The purpose of this study was to compare the cause specific mortality of the U.S. coal miner to the mortality of the total U.S. male population. A 10% sample was taken of those men covered by the United Mine Workers Health and Retirement Funds on January 1, 1959, and the resultant 23,232 miners were followed through December 31, 1971. The overall SMR was 102.1, and there was higher than expected mortality in several categories of nonmalignant respiratory disease, accidents and stomach cancer. The excess in stomach cancer occurred only for those men 70 years of age or older.