Little Black Mountain has had no fatalities among 3 reportable incidents since 1985. MSHA has proposed $4K in penalties since 2000, with $120 outstanding.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
3
Years on record
1985–2004
Latest incident
Oct 2004
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
39
citations
16
significant & substantial
$4,359
proposed penalties
$4,064
paid to date
93% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $295 gap.
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: 302 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Little Black Mountain has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $120 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.
$4K
proposed penalties
$4K
current assessed
$4K
paid to date
$120
outstanding
38 assessments are final orders; 2 contested dockets.
Of $1K in penalties contested before the Commission, $977 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2007-03-29.
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.
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.
1citations taken to the federal commission · 3% of citations on record
Settled
1 · 100%
0%
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 Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.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 1 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
41%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$425 proposed, $250 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 2005-04-07.
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.
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.
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: 2002-05-22, 24 years ago
4
samples
0
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Respirable dust, <.1mg2
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz2
Show the individual readings (4)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Occupation
2002-05-22
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.49
Laborer, Bullgang
2000-12-13
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Crusher Oper/Worker
2000-12-13
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.17
Front-end Loader Operator
2000-12-13
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Bulldozer Operator
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.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2007
0
2006
4
2005
4
2004
5
2003
3
2002
2
2001
3
2000
4
1999
4
1998
3
1997
1
1996
0
1995
1
1994
5
1993
5
1992
3
1991
3
1990
6
1987
0
1986
0
1985
3
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly; years before 2000 come from MSHA's archived Part 50 employment files.
Little Black Mountain sits in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, where the Census mining category is 0.8% 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.
Doña Ana County, New Mexico · Population 221,665
0.8%
Mining share of county employment
$55,663
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
2007 Q1
0
2
0
2006 Q4
1,437
0
0
0.0
2006 Q3
803
0
0
0.0
2006 Q2
820
4
4
4878.0
2006 Q1
1,057
0
0
0.0
2005 Q4
0
0
0
2005 Q3
939
0
0
0.0
2005 Q2
794
0
0
0.0
Show 21 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2005 Q1
1,342
7
2
5216.1
2004 Q4
976
0
0
0.0
2004 Q3
1,816
0
0
0.0
2004 Q2
1,566
0
0
0.0
2004 Q1
966
7
2
7246.4
2003 Q4
1,152
0
0
0.0
2003 Q3
1,191
0
0
0.0
2003 Q2
1,544
0
0
0.0
2003 Q1
606
0
0
0.0
2002 Q4
637
7
3
10989.0
2002 Q3
935
0
0
0.0
2002 Q2
555
2
1
3603.6
2002 Q1
339
0
0
0.0
2001 Q4
1,575
3
3
1904.8
2001 Q3
856
0
0
0.0
2001 Q2
934
0
0
0.0
2001 Q1
1,446
1
0
691.6
2000 Q4
1,503
3
0
1996.0
2000 Q3
954
0
0
0.0
2000 Q2
2,521
3
1
1190.0
2000 Q1
1,432
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
3 on file
2004 · 1 incident
October 12, 2004NM · Metal/Non-Metallaborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitmanHANDLING OF MATERIALS
EMPLOYEE WAS DOING MAINTENANCE ON THE CRUSHER SHAKER. WHEN THEY WENT TO REPLACE THE GUARD, IT SLID DOWN CRUSHING THE MIDDLE AND RING FINGERS OF HIS LEFT HAND.
1999 · 1 incident
June 2, 1999NM · Metal/Non-Metalwarehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operatorPOWERED HAULAGE
TRANSFER CONVEYOR (CONE TO SCREEN) BECAME JAMMED AND FAILED TO OPERATE. EE TERMINATED POWER SOURCE AND BEGAN REPAIRS. MATERIAL REMAINING ON CONVEYOR CAUSED CONVEYOR BELT TO ROLL BACKWARDS. EMP LOYEES HAND WAS PINCHED BETWEEN V-BELT AND PULLEY. FOR INJURIES - SEE ATTACHMENT.