Mining Incidents

Little Black Mountain: 39 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Las Cruces, Dona Ana County, NM  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 2901991

Little Black Mountain has $4K in proposed MSHA penalties and $120 outstanding across 2 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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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.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
26
inspections on record
302
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: 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.
41.0%
significant & substantial
7.7%
high negligence or reckless
43.6%
reasonably likely or greater
82.1%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 5.1% low, 87.2% moderate, 7.7% 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.
1 citations 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.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
CENT20030211M Dismissal Barbour 2003 $727 → $727
CENT 2005-147M Settlement Hodgdon 2005 $425 → $250
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
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.
Ownership history
  1. Big Chief Stone Inc 1985 to 1997
  2. Santa Fe Mining Company Inc 1997 to present
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
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

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, 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
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 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, 2004 NM · Metal/Non-Metal laborer, blacksmith, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, pick-up man, pitman HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Santa Fe Mining Company Inc · Struck by falling object

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, 1999 NM · Metal/Non-Metal warehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operator POWERED HAULAGE
Santa Fe Mining Company Inc · Caught in, under or between two or more moving objects

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.

1985 · 1 incident

November 12, 1985 NM · Metal/Non-Metal ledgeman/hand, quarry man HANDLING OF MATERIALS
Big Chief Stone Inc · Struck by... (Not Elsewhere Classified)

I.NAME WAS TIEI3G THE JAW CRUSHER TO THE LOW BOY TRAILER. A PIPE SLIPPED AND HIT HIM ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE FACE