Mining Incidents

Mining Incidents in Texas

Texas has 130 recorded mining fatalities on file with MSHA, across 27,942 reportable incidents (1983–2026).

Every reportable accident on file with MSHA at a Texas mine. Operators below are ranked by recorded fatality count in this state.

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Abandoned and historical mine features in Texas →

Fatalities recorded
130
Total incidents
27,942
Fatal rate
0.5%
Years on record
1983–2026

Year-over-year fatalities

  1. 1983 4
  2. 1984 6
  3. 1985 4
  4. 1986 7
  5. 1987 4
  6. 1988 4
  7. 1989 2
  8. 1990 6
  9. 1991 1
  10. 1992 1
  11. 1993 3
  12. 1994 2
  13. 1996 3
  14. 1997 6
  15. 1998 5
  16. 1999 2
  17. 2000 4
  18. 2001 1
  19. 2002 4
  20. 2003 2
  21. 2004 3
  22. 2005 2
  23. 2006 1
  24. 2007 3
  25. 2008 4
  26. 2009 2
  27. 2010 3
  28. 2013 1
  29. 2014 5
  30. 2016 2
  31. 2017 1
  32. 2018 3
  33. 2019 3
  34. 2020 2
  35. 2021 5
  36. 2022 2
  37. 2023 5
  38. 2024 4
  39. 2025 4
  40. 2026 4

Top mines in Texas by fatality count

  1. 01 Bayer Alumina Plant 5fatal
  2. 02 Sherwin Alumina, L.P. 4fatal
  3. 03 Ash Grove Cement Company 4fatal
  4. 04 Midlothian Quarry and Plant 4fatal
  5. 05 Texas-Lehigh Cement Plant & Quarry 3fatal

