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: 437 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Vulture Mine has $11K in proposed MSHA penalties and $6K outstanding across 0 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.
$11K
proposed penalties
$11K
current assessed
$5K
paid to date
$6K
outstanding
61 assessments are final orders; 0 contested dockets.
As of the most recent assessment on 2024-10-23.
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.
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: 2021-08-17, 5 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
17
samples
5
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Respirable dust, <.1mg9
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz7
Silver dust & soluble compounds1
Show the individual readings (17)
Date
Contaminant
Concentration
Limit
Conc / limit
Occupation
2021-08-17
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Backhoe Operator
2021-08-17
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Ball Mill Operator
2021-08-17
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.62
Truck Driver
2021-08-17
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Front-end Loader Operator
2019-05-22
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.8
Crusher Oper/Worker
2019-05-22
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.2
0.29
0.69
Truck Driver
2019-05-22
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.21
0.66
0.32
Ball Mill Operator
2019-05-22
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.2
Ball Mill Operator
2019-05-22
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Ball Mill Operator
2019-05-22
Silver dust & soluble compounds
0
10
0.00
Kiln/Dryer Operator
2017-12-12
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Truck Driver
2017-12-12
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Flotation/Concentrator Oper.
2017-12-12
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.18
0.69
0.26
Supervisor, Co. Official
2017-12-12
Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz
0.13
1.15
0.11
Crusher Oper/Worker
2015-08-04
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Ball Mill Operator
2015-08-04
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Front-end Loader Operator
2015-08-04
Respirable dust, <.1mg
0
Backhoe 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.
Vulture Mine recorded 9.19 reportable injury cases per 100 full-time workers in 2020.
Injury rate, 2020
ⓘ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.
9.19
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.77 and the all-US-mining average was 2.08 cases per 100 workers.
In Arizona, metal and nonmetal mining averaged 2.39 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
2020 *
9.19
0.00
0.000
2019 *
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
2
2025
2
2024
2
2023
2
2022
7
2021
14
2020
12
2019
10
2018
7
2017
6
2016
10
2015
11
2014
1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.
Vulture Mine sits in Maricopa County, Arizona, where the Census mining category is 0.2% 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.
Maricopa County, Arizona · Population 4,491,987
0.2%
Mining share of county employment
$85,518
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
145
0
0
0.0
2026 Q1
145
0
0
0.0
2025 Q4
145
0
0
0.0
2025 Q2
110
0
0
0.0
2025 Q1
100
0
0
0.0
2024 Q4
100
3
0
30000.0
2024 Q3
200
0
0
0.0
2024 Q2
866
0
0
0.0
Show 34 earlier quartersHide earlier quarters
Quarter
Hours worked
Citations
S&S
Per 1M hrs
2024 Q1
926
1
0
1079.9
2023 Q4
920
0
0
0.0
2023 Q3
840
0
0
0.0
2023 Q2
600
0
0
0.0
2023 Q1
600
0
0
0.0
2022 Q4
1,200
0
0
0.0
2022 Q3
850
0
0
0.0
2022 Q2
3,840
4
1
1041.7
2022 Q1
4,820
0
0
0.0
2021 Q3
5,845
4
0
684.3
2021 Q2
7,512
2
0
266.2
2021 Q1
7,440
3
0
403.2
2020 Q4
5,450
0
0
0.0
2020 Q3
5,850
6
3
1025.6
2020 Q2
5,030
0
0
0.0
2020 Q1
5,428
4
4
736.9
2019 Q4
5,614
0
0
0.0
2019 Q3
5,980
0
0
0.0
2019 Q2
5,330
5
3
938.1
2019 Q1
4,370
21
7
4805.5
2018 Q4
3,200
0
0
0.0
2018 Q3
7,044
0
0
0.0
2018 Q2
3,620
0
0
0.0
2018 Q1
3,570
0
0
0.0
2017 Q4
3,770
1
0
265.3
2017 Q3
4,238
1
0
236.0
2017 Q2
1,760
0
0
0.0
2016 Q2
3,660
0
0
0.0
2016 Q1
4,327
0
0
0.0
2015 Q4
1,737
1
0
575.7
2015 Q3
5,777
2
0
346.2
2015 Q2
5,812
0
0
0.0
2015 Q1
2,829
0
0
0.0
2014 Q4
96
0
0
0.0
No fatalities recorded at this mine.
Reportable incidents
2 on file
2020 · 1 incident
August 2, 2020AZ · Metal/Non-Metalball/rod/pebble/hand/limestone/dry mill operator, roller operatorPOWERED HAULAGE
Employee left their post because they said they were tired and wanted to get some fresh air, so they took a quad and went for a ride in an area that is of no business of a mill worker, at dark, and drove into a test hole with the quad.
2016 · 1 incident
March 18, 2016AZ · Metal/Non-Metalmaintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service techSLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Employee was backing down off of the excavator track to the step with right leg and when ee placed left foot on the ground and removed hand from rail to move right foot from the step ee left knee twisted.