MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia equipment manufacturer says its new relationship with a Chinese mining company will open up new markets and help make Chinese mines safer.
Petitto Mine Equipment and China's Datong Coal Mine Group Ltd. are signing a cooperation agreement Friday in Morgantown.
Officials with the US-China Energy Center at West Virginia University introduced leaders of the two companies at a coal expo in China in 2008.
WVU officials say this relationship grew from a memorandum of understanding that WVU signed with Shanxi Province in 2010.
Petitto owners George Marshall and James Petitto say their family-owned business produces the Petitto MuleT, a diesel-powered device used to install and retrieve shields in longwall mines.
Petitto sold its first Mule earlier this year to Datong, the world's fourth-largest mining company.