MSHA DATABASEMSHA records · 17 contributing sources · snapshot Oct 13, 2026

MINE DETAILS

West Elk Mine

ActiveUndergroundCoal (Bituminous)
MSHA MINE ID0503672
LOCATIONGunnison, CO
PUBLIC RECORD43,738 linked rows

LOCATION

Mine location

1 of 1 mine with usable MSHA coordinates. Select a marker to open a mine.

Mine coordinates

2025-01-01 – 2026-10-13Applies to production, safety and portfolio metrics. Silica samples have separate filters.

Violations

479

56 significant & substantial (S&S)

  1. 2025 Q180
  2. 2025 Q259
  3. 2025 Q368
  4. 2025 Q477
  5. 2026 Q155
  6. 2026 Q279
  7. 2026 Q348
  8. 2026 Q4 *13

Accident records

19

0 records classified as fatality

  1. 2025 Q13
  2. 2025 Q25
  3. 2025 Q32
  4. 2025 Q44
  5. 2026 Q11
  6. 2026 Q23
  7. 2026 Q31
  8. 2026 Q4 *0

Proposed penalties · USD

864,670.00

448 of 479 violations with amounts

  1. 2025 Q1407,680
  2. 2025 Q2288,375
  3. 2025 Q327,833
  4. 2025 Q426,557
  5. 2026 Q139,625
  6. 2026 Q229,793
  7. 2026 Q344,807
  8. 2026 Q4 *—

On-site inspection hours

4,504.50

156 inspections · 156 with hours

  1. 2025 Q1689.50
  2. 2025 Q2593.00
  3. 2025 Q3701.75
  4. 2025 Q4618.25
  5. 2026 Q1599.00
  6. 2026 Q2732.00
  7. 2026 Q3526.75
  8. 2026 Q4 *44.25
Quarterly safety data
QuarterViolationsS&SProposed USDAccident recordsFatality recordsInspectionsOn-site hours
2025-Q18015407,680.003022689.5
2025-Q2597288,375.005021593.0
2025-Q368427,833.002022701.8
2025-Q477226,557.004021618.3
2026-Q155939,625.001021599.0
2026-Q2791029,793.003026732.0
2026-Q348944,807.001020526.8
2026-Q4 *130—00344.3

Most cited CFR sections

All violations issued in the selected period. Counts combine subsections.

Safety activity

  1. violation5032904

    75.400

  2. violation5032786

    75.400

  3. violation5032785

    75.1725(a)

  4. inspectionF02FD1E

    103(i) Spot Inspections · 7.0 on-site hours

  5. violation5032784

    Description not reported

  6. violation5032287

    75.1403

  7. violation9733354

    75.370(a)(1)

  8. violation5032783

    Description not reported

  9. violation5031758

    75.1913(b)

  10. violation5031757

    75.1104

  11. violation5031756

    75.400

  12. violation5031755

    75.1910(j)

  13. violation5031754

    75.807

  14. inspectionF0420D6

    103(i) Spot Inspections · 0.0 on-site hours

  15. violation5031753

    75.517

  16. inspectionF0420D5

    Regular Safety and Health Inspection · 37.3 on-site hours

  17. violation5031752

    75.1714-4(b)

  18. inspectionF016222

    103(i) Spot Inspections · 6.5 on-site hours

  19. violation5031273

    75.1714-3(b)

  20. violation5031751

    47.41(a)(1)

  21. violation5031750

    77.1605(d)

  22. violation5031272

    77.502

  23. inspectionF033D02

    103(i) Spot Inspections · 2.0 on-site hours

  24. inspectionF033D01

    103(i) Spot Inspections · 5.0 on-site hours

  25. violation5031271

    75.370(a)(1)

Safety sources and definitions

MSHA Violations (issue date), Accidents (accident date), and Inspections (begin date). Snapshot 2026-10-13.

Counts describe published rows, including contractor records; accident records are not distinct incidents or numbers of people injured.

