Elk Gulch Vermiculite Mine has had no fatalities among 1 reportable incident since 2000. MSHA has proposed $1K in penalties since 2000, with $1K outstanding.
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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: 99 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Elk Gulch Vermiculite Mine has $1K in proposed MSHA penalties and $1K outstanding across 1 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.
$1K
proposed penalties
$1K
current assessed
$0
paid to date
$1K
outstanding
15 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $865 in penalties contested before the Commission, $865 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2001-04-18.
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.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
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.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2002
0
2001
5
2000
17
1999
0
1997
1
1992
1
1991
5
1990
4
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly; years before 2000 come from MSHA's archived Part 50 employment files.
Elk Gulch Vermiculite Mine sits in Beaverhead County, Montana, where the Census mining category is 2.7% 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.
Beaverhead County, Montana · Population 9,590
2.7%
Mining share of county employment
$58,072
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; earlier incidents are counted but not rate-adjusted, though reported hours reach back to 1983. 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
2002 Q1
0
0
0
2001 Q4
0
0
0
2001 Q3
0
0
0
2001 Q1
8,758
0
0
0.0
2000 Q4
6,997
0
0
0.0
2000 Q3
3,225
5
0
1550.4
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
1 on file
2000 · 1 incident
October 20, 2000MT · Metal/Non-Metalfront-end loader, scraper-loader operator, pan operator, payloader, scraper rig operatorSLIP OR FALL OF PERSON