colorado 80113 (mining-media.com). Periodicals postage paid at Englewood, CO, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40845540. Canada return address: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor ON N9A 6J5, Email: circulation@mining-media.com. Current and back issues and additional resources, including subscription request forms and an editorial calendar, are available online at www.coalage.com. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Free and controlled circulation to qualified subscribers. Non-qualified persons may subscribe at the following rates: USA and Canada, 1 year, $56.00, 2 year, $96.00, 3 year, $162.00, Student, $16.00, Outside the USA and Canada, 1 year, $77.00, 2 year, $137.00, 3 year, $225.00 surface mail (1 year, $145.00, 2 year, $257.00 airmail delivery). For subscriber services or to order single copies, write to Coal Age , 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1, Denver, CO 80231 USA; call +1.303.283.0640 (USA) or visit www.mining-media.com. ARCHIVES AND MICROFORM: This magazine is available for research and retrieval of selected archived articles from leading electronic databases and online search services, including Factiva, LexisNexis, and Proquest. For microform availability, contact ProQuest at 800-5210600 or +1.734.761.4700, or search the Serials in Microform listings at www.proquest.com. Steve Fiscor, Coal Age Editor-In-Chief sfiscor@mining-media.com POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Coal Age, P.O. Box 1337, Skokie, IL 60076 USA. REPRINTS: Mining Media Inc, 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1, Denver, CO 80231 USA phone: +1.303.283.0640, fax: +1.303.283.0641, www.mining-media.com PHOTOCOPIES: Authorization to photocopy articles for internal corporate, personal, or instructional use may be obtained from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at +1.978.750.8400. Obtain further information at www.copyright.com. 2 www.coalage.com COPYRIGHT 2013: Coal Age, incorporating Coal and Coal Mining & Processing. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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