SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The operator of the Utah mine that collapsed in 2007, killing nine people, has reached a $949,351 settlement with the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration over safety violations.

Genwal Resources Inc., an affiliate of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., denied Thursday that any of the violations led to the deadly collapse, which leveled a section of the Crandall Canyon mine as large as 63 football fields. From the start, Murray Energy chief Bob Murray insisted that the cave-in was triggered by a natural earthquake.