Susan Johnson, Carbonoks' executive director of business development, said the company is in talks with China to buy thousands of the chambers for $150,000 each. If the deal goes through, Johnson said the sale won't only benefit the company, but also the state of West Virginia, which could receive about $22 million in tax revenue.

"Our meetings with them informed us that we are the only people in the world who can provide security from flooding mines," Johnson said. "The majority of mines in China are very prone to water inundation and that is how they lose most of their miners."

Johnson said Chinese mining officials learned of Carbonoks after speaking with officials the West Virginia Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training. She said the Safe Havens' biggest attributes -- waterproofing and intense pressure protection -- would aid China's biggest mining problems: flooding and rock falls.

The Carbonoks Safe Haven came from collaboration in 2006, and the rescue chamber components are manufactured through West Virginia University's technology program, GrafTech, Webcore and Fiber-Tech Industries Inc.

"This collaboration has drawn on a lot of West Virginia's resources," said Gary Midkiff, Carbonoks' chief operations officer. "There wasn't anybody trying to stop it."

The Safe Haven has panels made of carbon foam wrapped in glass/fiber-reinforced polymer to absorb high temperatures on one side while putting out low temperatures on the other side. It can resist fires in excess of 1,500 degrees for an hour and it's crush-proof underneath 150 tons.

"With the steel cage design, I knew immediately this would work," Johnson said. "WVU really did an incredible design.

"It can withstand 750,000 pounds in a rock fall, which is really impressive. That equates to 240 F-250 trucks."

It has an air purging system and can sustain blast loads in excess of 95 PSI. It has systems to control internal temperatures, external temperatures and a fourth system as backup in case the others malfunction.

"The minute the door opens, it communicates to the mine office and to our office," John Beam, with Carbonoks, said during a May demonstration of the Safe Haven.

Johnson said Carbonoks' staff has grown from four to 28 people. Approximately 85 percent of production occurs in-house at the company's headquarters in Poca. Another 10 or 15 percent of production comes from Lowe's and the rest from specialty shops -- one of which is located in Beckley.

MSHA has a Beckley training facility where the Safe Haven made a September appearance during the MSHA Rodeo. The rodeo provides training for the nation's mine rescue teams in the form of competition.

"We had over 400 rescue miners go through our device and they said that it was awesome," Johnson said. "The only thing they recommended was a stiffer sled underneath with side bumpers; within a week we were redesigning and had ourselves an impressive sled.

"The miners had no other ideas or complaints. That was a very satisfying day for us to hear those guys and see how much they liked it."

Johnson said MSHA's Code of Federal Regulations urgently mandated rescue chambers in every mine, and now mines have few resources available to purchase the Safe Haven, which goes above and beyond anything in the CFR.

MSHA requires refuge chambers withstand 15 psi. Johnson said a person's sneeze registers at about 30 psi, and the Sago mine disaster blew up between 100 and 110 psi.

"The real law will be set by legal precedent," she said. "We know we have units sold, but nobody's board will approve a purchase until they free up units.

"We've worked to get people discounts through workers' comp and insurance companies and also the economic stimulus package, which was $3 billion in tax credits, which were very specific."

MSHA's CFR has no water requirements. Johnson said Carbonoks learned the government in China is aware of 3,800 deaths in its mines within a year. While China's private mines often don't get discussed, she said about 10,000 deaths occur in those mines in a year.

Carbonoks also has partnered with Venture Design Services, which Johnson described as "truly MSHA-approved," for sale along with Safe Haven devices.

"Our intent was to design the very best and highest quality devices," she said. "We tried to make this an easy solution for them by creating avenues for them to help pay for these devices."

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