Mining Incidents
MSHA mine register by county

Mines in McDowell County, West Virginia page 4 of 4

McDowell County, West Virginia has 921 mines on MSHA's register: 24 active, 837 abandoned. 920 are coal mines and 1 metal or non-metal. 39 miners have died and 4,566 accidents have been reported at these mines between 1983 and 2026. Inspectors have issued 44,356 citations.

Every mine MSHA has registered in McDowell 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 McDowell County →

Mines on register
921
Active
24
Fatalities on record
39
Citations issued
44,356
642 underground · 175 surface · 96 facilities 920 coal · 1 metal and non-metal 837 abandoned 4,566 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.
McDowell County, West Virginia · Population 18,413
13.0%
Mining share of county employment
$29,980
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Operators with the most mines herecurrent operator of record
Operator Mines Active Fatalities
Consolidation Coal Company 17 0 4
Douglas Pocahontas Coal Corp 15 0 0
Trace Fork Coal Company 12 0 0
Ramaco Resources, LLC 10 3 2
Ashland Mining Corp 9 0 0
Betty Coal Company Inc 8 0 0
Hawley Coal Mining Corp 8 0 0
Ridge Land Company Inc 8 0 0
Extra Energy, Inc. 7 2 1
Raw Coal Mining Company, Inc. 7 1 1
Mines in McDowell County921 on register · page 4 of 4
  1. Swope No 2
    Underground coal · W B Swope Inc · MSHA ID 4605346
    Abandoned and Sealed
  2. Tina Mine
    Underground coal · Trace Fork Coal Company · MSHA ID 4604187
    Abandoned and Sealed
  3. Totten Ridge Surface
    Surface coal · Coal Cave Inc · MSHA ID 4608286
    Abandoned
  4. Truck Barn Strip No 34
    Surface coal · I & S Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4606174
    Abandoned
  5. Turnhole Branch #1
    Surface coal · Cf & B Coal Works Inc · MSHA ID 4608673
    Abandoned
  6. Twin Branch
    Underground coal · Simron Fuel Coal Company · MSHA ID 4605535
    Abandoned and Sealed
  7. TWIN BRANCH MINE 1
    Surface coal · TWIN BRANCH MINING · MSHA ID 4609618
    New Mine
  8. Ug #2
    Underground coal · Royal Coal Company · MSHA ID 4600730
    Abandoned
  9. Vance Hollow Mine No. 1
    coal · Indian Ridge Mining, LLC · MSHA ID 4609450
    New Mine
  10. Vivian Surface Mine
    Surface coal · Hopi Coals Inc · MSHA ID 4603333
    Abandoned
  11. War Branch No. 2 Mine
    Underground coal · Riverside Energy Company, LLC · MSHA ID 4609251
    New Mine
  12. War Creek No 5 Mine
    Underground coal · Olga Coal Company · MSHA ID 4604088
    Abandoned and Sealed
  13. War Creek No 5 Mine
    Underground coal · Peter White Coal Mining Corp · MSHA ID 4604246
    Abandoned and Sealed
  14. War Creek No 5 Mine
    Underground coal · United Pocahontas Coal Company · MSHA ID 4604313
    Abandoned and Sealed
  15. Welch Deep Mine
    Underground coal · West Virginia Properties, Inc. · MSHA ID 4609665
    Temporarily Idled
  16. Welch Deep Mine #1
    coal · Caretta Minerals, LLC · MSHA ID 4609581
    New Mine
  17. Welch Seam Mine
    Underground coal · Raw Coal Mining Company, Inc. · MSHA ID 4609432
    Abandoned
  18. Williams River No 103 Mine
    Surface coal · G & S Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4602136
    Abandoned
  19. Worth Auger Mine
    Surface coal · C & W Coal Company · MSHA ID 4602405
    Abandoned
  20. Zack's Branch Mine No. 1
    Underground coal · S & M Mining Consultants, LLC · MSHA ID 4609451
    Temporarily Idled
  21. Zack's Branch Mine No. 2
    coal · S & M Mining Consultants, LLC · MSHA ID 4609452
    New Mine

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 West VirginiaAll 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.