Mining Incidents

Ferroglobe USA Mining, LLC: 2,665 MSHA citations operator

Controlled by Ferroglobe PLC
MSHA operator ID: 0080224

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
64
Mines on record
12
Years on record
2007–2026
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2007
2,665
citations
717
significant & substantial
$856,473
proposed penalties
$634,853
paid to date
74% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $221,620 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2007
722
inspections on record
39,073
inspection hours
6.8
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.
2,665 citations across 39,073 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Penalty disposition
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$857K
proposed penalties
$637K
current assessed
$635K
paid to date
$2K
outstanding
2,595 assessments are final orders; 178 contested dockets.
Of $590K in penalties contested before the Commission, $357K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-06-08.
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.
27.5%
significant & substantial
2.3%
high negligence or reckless
27.5%
reasonably likely or greater
6.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.3% none, 6.7% low, 90.7% moderate, 2.3% high, 0.1% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
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.
0.00
total case rate
0.00
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Below average. The US coal mining average was 3.19 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
Year total case rate days-away fatal
2026 1.83 0.00 0.000
2025 0.00 0.00 0.000
2024 3.20 1.60 0.000
2023 2.05 0.68 0.000
2022 2.84 0.00 0.000
2021 0.92 0.92 0.000
2020 1.01 1.01 0.000
2019 1.95 0.00 0.000
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.
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.

Respirable coal dust
Respirable coal dust and silica figures cover coal facilities. Dust compliance is measured against the current 1.5 mg/m3 standard; samples predating the 2014 standard are included, so compliance rates are a coarse historical signal.

Last sampled: 2026-08-19
99%
within 1.5 mg/m3
4,624
samples
8.30
dust max (mg/m3)
17
over MSHA ECV
The excessive concentration value (ECV) is MSHA's own per-sample enforcement threshold, which builds in measurement uncertainty; a sample over its ECV can trigger a citation. The count covers only samples MSHA assigned an ECV.
1,493 samples taken by MSHA inspectors, 3,131 by the operator.
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR1,131
  • MOBILE BRIDGE OPERATOR659
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)554

Silica (quartz)

Last sampled: 2026-08-04
6.9
silica avg (%)
294
samples
36.8
silica max (%)
Most-sampled occupations
  • CONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR70
  • ROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)47
  • MOBILE BRIDGE OPERATOR44

Noise
The share counts noise samples whose measured dose exceeded the 90 dBA permissible exposure limit. It describes the sampled workplace, not what reached the miner's ear: hearing conservation programs and the hearing protection worn during the shift are recorded separately and are not reflected here.

Last sampled: 2026-08-13
4%
over PEL
1,130
samples
Most-sampled occupations
  • BULLDOZER OPERATOR197
  • HIGHLIFT OPERATOR/FRONT END LOADER125
  • REFUSE TRUCK DRIVER/BACKFILL TRUCK DRIVE110
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, 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.
685 citations taken to the federal commission · 26% of citations on record
  • Settled 652 · 95%
  • Stood as issued 33 · 5%
85%
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 494 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
38%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$571K proposed, $352K 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 2024-06-30. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.
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 operator contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
KENT 2015-0049 Settlement Andrews 2015 $109K → $55K
KENT 2015-0029 Settlement Andrews 2015 $46K → $20K
KENT 2015-0325 Settlement Miller 2015 $36K → $34K
KENT 2013-960 Settlement McCarthy 2015 $31K → $9K
KENT 2015-0108 Settlement Andrews 2015 $28K → $20K
KENT 2017-0273 Settlement Simonton 2018 $13K → $4K
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2026
1
2024
4
2023
3
2022
4
2021
1
2020
1
2019
3
2018
5
2017
5
2016
2
2015
6
2014
3
2013
9
2012
4
2011
4
2010
3
2009
1
2008
2
2007
3

Mines on record

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Ferroglobe USA Mining, LLC stands on silica, penalties, and injury rate

MSHA's standard limits respirable silica to 50 micrograms per cubic metre, but MSHA publishes dust and quartz as separate files and never the silica figure itself. We derive it per sample, score it against the limit, and set the operator's injury rate against a benchmark built from the full MSHA operator record. With the 26-year penalty trail, contest posture, and fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.

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