Mining Incidents
MSHA mine register by county

Mines in Avery County, North Carolina

Avery County, North Carolina has 12 mines on MSHA's register: 1 active, 11 abandoned. 1 miner has died and 66 accidents have been reported at these mines between 1983 and 2026. Inspectors have issued 173 citations.

Every mine MSHA has registered in Avery County, working or not, with the accident, fatality and citation record each one carries on this site. Active mines are listed first, then the rest by the weight of their record.

Abandoned and historical mine features in Avery County →

Mines on register
12
Active
1
Fatalities on record
1
Citations issued
173
1 underground · 10 surface · 1 facilities 0 coal · 12 metal and non-metal 11 abandoned 66 reported accidents, 1983–2026
Local economic context
County figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 5-year pooled estimates, so the 2023 vintage covers 2019 through 2023. The Census category is 'mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction', which is broader than MSHA jurisdiction and includes oil and gas workers no mine employs. These figures describe the surrounding county, not this mine, and are not a factor in any specific incident.
Avery County, North Carolina · Population 17,643
0.7%
Mining share of county employment
$57,657
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
On the map 
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MSHA-registered mine, any status

Mines plot only where MSHA holds a surveyed coordinate for the site; mines the agency locates to a town, county or state centroid are in the counts and the list above but not drawn. Click a point for the mine's status and record.

Operators with the most mines herecurrent operator of record
Operator Mines Active Fatalities
Clark Stone Company Inc 2 0 0
Sibelco North America Inc. 1 1 1
Cranberry Magnetite Corp 1 0 0
Elbert D Watson 1 0 0
Framco 1 0 0
Grassy Creek Construction Company Inc 1 0 0
Harris Mining Company 1 0 0
International Minerals & Chemical Corp 1 0 0
Pat Watson 1 0 0
Troitino Construction Company 1 0 0
Mines in Avery County12 on register
  1. Schoolhouse Quartz Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sibelco North America Inc. · MSHA ID 3100375
    Active
  2. LENVILLE
    Surface metal/non-metal · Clark Stone Company Inc · MSHA ID 3100369
    Abandoned
  3. Cranberry Mine & Mill
    Facility metal/non-metal · Cranberry Magnetite Corp · MSHA ID 3100209
    Abandoned
  4. Exploration Drill Site #5
    Surface metal/non-metal · Framco · MSHA ID 3101744
    Abandoned
  5. Frank Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · International Minerals & Chemical Corp · MSHA ID 3101976
    Abandoned
  6. FRANK MINE
    Surface metal/non-metal · Grassy Creek Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 3101499
    Abandoned
  7. Grandfather Mtn Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Troitino Construction Company · MSHA ID 3100191
    Abandoned
  8. Gushers Knob Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Harris Mining Company · MSHA ID 3101112
    Abandoned
  9. Henson Creek Aquamarine Mine
    Underground metal/non-metal · Elbert D Watson · MSHA ID 3101725
    Abandoned
  10. Henson Creek Garnet Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pat Watson · MSHA ID 3101726
    Abandoned
  11. PUTNAM MINE
    Surface metal/non-metal · Clark Stone Company Inc · MSHA ID 3102139
    Abandoned
  12. Schoolhouse Research & Development
    Surface metal/non-metal · Unimin Corp · MSHA ID 3102001
    Abandoned

Status, type and operator are as reported to MSHA. Fatality and accident counts are MSHA's reportable accident records for the mine; citations are inspector-issued violations on record. Each mine's own page carries the full detail.

Other counties in North CarolinaAll counties →
How to read these numbers

The register is MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System: every operation ever assigned a mine ID, including ones abandoned decades ago, so the count is a history of mining in the county, not a count of working mines. A mine's county is the one its operator reported to MSHA. Fatality and accident counts start with MSHA's reportable-accident records (1983 onward); citation counts are inspector-issued violations on record. We are an independent research tool, not MSHA.