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Deer Run does not have a 3 million ton stockpile, Broadbent said. Such a figure exceeds the mine's stockpile capacity, he added, without saying how much coal was on the ground. Moreover, mine owners were working hard to restart Deer Run, he insisted. D eer Run ceased production on March 26 after elevated levels of c arbon monoxide were detected. However, both the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have refused to publicly disclose actual CO readings, which apparently have fluctuated over the past few months. In late June, DNR spokesman Chris Young said CO numbers had " remained low" over the previous week, although he could not pre- d ict when the mine would be back in production. A few days later, Young provided another brief update. "The company has submitted a new multiphase proposal beginning with an underground assessment and pointing toward an eventual goal of returning to production," he said. The proposal is under review by MSHA and DNR staff, but there apparently was no timetable for a decision. An assessment team was allowed to go underground in early M ay, ostensibly to check for a possible CO source and/or confirm the CO threat had ended. According to DNR, no obvious CO source was discovered. Some state mining officials have surmised that a "hotspot," per- haps in a mine rib, might be responsible for the CO readings that on occasion have exceeded ambient levels. If that is the case, state and federal mine-safety officials have not said so. Deer Run, one of Foresight's newest longwall mines, is located in an area of west-central Illinois where the geography has produced hotspots in underground mines, according to one state mining source. Whatever the reason for the mine's lengthy shutdown, elected officials in Hillsboro and Montgomery County area getting increas- ingly nervous. Deer Run provides more than 125 good-paying jobs and generates about $1 million annually in local taxes. "This is a huge hit to our county," said Hillsboro Mayor Brian Sullivan. "County revenue is in trouble if this thing closes down." Sullivan personally thinks Deer Run probably will reopen, albeit not soon. The mayor believes it could be months before the mine is run- ning coal again. When it was active, Deer Run was one of Illinois' largest coal producers. In 2014, just its second full year of operation, the mine turned out 5.5 million tons. Its output reached 1.7 million tons in the first quarter of 2015, meaning it was on track to produce nearly 7 million tons this year. North Dakota Mine Idled After Dragline Slip North American Coal Corp. has reportedly stopped production at the Falkirk mine near Underwood, North Dakota, after the mine's dragline, Old Ironsides, slid onto its side in a ground slip on June 16. n e w s c o n t i n u e d 14 www.coalage.com July 2015 C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S September 1-4, 2015: AIMEX 2015, Sydney Showground, Sydney, Australia. Contact: Web: www.aimex.com. S eptember 9-11, 2015: The American Society of Appraisers (ASA) mining valuation course Identification and Appraisal of Mining and Mineral Processing Equipment, Butte, Montana. Contact: Tel: (800) 272-8258; Web: www.appraisers.org. September 12-16, 2015: Electra Mining, Expo Centre, Nasrec, Johannesburg, South Africa. Contact: Web: www.electramining.co.za. September 14-17, 2015: National Mine Rescue, First Aid, Bench and Preshift Competition, L exington, Kentucky. Contact: Web: www.coalminrescuecontest.com. September 16-18, 2015: Bluefield Coal Show, Brushfork Armory-Civic Center, Bluefield, West Virginia. Contact: Web: www.bluefieldchamber.com/bluefield-coal-show. September 16-18, 2015: Coal Association of Canada Annual Conference, Westin Bayshore Vancouver Hotel, Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Contact: Web: www.coal.ca. Sepember 17-18, 2015: Platts 38 t h Annual Coal Marketing Days, Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Contact: Web: www.coalmarket- ingdays.com. October 17-19, 2015: 34 t h International Conference on Ground Control in Mining (China), Jiaozuo, China. Contact: Nan Hua; Tel: (86) 13569149976; Email: icgcmchina@gmail.com. October 19-21, 2015: Economic Evaluation and Investment Decision Methods, three-day course, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado. Contact: CSM SPAC; Email: space@mines.edu; Tel: 303-279-5563; Web: www.csmspace.com/events/econeval. October 29-November 1, 2015: China Coal and Mining Expo, Beijing, China. Contact: Web: www.chinaminingcoal.com. November 9-13, 2015: Economic Evaluation and Investment Decision Methods, five-day course, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado. Contact: CSM SPAC; Email: space@mines.edu; Tel: 303-279-5563; Web: www.csm- space.com/events/econeval. January 28-29, 2015: 16 th Coaltrans USA, The Four Seasons Miami, Miami, Florida. Contact: Web: www.coaltrans.com. January 31-February 3, 2016: 41 st Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique, Las Vegas, Nevada. Contact: ISEE; Email: meetings@isee.org; Web: www.isee.org. February 21-24, 2016: SME Annual Conference and Expo, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Arizona. Contact: Web: www.smenet.org. April 11-17, 2016: bauma, Messe Munchen, Munich, Germany. Contact: Web: www.bauma.de. April 25-27, 2016: Coal Prep 2016, Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky. Contact: Web: www.coalprepshow.com. September 26-28, 2016: MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2016, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Contact: Web: www.minexpo.com. Old Ironsides slid into the pit at the Falkirk mine in North Dakota.