Mining Incidents

Essar Minerals Canada Limited: 1,356 MSHA citations controller

MSHA controller ID: 0102805

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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any mine Essar Minerals Canada Limited controls.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
167
Mines on record
14
Years on record
2010–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2010
1,356
citations
429
significant & substantial
$922,889
proposed penalties
$604,645
paid to date
66% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $318,244 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Labor enforcement (WHD)
US Labor Department wage findings since 2006
1
labor cases
$192,185
back wages owed
678
employees affected
Violation types
Wage & hour (FLSA) (1)
Source: US DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement records, matched by employer name and state.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2010
608
inspections on record
15,805
inspection hours
8.6
citations per 100 inspection hours
This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.
1,356 citations across 15,805 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
A Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
5
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2012-07-19.
On record since 2010.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.
Penalty disposition
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$923K
proposed penalties
$758K
current assessed
$605K
paid to date
$154K
outstanding
1,300 assessments are final orders; 74 contested dockets.
Of $522K in penalties contested before the Commission, $357K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-30.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
Violation severity profile
Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.
32.9%
significant & substantial
5.1%
high negligence or reckless
33.5%
reasonably likely or greater
27.6%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 13.6% low, 81.1% moderate, 5.1% high, 0.1% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
This rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2026 0.00 0.00 0.000
2025 0.00 0.00 0.000
2019 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2018 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2016 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2015 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2014 1.09 1.09 0.000
2013 2.47 2.47 0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Health sampling
A sample is a point in time compliance measurement, not an individual exposure history. These figures describe MSHA sampling records and do not establish causation or personal dose.

Respirable coal dust
Respirable coal dust and silica figures cover coal facilities. Dust compliance is measured against the current 1.5 mg/m3 standard; samples predating the 2014 standard are included, so compliance rates are a coarse historical signal.

Last sampled: 2019-09-25, 6 years ago
97%
within 1.5 mg/m3
906
samples
5.92
dust max (mg/m3)
0
over MSHA ECV
The excessive concentration value (ECV) is MSHA's own per-sample enforcement threshold, which builds in measurement uncertainty; a sample over its ECV can trigger a citation. The count covers only samples MSHA assigned an ECV.
584 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 322 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR168
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR155
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER96

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2019-05-07, 7 years ago
10.2
silica avg (%)
32
samples
47.4
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR9
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR8
  • MECHANIC5

Noise
The share counts noise samples whose measured dose exceeded the 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. It describes the sampled workplace, not what reached the miner's ear: hearing conservation programs and the hearing protection worn during the shift are recorded separately and are not reflected here.

Last sampled: 2019-03-04, 7 years ago
5%
over PEL
327
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR62
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER59
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE47

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2026-07-22
8%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
52
samples
37
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Nuisance dust, respirable, <1% Qtz32 over
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz111 over
  • Arsenic fumes13
  • Beryllium fumes13

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2026-04-29
10
samples
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
When citations were contested
Contesting a citation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is a lawful right. These figures state the public outcomes of that process, from MSHA's Contested Violations file.
211 citations taken to the federal commission · 16% of citations on record
  • Settled 210 · 100%
  • Stood as issued 1 · 0%
88%
S&S designation survived the contest
Counts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.
of 178 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
32%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$522K proposed, $357K after decisions · industry: 39%
Source: MSHA Contested Violations file (public record), updated weekly. A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record. Latest contest filed 2013-12-04. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.
Contested penalties
A reduction or dismissal at the Commission is a lawful outcome of contesting a proposed penalty. Figures are the proposed amount and the amount upheld in the docket's decision.
Largest penalties this controller contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
WEVA 2012-76 Settlement Simonton 2012 $50K → $34K
WEVA 2011-2472 Settlement Moran 2012 $42K → $12K
WEVA 2011-2085 Settlement Moran 2013 $18K → $15K
KENT 2012-335 Settlement Bulluck 2013 $18K → $14K
WEVA 2012-1790 Settlement Simonton 2013 $17K → $14K
WEVA 2013-554 Settlement Simonton 2013 $17K → $13K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2026
31
2025
15
2018
1
2017
1
2016
1
2015
1
2014
2
2013
3
2012
20
2011
53
2010
39

Operators under this controller

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Essar Minerals Canada Limited stands on silica, penalties, and injury rate

MSHA's standard limits respirable silica to 50 micrograms per cubic metre, but MSHA publishes dust and quartz as separate files and never the silica figure itself. We derive it per sample, score it against the limit, and set the operator's injury rate against a benchmark built from the full MSHA operator record. With the 26-year penalty trail, contest posture, and fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.

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