Veris Gold U.S.A., Inc.: 2,249 MSHA citations operator
Controlled by
Veris Gold Corp.
MSHA operator ID: L10244
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Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Veris Gold U.S.A., Inc. mine.
- Fatalities
- 0
- Total incidents
- 264
- Mines on record
- 6
- Years on record
- 1988–2015
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2003
2,249
citations
643
significant & substantial
$3,904,791
proposed penalties
$1,528,972
paid to date
39% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $2,375,819 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2003
391
inspections on record
13,536
inspection hours
16.6
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.2,249 citations across 13,536 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.$3.9M
proposed penalties
$3.7M
current assessed
$1.5M
paid to date
$2.1M
outstanding
2,205 assessments are final orders; 35 contested dockets.
Of $1.0M in penalties contested before the Commission, $644K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2015-06-17.
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.29.1%
significant & substantial
20.6%
high negligence or reckless
29.2%
reasonably likely or greater
53.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 9.1% low, 70.3% moderate, 20.4% high, 0.1% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2015
ⓘ
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.7.79
total case rate
2.83
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
Above average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 2.26 and the all-US-mining average was 2.72 cases per 100 workers.
| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 7.79 | 2.83 | 0.000 |
| 2014 | 6.83 | 2.16 | 0.000 |
| 2013 | 6.70 | 1.67 | 0.000 |
| 2012 | 5.82 | 0.87 | 0.000 |
| 2011 | 2.47 | 1.97 | 0.000 |
| 2010 | 6.35 | 3.17 | 0.000 |
| 2009 | 16.24 | 4.06 | 0.000 |
| 2008 | 3.76 | 1.25 | 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: 2015-04-28, 11 years ago
ⓘ
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.39%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
179
samples
174
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
- Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz9342 over
- Total Carbon,calculated from elemental carbon.289 over
- Diesel particulate (total carbon)118 over
- Total Carbon,TC287 over
Area samples (mill and shop air)
Last sampled: 2015-04-22, 11 years ago11
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.
286
citations taken to the federal commission · 13% of citations on record
- Settled 256 · 90%
- Stood as issued 27 · 9%
- Vacated or withdrawn 3 · 1%
73%
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 108 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
27%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$876K proposed, $643K 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 2014-06-15. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEST 2012-1006M | Settlement | Gilbert | 2013 | $142K → $80K |
| WEST 2014-0762 | Settlement | Simonton | 2015 | $122K → $122K |
| WEST 2012-205M | Settlement | Moran | 2013 | $115K → $45K |
| WEST 2012-1005M | Settlement | Moran | 2014 | $105K → $105K |
| WEST 2012-1001M | Settlement | Miller | 2013 | $69K → $37K |
| WEST 2012-1471M | Settlement | Moran | 2013 | $69K → $24K |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 91 non-fatal
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 57 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 30 non-fatal
- MACHINERY 22 non-fatal
- POWERED HAULAGE 22 non-fatal
- FALL OF ROOF OR BACK 10 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2015
12
2014
20
2013
32
2012
23
2011
10
2010
13
2009
13
2008
19
2007
26
2006
22
2005
25
2004
24
2003
9
1992
2
1991
2
1990
2
1989
7
1988
3
Mines on record
- Jerritt Canyon Mill NV
- Saval 4 NV
- SSX Mine NV
- Lee Smith NV
- Murray Mine NV
- Dos Cabezas-Gold Prince Mine AZ
For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Veris Gold U.S.A., Inc. 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.
The federal record itself stays free on this site. What costs money, and why.