“There is only one way to learn to be a miner and that is to get out there and bust your butt.”

Ray Lewis drives truck for NVI Mining where he has seen companies come and go. Ray has roots that go back to coal mining; his great-grandfather was killed in the Extension Mine explosion.

According to the last letter his great grandfather wrote to his great grandmother, he worked as a steeplejack and he "would much rather have been going up the mines than down into them".

Ray's Story

“I was not a miner but I worked underground in the shop, and even though you may not be a miner, underground is still underground.  I worked surface for many years and I thought ‘they will not get me underground, I am not dead yet!’

I met underground guys I would not even give the time of day to, but after I started working underground, I saw that it is a totally different life down there. I can not explain it, but once you have worked underground there is camaraderie and a certain sense of trust. Suddenly, I could see where they were coming from and totally had a change of heart and a lot of these guys are very close friends of mine.  

Continue