US Coal Baron Bob Murray Passes Away
NEWS9 reported that US Coal Baron Mr Robert E (Bob) Murray died at his St. Clairsville home on Sunday. He was 80. Mr Murray's passing was not related to the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Murray was surrounded by his family when he passed in the early morning hours. Mr Murray had been battling ongoing health conditions for several years. In 2016, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a disease found frequently in coal miners.
Mr Murray claimed to have lied about his age so he could work in a coal mine at the age of 16 and provide for his family. Mr Murray received a Bachelor of Engineering in Mining from Ohio State University. Thereafter, he attended a six-week management program at Harvard Business School. Mr Murray began his mining career at the North American Coal Corporation. He served in a variety of capacities at NACC, winning election to vice president of operations in 1969. From 1974 to 1983, Murray was president of NACC's Western Division and presided over four of its subsidiaries in North Dakota. In 1974, a strike took place at the Indian Head Mine in Zap, which North American was attempting to close. In 1983, he became president and CEO of North American.
Mr Murray started Murray Energy Corporation in St Clairsville Ohio in 1988, 1988 with the purchase of a single continuous mining operation with an annual output of one million tons per year, which became the lowest cost producer of coal in any sourcing region by aggregating the lowest cost reserves near customers, a practice that is deployed today. In mid-September, Murray Energy emerged from bankruptcy under a new name, American Consolidated Natural Resources. Just a month later on October 19, Mr Murray announced his retirement from ACNR.
Throughout his career, Mr Murray served on multiple boards of mining associations, including as president of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc., the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute, the National Mining Association, and America's Power and others.
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