# Black Castle Mining Company, LLC

- **MSHA mine ID:** 4607938
- **Status:** Active
- **Type / commodity:** Surface / Coal (Bituminous)
- **Location:** Boone, WV
- **Operator:** Black Castle Mining Company, LLC
- **Controller:** Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc
- **Public source rows linked:** 13,095
- **Source coverage:** 17 / 20
- **Generated:** 2026-10-13T11:26:59.401Z

## Current entity hierarchy

**Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc (0127321) → Black Castle Mining Company, LLC (0086184) → Black Castle Mining Company, LLC (4607938)**

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

## Controller and operator valid-time history

- **Massey Energy Company → Elk Run Coal Co.:** 1990-09-01 through 2011-05-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. → Elk Run Coal Co.:** 2011-06-01 through 2013-12-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. → Black Castle Mining Company, LLC:** 2014-01-01 through 2016-07-25; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Massey Energy Company → Black Castle Mining Company, LLC:** 2014-01-01 through 2011-05-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources Holdings, Inc → Elk Run Coal Co.:** 2016-07-26 through 2013-12-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Natural Resources Holdings, Inc → Black Castle Mining Company, LLC:** 2016-07-26 through 2018-11-08; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc → Elk Run Coal Co.:** 2018-11-09 through 2013-12-31; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.
- **Alpha Metallurgical Resources Inc → Black Castle Mining Company, LLC:** 2018-11-09 through current/open; derived from co-tenure at mine 4607938; source `msha-controller-operator-history`.

- History rows: 8
- Typed edges: 15
- Interval anomalies: 3
- 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 — 2 since 2021:** Accidents and injuries 236 historical accident/injury rows; 1 coded fatalities and 10,916 lost days across the published record.
2. **COMPLIANCE — 4 since 2021:** Violations and penalties 1,148 violation rows across the full record; 608 carry an S&S flag and $855,195 appears in current assessed amounts.
3. **HEALTH — 825 samples:** Occupational health samples 669 coal dust; 41 coal quartz; 115 noise. 0 personal-sample rows have a published C/E ratio above 1; 3 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 — 19K tons:** Quarterly production and employment 8K employee hours and 15 summed average employees across reported subunits in the latest published quarter.
5. **LEGAL — 405 linked rows:** Contests, conferences and decisions 188 contested-violation rows, 192 civil-penalty docket/decision rows, and 25 conference records linked by issuance number.
6. **CONTRACTORS — 65 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 — 21 since 2021:** Inspections 182 inspection events and 12K published inspection hours across the historical record.

## EIA annual operating context

- **Reporting year:** 2024
- **Production:** 47,751 short tons
- **Labor hours:** 42,288
- **Average employees:** 19
- **Coal supply region:** Appalachia Central
- **Union code:** Not published
- **Published rows under this MSHA ID:** 1

## Recent Title 30 crosswalk

Snapshot current through 2026-08-19.

- **30 CFR 77.410 — Mobile equipment; automatic warning devices.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-E/section-77.410
- **30 CFR 77.1104 — Accumulations of combustible materials.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-L/section-77.1104
- **30 CFR 77.1109 — Quantity and location of firefighting equipment.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-L/section-77.1109
- **30 CFR 77.1605 — Loading and haulage equipment; installations.** (3 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-Q/section-77.1605
- **30 CFR 77.404 — Machinery and equipment; operation and maintenance.** (1 retained recent row) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-E/section-77.404
- **30 CFR 77.1606 — Loading and haulage equipment; inspection and maintenance.** (4 retained recent rows) — https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-30/chapter-I/subchapter-O/part-77/subpart-Q/section-77.1606
- **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:** 236 rows; 2000-01-20 through 2025-09-29; source ID `msha-accidents`
- **Addresses of Record:** 1 rows; 1990-12-18 through 1990-12-18; source ID `msha-addresses`
- **Assessed Violations:** 1,117 rows; 2000-02-24 through 2025-05-14; source ID `msha-assessed-violations`
- **Civil Penalty Dockets and Decisions:** 192 rows; 2001-07-03 through 2015-10-26; source ID `msha-civil-penalty-dockets-decisions`
- **Coal Dust Samples:** 669 rows; 2000-01-17 through 2026-08-04; source ID `msha-coal-dust-samples`
- **Conferences:** 25 rows; 2000-09-05 through 2019-01-08; source ID `msha-conferences`
- **Contested Violations:** 188 rows; 2005-05-11 through 2014-03-18; source ID `msha-contested-violations`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 7,272 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-quarterly`
- **Contractor Employment and Production — Yearly:** 1,590 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-contractor-production-yearly`
- **Controller and Operator History:** 8 rows; 1990-09-01 through 2014-01-01; source ID `msha-controller-operator-history`
- **Inspections:** 182 rows; 2000-01-24 through 2026-05-06; source ID `msha-inspections`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Quarterly:** 255 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-quarterly`
- **Mine Employment and Production — Yearly:** 55 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mine-production-yearly`
- **Mines:** 1 rows; unknown through unknown; source ID `msha-mines`
- **Noise Samples:** 115 rows; 2000-02-29 through 2025-10-08; source ID `msha-noise-samples`
- **Quartz Samples — Coal:** 41 rows; 2000-03-01 through 2024-01-04; source ID `msha-quartz-samples`
- **Violations:** 1,148 rows; 2000-02-24 through 2025-05-14; 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/black-castle-mining-company-llc-4607938`
- JSON: `/api/v1/mines/black-castle-mining-company-llc-4607938`
- Silica records, units, sample status and quarterly means: `/api/v1/mines/4607938/silica` (snapshot year by default; `?year=all` for history; `&format=csv` for all matching rows)
- Relationship JSON: `/api/v1/mines/4607938/relationships`
- MCP resource: `mine://4607938/assessment`
- Complete Title 30 corpus: `/data/title30-sections.json`