The deadline for filing candidacy papers for the May 8^th West Virginia Primary Election is tomorrow and the field for various races is becoming clear. In the Presidential race, GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney has filed along with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Tea Party favorite Ron Paul. As of the last report, former Senator Rick Santorum has not filed. On the Democrat side, President Barack Obama has filed along with Keith Judd, a little known candidate from Texas.

Senator Joe Manchin has filed to run for a full six year term, going up against former Del. Sheirl Fletcher for the Democrat nomination. Manchin’s opponent in last year’s special election, John R. Raese has also filed, setting up a potential rematch.

An exhibit at WVU is shining a light on an aspect of coal mining history.  It's called ‘Defying Darkness' and it chronicles how coal miners lit their work in dozens of displays.  The University said it didn't have to look far to find all of the artifacts.  The exhibit is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Mineral Resources Building.

Please note the change of date for the monthly KVMI Meeting initially set for February 2 has now been moved to Thursday, February 9 to avoid conflict with the WV Mining Symposium.

Dow Jones Newswires

CSX Corp. (CSX) executives forecast continued strong U.S. coal exports in 2012, although they said the railroad's coal shipments likely will be down overall because of slack demand from domestic electric utilities.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/01/24/csx-executives-forecast-strong-demand-for-us-coal-exports-in-2012/#ixzz1krvYNhUZ

According to the EIA’s weekly energy report, domestic coal production continues to trend slightly upward, rising approximately 0.2 percent for the 52 weeks ending January 14, with a total of 1.08 billion tons produced for the period. The nation’s coal mines produced 21.1 million tons for the week of January 7-14.  The number of rail cars loaded also increased, by 3.2 percent, from 133 thousand cars to 137 thousand.

Metallurgical coal exports continued to lead the way, up 54 percent from this time last year. However steam coal sales slumped, down 13 percent.

In West Virginia, coal production continued to be up slightly as measured year over year, up 0.5 percent, on production of 136 million tons for the 52 weeks ending January 14. Last year’s production total was 133 million tons. Northern West Virginia coal production led the way, increasing 1.9 percent for the period, while production in the southern West Virginia coalfields fell 0.1 percent.