Mines in Texas by county

every county with a mine on MSHA's register; each county page lists its mines

County Mines Active Fatalities
El Paso County 123 20 2
Harris County 109 12 3
Williamson County 103 36 2
Dallas County 99 3 1
Bexar County 73 19 8
Hidalgo County 69 13 5
Montgomery County 66 7 2
Colorado County 63 18 2
Webb County 60 6 1
Liberty County 53 12 2
McLennan County 53 8 1
Wise County 49 13 5
Bell County 49 11 2
Hood County 47 5 1
Burnet County 45 14 2
Limestone County 45 9 0
Fayette County 44 12 3
San Saba County 42 7 1
Midland County 42 8 0
Potter County 42 4 0
Medina County 40 9 0
Tarrant County 40 5 0
Galveston County 35 0 1
Johnson County 34 4 2
Glasscock County 34 5 0
Palo Pinto County 33 9 1
Ector County 32 6 0
Gillespie County 31 2 1
Denton County 31 4 0
Howard County 30 8 0
Hudspeth County 28 3 0
Nueces County 28 7 0
Brazoria County 27 0 0
Brewster County 27 3 0
Uvalde County 27 8 0
Ellis County 26 6 11
Comal County 25 14 6
Llano County 25 3 1
Cooke County 25 7 0
Kerr County 25 5 0
Reagan County 25 3 0
Somervell County 25 7 0
Fort Bend County 24 2 0
Shackelford County 24 10 0
Ward County 24 8 0
Travis County 23 4 2
Kaufman County 23 4 1
Duval County 23 3 0
Martin County 23 6 0
Taylor County 23 2 0
Atascosa County 22 10 6
Parker County 22 3 0
Pecos County 22 2 0
San Patricio County 21 1 5
Eastland County 21 3 1
Sabine County 21 2 0
Upton County 21 0 0
Nolan County 20 3 2
Coryell County 20 3 1
Orange County 20 0 1
Guadalupe County 20 1 0
Smith County 20 0 0
Bee County 19 3 0
Fannin County 19 6 0
Jones County 19 4 0
Milam County 19 1 0
Lampasas County 18 2 2
Navarro County 18 4 2
Live Oak County 18 0 1
Reeves County 18 6 0
Starr County 17 4 1
Erath County 17 1 0
Lubbock County 17 3 0
Maverick County 17 4 0
Randall County 17 3 0
Hutchinson County 16 4 2
Oldham County 16 4 2
Hill County 16 3 1
McCulloch County 16 5 1
DeWitt County 16 2 0
Falls County 16 1 0
Frio County 16 1 0
Winkler County 16 13 0
Henderson County 15 1 1
Victoria County 15 2 1
Deaf Smith County 15 0 0
Haskell County 15 1 0
Montague County 15 1 0
Tom Green County 15 1 0
Walker County 15 0 0
Bastrop County 14 8 0
Culberson County 14 3 0
Karnes County 14 1 0
Kendall County 14 3 0
Floyd County 13 1 0
Val Verde County 13 2 0
Zapata County 13 3 0
Hays County 12 3 3
Bosque County 12 4 2
Brown County 11 2 0
Dawson County 11 4 0
Grayson County 11 3 0
Robertson County 11 2 0
Gaines County 10 0 1
Hardin County 10 0 1
Burleson County 10 2 0
Cameron County 10 0 0
Coke County 10 2 0
Comanche County 10 1 0
Hockley County 10 1 0
Jefferson County 10 0 0
Loving County 10 6 0
Lynn County 10 1 0
Mills County 10 4 0
Mitchell County 10 1 0
Moore County 10 1 0
Zavala County 10 1 0
Freestone County 9 0 2
Callahan County 9 0 1
Jack County 9 3 1
McMullen County 9 1 1
Wheeler County 9 0 1
Coleman County 9 0 0
Harrison County 9 0 0
Stephens County 9 0 0
Wilson County 9 2 0
Gonzales County 8 3 1
Andrews County 8 1 0
Brazos County 8 0 0
Chambers County 8 0 0
Cherokee County 8 1 0
Gregg County 8 1 0
Hamilton County 8 1 0
Hardeman County 8 1 0
Hemphill County 8 2 0
Sherman County 8 1 0
Crane County 7 4 1
Anderson County 7 0 0
Gray County 7 0 0
Morris County 7 1 0
Presidio County 7 0 0
Scurry County 7 0 0
Upshur County 7 0 0
Young County 7 2 0
Garza County 6 0 1
Grimes County 6 0 1
Hopkins County 6 0 1
Blanco County 6 2 0
Bowie County 6 1 0
Donley County 6 1 0
Fisher County 6 1 0
Kimble County 6 1 0
La Salle County 6 2 0
Lipscomb County 6 0 0
Mason County 6 0 0
Washington County 6 1 0
Borden County 5 2 0
Cass County 5 1 0
Dallam County 5 0 0
Dimmit County 5 2 0
Hunt County 5 0 0
Jim Wells County 5 0 0
Marion County 5 1 0
Runnels County 5 1 0
Rusk County 5 0 0
Swisher County 5 1 0
Trinity County 5 0 0
Waller County 5 1 0
Wichita County 5 0 0
Austin County 4 1 1
Titus County 4 0 1
Bailey County 4 2 0
Collin County 4 0 0
Cottle County 4 0 0
Crockett County 4 0 0
Hartley County 4 1 0
Houston County 4 1 0
Irion County 4 1 0
Jeff Davis County 4 0 0
Lamb County 4 0 0
Motley County 4 0 0
San Jacinto County 4 2 0
Calhoun County 3 0 5
Leon County 3 0 1
Newton County 3 1 1
Angelina County 3 0 0
Armstrong County 3 0 0
Carson County 3 0 0
Collingsworth County 3 0 0
Edwards County 3 0 0
Jasper County 3 0 0
King County 3 0 0
Kleberg County 3 0 0
Lamar County 3 0 0
Nacogdoches County 3 0 0
Parmer County 3 1 0
Roberts County 3 0 0
San Augustine County 3 0 0
Sterling County 3 0 0
Stonewall County 3 0 0
Van Zandt County 3 1 0
Panola County 2 0 3
Crosby County 2 1 1
Bandera County 2 1 0
Brooks County 2 0 0
Clay County 2 1 0
Concho County 2 0 0
Foard County 2 0 0
Hale County 2 0 0
Hall County 2 0 0
Jim Hogg County 2 1 0
Schleicher County 2 0 0
Briscoe County 1 0 0
Caldwell County 1 0 0
Camp County 1 0 0
Castro County 1 0 0
Childress County 1 0 0
Hansford County 1 0 0
Kinney County 1 1 0
Knox County 1 0 0
Lee County 1 0 0
Madison County 1 0 0
Menard County 1 0 0
Ochiltree County 1 0 0
Real County 1 0 0
Red River County 1 0 0
Shelby County 1 0 0
Sutton County 1 0 0
Terrell County 1 0 0
Terry County 1 0 0
Throckmorton County 1 0 0
Tyler County 1 0 0
Wilbarger County 1 0 0
Wood County 1 1 0
Yoakum County 1 0 0

Top operators by fatality count

  1. 01 Luminant Mining Company LLC 6fatal
  2. 02 Alcoa World Alumina LLC 5fatal
  3. 03 TXI (A/K/A Texas Industries Inc) 5fatal
  4. 04 Arcosa Aggregates, Inc. 4fatal
  5. 05 Ash Grove Cement Company 4fatal
  6. 06 Capitol Aggregates, Inc. 3fatal
  7. 07 Lafarge Corp 3fatal
  8. 08 Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC 3fatal
  9. 09 1845 Texas Stone Products, Inc. 2fatal
  10. 10 Alleyton Resource Company, LLC. 2fatal

Recent fatalities

March 28, 2026 TX · Metal/Non-Metal steel worker, iron metal worker, iron worker Fatality · SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Alpine Silica, LLC · Fall from scaffolds, walkways, platforms

Employee unhooked lanyard and fell through roof resulting in fatal injuries.

January 8, 2026 TX · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Ash Grove Cement South Texas LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Third party delivery driver of raw materials was found deceased trapped between the frame and dump bed of EE's I-Bar owned and operated delivery truck. The driver was located on the West edge of the iron ore stockpile.

