Platinum Creek Mine has $13K in proposed MSHA penalties and $11K outstanding across 3 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.
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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
5
Years on record
2003–2011
Latest incident
Jul 2011
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2009
21
citations
8
significant & substantial
$12,964
proposed penalties
$1,846
paid to date
14% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $11,118 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2009
10
inspections on record
202
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: 202 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Imminent-danger orders
ⓘA Section 107(a) order removes miners from an area when an inspector finds an imminent danger. Each order is lifted once the condition is corrected, so this counts orders issued, not orders now in effect.
1
Section 107(a) orders
Most recent order: 2010-09-30.
On record since 2010.
Source: MSHA imminent-danger order records, updated weekly.
Platinum Creek Mine has $13K in proposed MSHA penalties and $11K outstanding across 3 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.
$13K
proposed penalties
$13K
current assessed
$2K
paid to date
$11K
outstanding
20 assessments are final orders; 3 contested dockets.
Of $15K in penalties contested before the Commission, $11K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2011-09-16.
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.
8citations taken to the federal commission · 38% of citations on record
Settled
1 · 13%
Stood as issued
6 · 75%
Vacated or withdrawn
1 · 13%
80%
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 5 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
25%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$15K proposed, $11K 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 2010-12-15.
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.
Platinum Creek Mine recorded 15.33 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2011.
Injury rate, 2011
ⓘ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.
15.33
total case rate
5.11
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 2.56 and the all-US-mining average was 3.08 cases per 100 workers.
In Alaska, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 2.28 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
2011 *
15.33
5.11
0.000
2010 *
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
2012
1
2011
16
2010
13
2009
15
2003
4
2002
7
2001
10
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Platinum Creek Mine sits in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, where the Census mining category is 5.4% 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.
Bethel Census Area, Alaska · Population 18,487
5.4%
Mining share of county employment
$70,616
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
2012 Q3
907
0
0
0.0
2012 Q2
0
0
0
2012 Q1
0
0
0
2011 Q4
3,250
0
0
0.0
2011 Q3
23,798
3
1
126.1
2011 Q2
12,094
0
0
0.0
2011 Q1
0
0
0
2010 Q4
6,710
4
3
596.1
Show 15 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2010 Q3
19,300
4
1
207.3
2010 Q2
7,835
9
3
1148.7
2010 Q1
0
0
0
2009 Q4
6,066
0
0
0.0
2009 Q3
12,000
1
0
83.3
2009 Q2
1,000
0
0
0.0
2003 Q3
10
0
0
0.0
2003 Q2
3,590
0
0
0.0
2003 Q1
0
0
0
2002 Q4
2,828
0
0
0.0
2002 Q3
6,134
0
0
0.0
2002 Q2
1,004
0
0
0.0
2002 Q1
0
0
0
2001 Q3
5,979
0
0
0.0
2001 Q2
1,451
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
5 on file
2011 · 3 incidents
July 28, 2011AK · Metal/Non-Metalwarehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operatorHANDLING OF MATERIALS
When removing 6" valve, last bolt was shorter than the other bolts and valve dropped short distance and rolled onto employees right hand.
July 12, 2011AK · Metal/Non-Metalwarehouseman, bagger, palletizer/stacker, store keeper, packager, fabricator, cleaning plant operatorSLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Employee walking down off small dirt knob where excavator was setting to ground level. Employee slipped on the loose ground and fell to his side, dislocating his shoulder.
THE EE WAS HAND LEVELING THE FLOOR OF A SHALLOW TRENCH FOR A SEWER LEECH FIELD. A SIDE WALL CAVE AND BURIED THE MANS LEGS UP TO HIS KNEES. HIS LEFT KNEE TWISTED CAUSING THE INJURY. THE MAN WAS FLOWN TO THE DILLINGHAM HOSPITAL FOR X-RAYS.