Mining Incidents

Columbia Gold Mines Ltd: 39 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Columbia Gold Mines Ltd · Underground
Goldfield, Esmeralda County, NV  ·  NonProducing
MSHA Mine ID: 2602743

Columbia Gold Mines Ltd has $12K in proposed MSHA penalties and $4K outstanding across 2 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

Watch this mine

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Columbia Gold Mines Ltd.

Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2026
Latest incident
Apr 2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2013
39
citations
9
significant & substantial
$11,666
proposed penalties
$7,716
paid to date
66% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $3,950 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2013
26
inspections on record
391
inspection hours
n/a
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.
Rate withheld: 391 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Columbia Gold Mines Ltd has $12K in proposed MSHA penalties and $4K outstanding across 2 contested dockets.

Penalty disposition
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$12K
proposed penalties
$12K
current assessed
$8K
paid to date
$4K
outstanding
18 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-02-10.
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.
31.0%
significant & substantial
72.4%
high negligence or reckless
31.0%
reasonably likely or greater
41.4%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 10.3% low, 17.2% moderate, 72.4% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, 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.
11 citations taken to the federal commission · 28% of citations on record
  • Still open 11 · 100%
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 2026-05-03.
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 mine contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
WEST 2026-0197 Decision pending
WEST 2026-0200 Decision pending
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Columbia Gold Mines Ltd 2013 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2026 4
2025 3
2024 2
2023 5
2022 5
2021 5
2020 5
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Columbia Gold Mines Ltd sits in Esmeralda County, Nevada, where the Census mining category is 21.1% of county employment.

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.
Esmeralda County, Nevada · Population 962
21.1%
Mining share of county employment
Not reported
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Quarterly safety rates
Citations per million reported employee-hours. Rates begin in 2000, when MSHA's quarterly employment data starts; earlier incidents are counted but cannot be rate-adjusted. Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.
Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2026 Q2 8 0 0 0.0
2026 Q1 10 12 2 1200000.0
2025 Q4 0 0 0
2025 Q3 7 0 0 0.0
2025 Q2 10 0 0 0.0
2024 Q4 10 0 0 0.0
2024 Q3 10 2 0 200000.0
2024 Q2 0 0 0
Show 15 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2024 Q1 4 0 0 0.0
2023 Q4 13 0 0 0.0
2023 Q3 12 0 0 0.0
2023 Q2 30 0 0 0.0
2023 Q1 18 0 0 0.0
2022 Q4 26 0 0 0.0
2022 Q3 48 3 1 62500.0
2022 Q2 42 0 0 0.0
2022 Q1 42 0 0 0.0
2021 Q4 38 0 0 0.0
2021 Q3 36 0 0 0.0
2021 Q2 36 0 0 0.0
2021 Q1 76 5 0 65789.5
2020 Q4 94 5 0 53191.5
2020 Q3 128 0 0 0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2026 · 1 incident

April 8, 2026 NV · Metal/Non-Metal mine manager, mine foreman, mine owner OTHER
Columbia Gold Mines Ltd · (Not Elsewhere Classified)

Employee had not returned phone calls for approximately 2 days so a well being check was called into the County Sheriffs Office as well as to a trusted member of the community. The community member found employee on the ground in a shack adjacent to employee's living area deceased from an apparent heart attack.