Zero means no matching records in the imported sources, not proof of no events. Historical coverage differs by source; absence before a source begins reporting is not a zero incident rate. Invalid or absent dates and records after the snapshot are excluded.

S&S means SIG_SUB=Y. Fatality records use DEGREE_INJURY_CD=01. Proposed penalties are not final assessed or paid amounts; missing dollar values are omitted.

Inspection hours are SUM_TOTAL_ON_SITE_HOURS attributed to the inspection start date, without supervisor/trainee hours. Missing hours are omitted; a started inspection may still be open.

Portfolio totals use current mine membership, including events before the current owner or operator's tenure.

CFR headings link to the current Title 30 index; they are not historical legal determinations.

Latest EIA month: 2026-07Source checked 2026-10-13 · publication lag differs from MSHA.

REPORTED RECEIPTS · SHORT TONS375,95517 rows · 5 receiving plants
HEAT CONTENT · BTU/LB11,694Weighted by reported tons
SULFUR / ASH · % BY WEIGHT0.53 / 8.77Separate averages over measured receipts
DELIVERED COST · USD/TON97.4641.2% of reported tons have usable costs
Quarterly receipts and quality
QuarterShort tonsHeat · Btu/lbSulfur %Ash %Delivered USD/ton
2025-Q3 *57,38111,8300.528.56—
2025-Q4152,64211,7330.588.89141.10
2026-Q144,57711,8270.558.93107.85
2026-Q2121,35511,5310.468.6674.27
Month / sourceReceiving plant / supplierShort tonsDelivered USD/tonHeat · Btu/lbSulfur %Ash %PurchaseTransport
2026-06EIA row 10607 · preliminaryCalvert City8837 · KY · MOUNTAIN COAL11,72679.8011,6530.479.20SpotBITRail
2026-06EIA row 10720 · preliminaryTES Filer City Station50835 · MI · C REISS12,440—Not published11,8200.488.90ContractBITRail / WT
2026-05EIA row 8729 · preliminaryCalvert City8837 · KY · MOUNTAIN COAL48,02477.4111,7210.489.00SpotBITRail
2026-05EIA row 8841 · preliminaryTES Filer City Station50835 · MI · C REISS12,190—Not published11,6050.4710.30ContractBITRail / WT
2026-05EIA row 8842 · preliminaryTES Filer City Station50835 · MI · C REISS12,322—Not published11,5300.5010.10ContractBITRail / WT
2026-04EIA row 6702 · preliminaryCope7210 · SC · CORE NATURAL RESOURCES, INC12,33195.0311,8400.498.20SpotBITRail
2026-04EIA row 6941 · preliminaryCalvert City8837 · KY · MOUNTAIN COAL12,32236.0010,0000.304.00SpotBITRail
2026-03EIA row 4692 · preliminaryVictor J Daniel Jr6073 · MS · CORE SALES INC118108.0711,8190.569.00SpotBITRail
2026-02EIA row 2753 · preliminaryVictor J Daniel Jr6073 · MS · CORE SALES INC8,836109.4411,8190.569.00SpotBITRail
2026-01EIA row 774 · preliminaryVictor J Daniel Jr6073 · MS · CORE SALES INC24,530107.2711,8190.569.00SpotBITRail
2026-01EIA row 1309 · preliminaryArgus Cogen Plant10684 · CA · ARCH COAL SALES11,093—Not published11,8500.508.70ContractBITRail
2025-12EIA row 34816 · finalVictor J Daniel Jr6073 · MS · CORE SALES INC36,889141.1011,7620.569.40SpotBITRail
2025-12EIA row 35625 · finalArgus Cogen Plant10684 · CA · ARCH COAL SALES43,547—Not published11,8000.518.70ContractBITRail
2025-11EIA row 32612 · finalArgus Cogen Plant10684 · CA · ARCH COAL SALES37,567—Not published11,7500.678.70ContractBITRail
2025-10EIA row 29671 · finalArgus Cogen Plant10684 · CA · ARCH COAL SALES34,639—Not published11,6000.578.80ContractBITRail
2025-09EIA row 26615 · finalArgus Cogen Plant10684 · CA · ARCH COAL SALES34,028—Not published11,8500.528.40ContractBITRail
2025-08EIA row 23525 · finalArgus Cogen Plant10684 · CA · ARCH COAL SALES23,353—Not published11,8000.538.80ContractBITRail
Coverage, sources and calculations
  • Reported coal receipts at EIA-923 power plants/terminals; this is not a census of mine shipments, exports or metallurgical sales.
  • Matches use only the published MSHA ID, normalized to seven digits. Unidentified mine origins remain in the source table but are not assigned to a mine.
  • Portfolio attribution uses current MSHA ownership, not ownership at the shipment date. Receipts and production can differ because of timing, stocks and coverage.
  • Quality means are weighted by positive reported tons with that measurement. Delivered cost uses only rows with published cost, positive heat and positive tons; missing/withheld costs are never zero-filled.
  • USD/ton = (cents/MMBtu ÷ 100) × MMBtu/ton. This is plant delivered cost, not mine sales price or revenue.
  • Receipt month is as published, including records supplied by annual respondents. Recent months are preliminary and subject to revision. Missing rows do not prove zero shipments.

