The Industrial Minerals Association – North America (IMA-NA) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced the recipients of their 2008 joint safety recognition awards. The individual mining operations were honored at the IMA-NA’s Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. Two classes of awards recognize different levels of safety performance.

The IMA-NA Safety Achievement Award recognizes the best reportable injury rate for an individual company by size category. The award criteria evaluate a company’s safety performance at all of its U.S. facilities and non-U.S. mining sites in North America. The 2008 winners include:

• Rio Tinto Minerals–Large Category
• J.W. Gillibrand Co., Inc.–Medium Category
• J.R. Simplot Co., Simplot Silica Products–Small Category

Ten additional Small Category companies tied the winning zero reportable injury rate, but had fewer employees. These companies received a Safety Achievement Certificate: Old Hickory Clay Co.;, Ricci Brothers Sand Co., Inc.; IMI Fabi, LLC; Southern Filter Media, LLC; Manley Bros.; A.F. Gelhar Co., Inc.; C.E.D. Process Minerals, Inc.;S & B Industrial Minerals GmbH; George W. Bryant Core Sands, Inc.; and Ohio Basic Minerals LLC.