# Pax South Surface Mine

- **MSHA mine ID:** 4606877
- **Status:** Abandoned
- **Type / commodity:** Surface / Coal (Bituminous)
- **Location:** Fayette, WV
- **Operator:** Simmons Fork Mining, Inc.
- **Controller:** Alpha Natural Resources, Inc.
- **Public source rows linked:** 1,825
- **Source coverage:** 15 / 20
- **Generated:** 2026-10-13T11:26:59.401Z

## Current entity hierarchy

**Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (0041211) → Simmons Fork Mining, Inc. (P23635) → Pax South Surface Mine (4606877)**

Current identity source: `msha-mines`. This is a current snapshot, not a historical claim.

## Controller and operator valid-time history

- **Graybeal Carl N & Jack L Williams → Tamroy Mining Inc:** 1985-01-01 through 1988-03-20; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Michael C  Faykus → Prosperity Energy Inc:** 1988-03-21 through 1989-01-25; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Jack L  Williams → Pax Mining Company:** 1989-01-26 through 1990-10-17; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Costain Group PLC → Costain Mining Inc:** 1990-10-18 through 1997-01-30; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Iracoal Incorporated → Lodestar Energy Inc:** 1997-01-31 through 2001-12-03; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Amon L  Mahon → Island Fork Construction, LTD:** 2001-12-04 through 2003-02-25; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **William L  Cook → William Ann Enterprises, Inc.:** 2003-02-26 through 2003-03-06; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Amon L  Mahon → Island Fork Construction LTD:** 2003-03-07 through 2003-10-26; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **John C  Smith Jr → Appalachian Fuels LLC:** 2003-10-27 through 2006-01-16; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Energy Coal Resources Inc → Appalachian Fuels LLC:** 2006-01-17 through 2006-08-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Foundation Coal Corporation → Simmons Fork Mining, Inc.:** 2006-09-01 through 2009-07-30; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Rag Aktiengesellschaft → Simmons Fork Mining, Inc.:** 2006-09-01 through 2006-04-27; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. → Simmons Fork Mining, Inc.:** 2009-07-31 through current/open; derived from co-tenure at mine 4606877; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.

- History rows: 13
- Typed edges: 35
- Interval anomalies: 1
- Valid-time bounds: inclusive; date granularity; null end means open-ended in the upstream history row; not independent proof of present control.
- Transaction-time observation: 2026-10-13T11:19:05.459773+00:00.

## Assessment signals

1. **SAFETY — 0 since 2021:** Accidents and injuries 32 historical accident/injury rows; 0 coded fatalities and 1,100 lost days across the published record.
2. **COMPLIANCE — 0 since 2021:** Violations and penalties 105 violation rows across the full record; 73 carry an S&S flag and $14,518 appears in current assessed amounts.
3. **HEALTH — 51 samples:** Occupational health samples 44 coal dust; 2 coal quartz; 5 noise. 0 personal-sample rows have a published C/E ratio above 1; 1 noise rows have an action-level or PEL dose above 100%. These are separate measures, not a silica exceedance count. Silica results and sample status are shown separately.
4. **PRODUCTION — 37K tons:** Quarterly production and employment 17K employee hours and 47 summed average employees across reported subunits in the latest published quarter.
5. **LEGAL — 5 linked rows:** Contests, conferences and decisions 0 contested-violation rows, 0 civil-penalty docket/decision rows, and 5 conference records linked by issuance number.
6. **CONTRACTORS — 11 linked entities:** Contractors Contractors are linked through this mine’s violation or accident records. Their production and hours cover all their operations, so they are not included in this mine’s totals.
7. **INSPECTIONS — 0 since 2021:** Inspections 40 inspection events and 823 published inspection hours across the historical record.

## EIA annual operating context

No matched record in the 2024 EIA coal-public workbook. This may be inapplicable for a non-coal operation.

## Recent Title 30 crosswalk

Snapshot current through 2026-08-19.

- **30 CFR 48.28 — Annual refresher training of miners; minimum courses of instruction; hours of instruction.** (4 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-H/part-48/subpart-B/section-48.28
- **30 CFR 48.26 — Experienced miner training.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-H/part-48/subpart-B/section-48.26
- **30 CFR 77.410 — Mobile equipment; automatic warning devices.** (4 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-E/section-77.410
- **30 CFR 77.1605 — Loading and haulage equipment; installations.** (2 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-Q/section-77.1605
- **30 CFR 77.1000 — Highwalls, pits and spoil banks; plans.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-K/section-77.1000

## Source coverage

- **Accident, Injuries, and Illnesses:** 32 rows; 2002-02-06 through 2006-01-27; source ID `msha-accidents`
- **Addresses of Record:** 1 rows; 2006-12-01 through 2006-12-01; source ID `msha-addresses`
- **Assessed Violations:** 100 rows; 2002-03-21 through 2006-01-18; source ID `msha-assessed-violations`
- **Coal Dust Samples:** 44 rows; 2002-03-26 through 2006-03-23; source ID `msha-coal-dust-samples`
- **Conferences:** 5 rows; 2004-09-21 through 2006-02-22; source ID `msha-conferences`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 1,161 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-quarterly`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Yearly:** 279 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-yearly`
- **Controller and Operator History:** 13 rows; 1985-01-01 through 2006-09-01; source ID `msha-controller-operator-history`
- **Inspections:** 40 rows; 2001-12-13 through 2006-10-26; source ID `msha-inspections`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 28 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-quarterly`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Yearly:** 9 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-yearly`
- **Mines:** 1 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mines`
- **Noise Samples:** 5 rows; 2003-03-12 through 2003-03-12; source ID `msha-noise-samples`
- **Quartz Samples — Coal:** 2 rows; 2004-08-11 through 2006-03-23; source ID `msha-quartz-samples`
- **Violations:** 105 rows; 2002-03-21 through 2006-01-18; source ID `msha-violations`

## Caveats

- This is public-record decision support, not legal advice or an official MSHA record.
- Missing data can indicate no event, publication delay, an unresolved identity, or inapplicability.
- Contractor production data is entity-level and is not attributed to this mine.

## Alternate representations

- HTML: `/mines/pax-south-surface-mine-4606877`
- JSON: `/api/v1/mines/pax-south-surface-mine-4606877`
- Silica records, units, sample status and quarterly means: `/api/v1/mines/4606877/silica` (snapshot year by default; `?year=all` for history; `&format=csv` for all matching rows)
- Relationship JSON: `/api/v1/mines/4606877/relationships`
- MCP resource: `mine://4606877/assessment`
- Complete Title 30 corpus: `/data/title30-sections.json`