Mining Incidents

Subtropolis Mining Co.: 1 recorded fatality operator

Controlled by W Thomas Mackall
MSHA operator ID: 0062063

Watch this operator

Email me when a new MSHA incident is filed at any Subtropolis Mining Co. mine.

Fatalities
1
Total incidents
29
Mines on record
1
Years on record
2005–2025
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2005
522
citations
110
significant & substantial
$291,004
proposed penalties
$164,245
paid to date
56% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $126,759 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2005
138
inspections on record
5,072
inspection hours
10.3
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.
522 citations across 5,072 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.
$291K
proposed penalties
$164K
current assessed
$164K
paid to date
$0
outstanding
510 assessments are final orders; 10 contested dockets.
Of $195K in penalties contested before the Commission, $43K was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-04-16.
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.
21.2%
significant & substantial
4.8%
high negligence or reckless
21.0%
reasonably likely or greater
49.0%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.2% none, 40.3% low, 54.6% moderate, 4.8% high, 0.0% 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.
2.09
total case rate
2.09
days-away rate
0.000
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.
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
2026 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2025 * 2.09 2.09 0.000
2024 * 2.08 2.08 0.000
2023 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2022 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2021 * 0.00 0.00 0.000
2020 * 4.84 4.84 0.000
2019 * 2.31 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.
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: 2026-04-15
18%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
135
samples
127
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Diesel particulate (total carbon)8119 over
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz193 over
  • Iron oxide fumes81 over
  • TC as EC @ 35010

Area samples (mill and shop air)

Last sampled: 2025-10-07
11
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.
21 citations taken to the federal commission · 4% of citations on record
  • Settled 21 · 100%
100%
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 19 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
75%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$170K proposed, $43K 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 2019-05-20. 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
LAKE 2012-732M Settlement Miller 2013 $140K → $21K
LAKE 2011-1071M Settlement Paez 2013 $10K → $6K
LAKE 2011-1002 Settlement Paez 2013 $10K → $8K
LAKE 2012-85M Withdrawal Miller 2013 $8K → $0
LAKE 2011-866M Withdrawal Lewis 2013 $8K → $3K
LAKE 2011-865M Withdrawal Lewis 2013 $5K → $0
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.

Top causes

Incident timeline

2025
1
2024
1
2020
2
2019
1
2018
3
2017
2
2016
3
2015
1
2013
1
2012
2
2011
3 (1f)
2010
3
2009
3
2008
1
2007
1
2005
1

Mines on record

Fatalities under this operator

1 recorded
April 25, 2011 OH · Metal/Non-Metal roof bolter, rock bolter, pinner, mobile roof support operator (mrs) Fatality · FALL OF ROOF OR BACK
Subtropolis Mining Co. · Struck by falling object

An employee was struck by a slab of rock that measured approximately 8 inches to 12 inches thick by 50 to 70 inches wide by 74 inches long. The roof fall occurred at the 34 Main between crosscut 1 North 4 and 1 North 5.

For insurers, brokers, and safety consultants

Where Subtropolis Mining Co. 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.

See a sample report
Need a different cut of the data? Ask us