Data / Mines / Colorado / West Elk Mine
West Elk Mine: 1,017 MSHA citations
Updated November 6, 2026. Source: US Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Open Government Data Sets.
West Elk Mine is an active coal (bituminous) underground mine in Gunnison County, Colorado, operated by Mountain Coal Company, L.L.C. with 275 employees on MSHA's record (mine ID 0503672). Since January 1, 2022 MSHA inspectors issued 1,017 citations and orders there with $801,847 in proposed penalties, and 51 accident reports were filed there, with 46 injury or illness cases, 1 of them fatal.
The request: Watch West Elk Mine (MSHA mine ID 0503672) in Gunnison County, Colorado: each new citation and each accident report. $10 of work on sign-up, no card.
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- MSHA mine ID
- 0503672
- Status
- Active since April 19, 2002
- Main commodity
- Coal (bituminous)
- Mine type
- Underground
- County
- Gunnison County, Colorado
- Nearest town
- Somerset
- Operator
- Mountain Coal Company, L.L.C.
- Parent company
- Core Natural Resources Inc
- Employees
- 275
- MSHA field office
- Delta CO Field Office
- Citations and orders since January 1, 2022
- 1,017
- Significant and substantial
- 122 (12.0%)
- Closure orders
- 11
- High negligence or reckless
- 37
- Proposed penalties
- $801,847
- Amount paid so far
- $672,386
- Inspections
- 412
- Inspector hours on site
- 10,640
- Citations per inspection
- 2.47 (all mines 2.30)
- Accident reports
- 51
- Injury and illness cases
- 46
- Fatalities
- 1
- Latest MSHA record
- November 2, 2026
- Citations issued to contractors here
- 230 ($880,986 proposed)
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 | 174 | 24 | $118,788 | 5 |
| 2023 | 211 | 21 | $116,121 | 10 |
| 2024 | 202 | 32 | $138,535 | 11 |
| 2025 | 222 | 16 | $314,178 | 14 |
| 2026 | 208 | 29 | $114,225 | 6 |
Standards cited most at West Elk Mine
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 75.1731 | Underground coal mines, safety | 70 |
| 30 CFR 75.403 | Underground coal mines, safety | 67 |
| 30 CFR 75.370 | Underground coal mines, safety | 50 |
| 30 CFR 75.202 | Underground coal mines, safety | 48 |
| 30 CFR 75.400 | Underground coal mines, safety | 47 |
| 30 CFR 75.333 | Underground coal mines, safety | 43 |
| 30 CFR 75.380 | Underground coal mines, safety | 43 |
| 30 CFR 75.1909 | Underground coal mines, safety | 36 |
| 30 CFR 75.1914 | Underground coal mines, safety | 35 |
| 30 CFR 75.1725 | Underground coal mines, safety | 34 |
| 30 CFR 75.1100-3 | Underground coal mines, safety | 27 |
| 30 CFR 75.1403 | Underground coal mines, safety | 26 |
| 30 CFR 75.364 | Underground coal mines, safety | 20 |
| 30 CFR 75.512 | Underground coal mines, safety | 20 |
| 30 CFR 75.351 | Underground coal mines, safety | 20 |
Injury and illness cases at West Elk Mine
Accident reports by degree of injury, as the operator reported them to MSHA.
| Degree | Cases |
|---|---|
| Fatality | 1 |
| Permanent disability | 3 |
| Days away from work or restricted activity | 29 |
| No lost time, or an occupational illness | 13 |
What the accident reports at West Elk Mine describe
Accident classification, as MSHA codes the circumstances that contributed most directly.
| Classification | Reports |
|---|---|
| Handling of materials | 19 |
| Slip or fall of person | 7 |
| Fall of roof or back | 6 |
| Handtools (nonpowered) | 5 |
| Powered haulage | 5 |
| Other | 3 |
| Machinery | 3 |
| Stepping or kneeling on object | 1 |
| Striking or bumping | 1 |
| Fall of face/rib/pillar/side/highwall | 1 |
Equipment named in accident reports at West Elk Mine
| Equipment | Reports |
|---|---|
| Hand tools (not powered) | 6 |
| Mancar | 2 |
| Forklift | 2 |
| Continuous miner | 2 |
| Rock or roof bolting machine | 2 |
| Trucks | 1 |
| Conveyor | 1 |
| Machine | 1 |
| Shuttle car | 1 |
| Longwall machine | 1 |
Other open mines in Gunnison County, Colorado
| Mine | Operator | County | Main commodity | Employees | Citations since 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pride of America Mine | Colorado Stone Quarries, Inc. | Gunnison County, CO | Dimension marble | 19 | 31 |
| Tomichi No 1 | Tomichi Materials LLC | Gunnison County, CO | Construction sand and gravel | 8 | 11 |
| Lucky Strike Mine & Mill | MW Sorter LLC | Gunnison County, CO | Gold ore | 0 | 11 |
| Gold Links | CRG Mining LLC | Gunnison County, CO | Gold ore | 4 | 7 |
| Ashley Pit | All Weather Earthworks Inc | Gunnison County, CO | Construction sand and gravel | 4 | 4 |
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.