86% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $149,631 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2006
781
inspections on record
37,988
inspection hours
6.3
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.
2,383 citations across 37,988 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.
$1.1M
proposed penalties
$957K
current assessed
$949K
paid to date
$8K
outstanding
2,313 assessments are final orders; 67 contested dockets.
Of $486K in penalties contested before the Commission, $305K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-04-15.
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.
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.
2.67
total case rate
0.24
days-away rate
0.242
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.
Year
total case rate
days-away
fatal
2026
2.82
0.00
0.000
2025
2.67
0.24
0.242
2024
2.80
0.22
0.000
2023
3.94
0.25
0.000
2022
4.80
1.26
0.000
2021
4.38
1.61
0.461
2020
1.02
0.00
0.000
2019
1.25
0.21
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.
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: 2026-03-20
21%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
577
samples
449
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
Diesel particulate (total carbon)30887 over
TCarbon @ 350228 over
TC as EC @ 350227 over
Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz67
Area samples (mill and shop air)
Last sampled: 2026-03-20
101
samples
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.
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.
231citations taken to the federal commission · 10% of citations on record
Settled
195 · 84%
Stood as issued
31 · 13%
Vacated or withdrawn
4 · 2%
Still open
1 · 0%
82%
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 117 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
32%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$447K proposed, $305K 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 2026-05-31. 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.
Operator was conducting remoting activities in an area known as the 2025 area when a large rock contacted the cab. Operator was found in the cab out past the designated no-go line and sustained fatal injuries.
Employee was conducting ground control measures when a rock fell striking the employee while high scaling.
May 18, 2021TN · Metal/Non-Metalutility man, errand boy, service truck operatorFatality · MACHINERY
Nyrstar Tennessee Mines, Strawberry Plains LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
A group solely comprised of RWS contractors [MSHA Contractor ID B5045] was working in the mine. A pump sitting on a trailer was moved by RWS contractors by a telehandler, without notification to Nyrstar. RWS hitched the trailer to their telehandler. RWS pulled the trailer up a ramp. The trailer hitch broke. An individual RWS EE traveling on foot behind the trailer was struck
Nyrstar Tennessee Mines, Strawberry Plains LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object
A rail haulage offsider was riding back to the chute to get another load when the locomotive over traveled into the chute causing fatal injuries to the offsider rail employee.
July 29, 2007TN · Metal/Non-Metallaborer, bull gang, parts runner, roustabout, roof trimmer/scalerFatality · SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Nyrstar Tennessee Mines, Strawberry Plains LLC · Fall down raise, shaft or manway
Employee was working approximately 550' down in elevator shaft, working off top of elevator. Beam came loose that was thought to be secured. Employee fell from top of elevator to bottom of shaft, resulting in his death.
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Nyrstar Tennessee Mines, Strawberry Plains 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.