Mica mines in the US: 8 open mines and MSHA citations
Updated November 6, 2026. Source: US Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Open Government Data Sets.
MSHA lists 8 open mica mines in the US, run by 6 operators and employing 75 people. Since January 1, 2022 its inspectors issued 43 citations and orders there with $6,114 in proposed penalties, and operators reported 11 injury or illness cases. The operators with the most open mines are Imerys Mica Kings Mountain Inc; Deepstep Mineral Products LLC; Wissahickon Stone Quarry, LLC. Data from MSHA, November 6, 2026.
The request: Get every open mica mine from MSHA with its operator, employees, and the operator's website, headquarters and size. $10 of work on sign-up, no card.
SpecStream is the live web data engine for teams and agents. It reads the mine, citation, inspection and accident files that MSHA publishes, and this page is that reading. Ask for the mines of a commodity, state or operator with the operator's headquarters, website and size added from the web, and new mines, new citations and new accident reports arrive in your sheet, CRM, Slack or agent as MSHA posts them.
- Open mines
- 8
- Operators
- 6
- Employees
- 75
- Active
- 6
- Intermittent
- 2
- Citations and orders since January 1, 2022
- 43
- Significant and substantial
- 5 (11.6%)
- Closure orders
- 2
- High negligence or reckless
- 0
- Proposed penalties
- $6,114
- Amount paid so far
- $6,107
- Inspections
- 101
- Inspector hours on site
- 706
- Citations per inspection
- 0.43 (all mines 2.30)
- Accident reports
- 12
- Injury and illness cases
- 11
- Fatalities
- 0
- Latest MSHA record
- October 14, 2026
Operators with the most open mines
Ranked by open mines, then by citations. Sole proprietors and individuals are not listed.
| Operator | Open mines | Employees | Citations since 2022 | Proposed penalties | Injury cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imerys Mica Kings Mountain Inc | 3 | 20 | 19 | $2,786 | 5 |
| Deepstep Mineral Products LLC | 1 | 4 | 14 | $2,002 | 0 |
| Wissahickon Stone Quarry, LLC | 1 | 3 | 7 | $889 | 1 |
| Colors & Effects USA LLC | 1 | 41 | 2 | $290 | 5 |
| The Quartz Corp USA | 1 | 5 | 1 | $147 | 0 |
| Taylor Clay Products | 1 | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 |
Operators with the most citations
Citations and orders issued since January 1, 2022 at their open mines here.
| Operator | Open mines | Employees | Citations since 2022 | Proposed penalties | Injury cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imerys Mica Kings Mountain Inc | 3 | 20 | 19 | $2,786 | 5 |
| Deepstep Mineral Products LLC | 1 | 4 | 14 | $2,002 | 0 |
| Wissahickon Stone Quarry, LLC | 1 | 3 | 7 | $889 | 1 |
| Colors & Effects USA LLC | 1 | 41 | 2 | $290 | 5 |
| The Quartz Corp USA | 1 | 5 | 1 | $147 | 0 |
| Taylor Clay Products | 1 | 2 | 0 | $0 | 0 |
Mines with the most citations
Open mines, ranked by citations and orders since January 1, 2022.
| Mine | Operator | County | Main commodity | Employees | Citations since 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan Plant | Deepstep Mineral Products LLC | Washington County, GA | Mica | 4 | 14 |
| Wissahickon Stone Quarry | Wissahickon Stone Quarry, LLC | Montgomery County, PA | Mica | 3 | 7 |
| Patterson Mine and Mill | Imerys Mica Kings Mountain Inc | Cleveland County, NC | Mica | 2 | 7 |
| Moss Mill & Mines | Imerys Mica Kings Mountain Inc | Cleveland County, NC | Mica | 16 | 6 |
| Battleground Mill | Imerys Mica Kings Mountain Inc | Cleveland County, NC | Mica | 2 | 6 |
| Hartwell Mine | Colors & Effects USA LLC | Hart County, GA | Mica | 41 | 2 |
| KT Mica | The Quartz Corp USA | Mitchell County, NC | Mica | 5 | 1 |
| Sericite Mine | Taylor Clay Products | Cherokee County, SC | Mica | 2 | 0 |
States
| State | Open mines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 4 | 50% |
| Georgia | 2 | 25% |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 12.5% |
| South Carolina | 1 | 12.5% |
Citations and injury cases by year
Calendar years since 2022; 2026 runs to the date of the MSHA files.
| Year | Citations and orders | Significant and substantial | Proposed penalties | Injury and illness cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | $931 | 3 |
| 2023 | 9 | 0 | $1,311 | 2 |
| 2024 | 5 | 0 | $735 | 2 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | $920 | 2 |
| 2026 | 15 | 5 | $2,217 | 2 |
Standards cited most at mica mines
Sections of Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations named on the citations, with the part each belongs to.
| Standard | What the part covers | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 30 CFR 56.12004 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 6 |
| 30 CFR 56.12018 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 4 |
| 30 CFR 56.14112 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 4 |
| 30 CFR 56.14107 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 3 |
| 30 CFR 41.12 | Notice of legal identity | 3 |
| 30 CFR 56.12028 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 3 |
| 30 CFR 56.20003 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 3 |
| 30 CFR 56.12032 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 2 |
| 30 CFR 56.4200 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.11012 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.16005 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.4101 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.4201 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.14201 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.14200 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
Injury and illness cases at mica mines
Accident reports by degree of injury, as the operator reported them to MSHA.
| Degree | Cases |
|---|---|
| Days away from work or restricted activity | 8 |
| No lost time, or an occupational illness | 3 |
What the accident reports at mica mines describe
Accident classification, as MSHA codes the circumstances that contributed most directly.
| Classification | Reports |
|---|---|
| Handling of materials | 3 |
| Slip or fall of person | 2 |
| Exploding vessels under pressure | 2 |
| Machinery | 2 |
| Other | 1 |
| Powered haulage | 1 |
| Handtools (nonpowered) | 1 |
Equipment named in accident reports at mica mines
| Equipment | Reports |
|---|---|
| Forklift | 1 |
| Hand tools (powered) | 1 |
| Man lift | 1 |
| Hand tools (not powered) | 1 |
| Dimension stone machinery | 1 |
US government work, public domain. Counts come from the MSHA files published on November 6, 2026. An open mine is one MSHA lists as Active, Intermittent, New Mine, Temporarily Idled or NonProducing; 13,673 were open that day. Citations, penalties, inspections and accident reports run from January 1, 2022. A citation is an inspector's allegation and an operator can contest it; the penalty is the amount MSHA first proposed, before any contest or settlement. An operator is the legal entity MSHA assesses, and a parent company is its controller. Mines run by sole proprietors or by individuals are counted in every total and are not named. This page uses MSHA data and is not endorsed or certified by MSHA. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0. Spot a wrong value? Write to [email protected] with the link to this page.