Mineral Separation Plant has $25K in proposed MSHA penalties and $906 outstanding across 4 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
Watch this mine
Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at Mineral Separation Plant.
Fatalities
0
Total incidents
5
Years on record
2010–2025
Latest incident
Dec 2025
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2008
86
citations
11
significant & substantial
$24,550
proposed penalties
$23,443
paid to date
95% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $1,107 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: 634 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Mineral Separation Plant has $25K in proposed MSHA penalties and $906 outstanding across 4 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.
$25K
proposed penalties
$24K
current assessed
$23K
paid to date
$906
outstanding
85 assessments are final orders; 4 contested dockets.
Of $7K in penalties contested before the Commission, $1K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2025-09-03.
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.
5citations taken to the federal commission · 6% of citations on record
Settled
3 · 60%
Vacated or withdrawn
2 · 40%
100%
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 Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.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%
80%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$7K proposed, $1K 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 2015-10-21.
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: 2025-09-24
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
8
samples
3
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Respirable dust, <.1mg4
Arsenic fumes1
Beryllium fumes1
Cadmium oxide fumes1
Show the individual readings (20)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Occupation
2025-09-24
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Utility Man
2025-09-24
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Utility Man
2025-09-24
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Utility Man
2011-03-16
Cadmium oxide fumes
0
100
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Chromium, insoluble
0
1
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Cobalt fumes
0
100
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Copper fumes
0.43
100
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Iron oxide fumes
0.14
10
0.01
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Magnesium oxide fumes
0
10
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Manganese fumes
0.01
5
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Molybdenum fumes
0
10
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Nickel fumes
0
1
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Vanadium fumes
0
50
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Zinc oxide fumes
0.02
5
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Lead fumes
0.47
150
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Arsenic fumes
0
500
0.00
Mechanic
2011-03-16
Beryllium fumes
0
2
0.00
Mechanic
2010-06-16
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.27
2.15
0.13
Utility Man
2010-06-16
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Front-end Loader Operator
2010-06-16
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz
0.24
Utility Man
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.
Mineral Separation Plant recorded 4.57 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2025.
Injury rate, 2025
ⓘThis rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.
4.57
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
In Virginia, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 1.37 cases per 100 workers that year.
Under 100,000 employee-hours were reported that year, so a single case moves the rate by two or more. Read the figure as approximate.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2025 *
4.57
0.00
0.000
2015
0.00
0.00
0.000
2014
0.00
0.00
0.000
2013
0.00
0.00
0.000
2012
2.23
0.00
0.000
2011
0.00
0.00
0.000
2010
1.43
1.43
0.000
2009
0.00
0.00
0.000
* Fewer than 100,000 employee-hours that year; the rate is less stable.
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year
Employees
2026
43
2025
47
2024
39
2015
84
2014
97
2013
88
2012
75
2011
68
2010
58
2009
55
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Mineral Separation Plant sits in Sussex County, Virginia, where the Census mining category is 0.1% 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.
Sussex County, Virginia · Population 10,793
0.1%
Mining share of county employment
$62,821
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
18,983
0
0
0.0
2026 Q1
22,599
0
0
0.0
2025 Q4
21,167
0
0
0.0
2025 Q3
23,300
1
0
42.9
2025 Q2
21,817
0
0
0.0
2025 Q1
21,166
0
0
0.0
2024 Q4
6,021
0
0
0.0
2015 Q4
35,605
0
0
0.0
Show 27 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2015 Q3
33,241
8
2
240.7
2015 Q2
39,858
0
0
0.0
2015 Q1
34,594
2
0
57.8
2014 Q4
38,875
0
0
0.0
2014 Q3
43,415
0
0
0.0
2014 Q2
48,135
1
0
20.8
2014 Q1
42,292
0
0
0.0
2013 Q4
48,696
7
1
143.7
2013 Q3
46,104
3
1
65.1
2013 Q2
47,382
0
0
0.0
2013 Q1
21,175
6
0
283.4
2012 Q4
41,459
0
0
0.0
2012 Q3
46,798
10
0
213.7
2012 Q2
46,416
0
0
0.0
2012 Q1
44,499
7
1
157.3
2011 Q4
39,473
0
0
0.0
2011 Q3
43,545
3
0
68.9
2011 Q2
43,056
0
0
0.0
2011 Q1
40,560
3
0
74.0
2010 Q4
35,320
0
0
0.0
2010 Q3
35,934
0
0
0.0
2010 Q2
35,815
3
0
83.8
2010 Q1
32,945
0
0
0.0
2009 Q4
28,318
0
0
0.0
2009 Q3
27,716
0
0
0.0
2009 Q2
33,527
0
0
0.0
2009 Q1
32,216
1
0
31.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
5 on file
2025 · 2 incidents
December 8, 2025VA · Metal/Non-Metalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techHANDLING OF MATERIALS
Employee was cutting a 3" diameter steel pipe. When pipe was cut free, the material supporting the pipe failed, causing the pipe to swing and struck the employee in the right shoulder.
2012 · 2 incidents
July 17, 2012VA · Metal/Non-Metalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techDISORDERS (PHYSICAL AGENTS)
Employee was working in top of plant. Became hot and went to cool down. Was transported to hospital for evaluation only as precaution. Diagnosed with heat stress and discharged within 2 hours. No loss of consciousness or orientation occurred.
June 17, 2012VA · Metal/Non-Metalwarehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operatorHANDLING OF MATERIALS
Employee picked up a 2 gallon bucket of sand with his right arm and felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Seen at local ER and diagnosed with separated AC joint in right shoulder.
2010 · 1 incident
January 18, 2010VA · Metal/Non-Metalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techMACHINERY
Mechanic was cutting a 2" steel pipe with a Metabo and metal cutting disc. The Metabo kicked back and cut employee on left arm, 3" above elbow. Employee suffered a 3" laceration requiring 7 stitches to close wound.
Related mines
Other mines operated by Atlantic Strategic Minerals