May 1, 2025 TX · Metal/Non-Metal rotary bucket excavator operator Fatality · FALLING/SLIDING/ROLLING MATERIALS
SP Silica of Atascosa, LLC · Struck by rolling or sliding object

EE was operating an excavator in Pit 2 at SPS Atascosa. Pit 2 is located between two tailings ponds. 9:18 AM one of the tailings ponds breached causing tailings mixture to flow into the work site. Tailings mixture tipped over the excavator EE was operating cab side down. The front window broke, tailings mixture engulfed the cab & 75% of the vehicle. Employee could not escape.

January 30, 2025 TX · Metal/Non-Metal stone finishing and sizing personnel, stone/rock cut/polish/saw operator, splitter, cutter, trimmer Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Salado Operations · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Employee in the thin veneer area was crushed by a pallet of stone that was placed on them by another employee in a wheel loader.

January 30, 2025 TX · Metal/Non-Metal outside foreman, leadman Fatality · MACHINERY
Ellinger Sand & Gravel · Caught in, under or between running or meshing objects

Miner did not follow protocol. Therefore causing the death of the same.

January 3, 2025 TX · Metal/Non-Metal utility man, shift tech, service/dump truck operator Fatality · FALLING/SLIDING/ROLLING MATERIALS
WES AGG, LLC · Caught in, under or between collapsing material or buildings

Trench was dug to repair drain pipe. No sloping or shoring protection system was in place. Trench was approximately 10 foot deep and 8 foot wide. Side wall collapsed and crushed worker.

November 5, 2024 TX · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
DelHur Industries, Inc. · Struck against a moving object

At this time unknown dump point failure causing haul truck operated by the deceased to back and roll down the dump point.

August 9, 2024 TX · Metal/Non-Metal master mechanic, foreman, supervisor Fatality · ELECTRICAL
Buzzi Unicem USA · Flash burns (electric)

Arc flash event involving electrical equipment that resulted in burns to the employee's arms and torso as well as electrical equipment damage. The employee was injured and hospitalized after the incident but, passed away in the hospital on 08/22/2024.

May 9, 2024 TX · Metal/Non-Metal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
ARCOSA LWS,LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

May 9, 2024 at 0800 hours when a manlift operator ran EE's manlift, an 8008 JLG, serial number 0300310942, into the canopy covering the C35 conveyor belt coming out of C35 tunnel. The operator was pinned between the roof edge and the man basket hand rail.

January 2, 2024 TX · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Frontera Materials Inc · Struck by falling object

An over the road truck driver was crushed while trying to unload gravel. Driver was parked in a jackknife position while trying to unload some of the gravel in EE's bed. While attempting to dump, EE's lift cylinder snapped and the trucks trailer fell on top of the driver's side killing the driver. 911 was called immediately and MSHA was called after.

August 5, 2023 TX · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Superior Silica Sands LLC · Fall from machine

Improper procedure performed, improper PPE, and not following SOP. *A customer truck driver fell from a large container mounted on the trailer of the truck while descending the container. The customer truck driver died from the injuries on August 7, 2023.

June 1, 2023 TX · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · MACHINERY
Alleyton Resource Company, LLC. · Struck by rolling or sliding object

An outside truck driver came onto this site to get loaded where the driver then parked their truck and was out of view from out scale house. Driver began to work on the back of the truck where the air bag blew out from under the truck and hit the driver in the head. Driver was not our employee, nor was the driver supposed to be working on their truck.

May 16, 2023 TX · Coal bulldozer operator, universal operator, heavy equipment operator, operating engineer Fatality · FALLING/SLIDING/ROLLING MATERIALS
NACG Texas, Inc. · Struck by rolling or sliding object

While SC0539 Bulldozer was traveling on 1B Ramp, a large volume of material entered the road and contacted the bulldozer.

March 9, 2023 TX · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Texas Lime Company · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

At time of filing it is believed a front-end loader struck the back of the tractor trailer. The position of the victim at the time of the accident is still under investigation. The victim was found under the rear driver's side tires of the tractor.

February 25, 2023 TX · Metal/Non-Metal rotary bucket excavator operator Fatality · OTHER

326 FL Excavator operator tracked over berm into Settling pond

December 16, 2022 TX · Metal/Non-Metal maintenance man, mechanic, repair/serviceman, boilermaker, fueler, tire tech, field service tech Fatality · MACHINERY
SP Silica of Atascosa, LLC · Struck by falling object

Employee was working with a 3 man crew dismantling a Caterpillar 390F Excavator. During dismantling, EE was impacted by the counterweight. The other 2 crew members did not witness the accident.

September 9, 2022 TX · Metal/Non-Metal barge/boat/dredge/towbarge/towboat/leach operator, riverman, deck hand Fatality · OTHER

Dredge operator was missing and eventually found at bottom of lake.

December 13, 2021 TX · Metal/Non-Metal haul/off road/coal/ore/pit/quarry/rock/rubber tire truck driver, transportation truck driver Fatality · POWERED HAULAGE
Martin Marietta Materials Southwest, LLC · Caught in, under or between a moving and a stationary object

Customer truck driver pulled into tarping area behind another truck and failed to set parking brake before exiting the truck. The driver did not use wheel chocks as required. The customer truck driver was fatally injured when customer's truck moved forward and pinned customer truck driver against the other drivers truck.

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