Imported releases start 2008-01. This window includes 12 published months. EIA releases · Survey instructions

  • 2026 · preliminary · EIA923_Schedules_2_3_4_5_M_07_2026_21SEP2026.xlsx · Page 5 Fuel Receipts and Costs
  • 2025 · final · EIA923_Schedules_2_3_4_5_M_12_2025_Final.xlsx · Page 5 Fuel Receipts and Costs

Latest priced year: 2024Source checked 2026-10-13. Prices apply only to their calendar year.

FOB PRICE BENCHMARK · USD/TON—Published county average
ESTIMATED SALES · SHORT TONS—Allocated from published county sales
ESTIMATED COAL REVENUE · USD—Covered mines only · not reported revenue
ANNUAL PRODUCTION COVERED0.0%0 of 1 producing annual mine records
Mine / countyAnnual production · tonsCounty FOB · USD/tonEst. sales · tonsEst. coal revenue · USDBasis / availability
West Elk Mine0503672 · Gunnison, Colorado3,705,019———County sales or price not published1 eligible mines / 1 sales respondents
Method, assumptions and source records
  1. This is an annual county-sales allocation, not reported mine or company revenue. Currency is nominal USD in the source year; quantities are short tons.
  2. Mine share = same-year annual mine production / eligible same-county production. Estimated sales = published county sales × share. Estimated coal revenue = estimated sales × published county average FOB price.
  3. The model assumes eligible mines share county sales in proportion to production and receive the county-average price. Matching mine counts is a check, not proof of identical respondents. Mine quality, contracts and sales timing can differ substantially. No statistical confidence interval is implied.
  4. FOB excludes transport and insurance. EIA-923 delivered costs do not enter this model. No grade premium, state/national fallback, quarterly apportionment or carry-forward to a later year is applied.
  5. Eligibility follows the source's production threshold and excludes preparation-only and refuse operations. Withheld values, inconsistent county counts and missing/ambiguous locations produce no estimate.
  6. County sales are published in thousands of tons and prices to cents. Calculations retain precision, but the inputs are rounded and the allocation is approximate.
  7. Portfolio attribution uses current MSHA ownership, not ownership during the sales year. Covered-mine sums exclude unavailable estimates and must not be read as whole-company revenue. Coverage denominators use the annual EIA mine-production release.

Sales-reporting threshold: 50,000 short tons per mine in 2024. Withheld sales or prices stay unavailable.

EIA Table 30 · county sales and FOB prices · EIA annual mine production · Release index

Annual report released November 19, 2025. Method: county-sales-allocation-v1. JSON and CSV preserve source row numbers and file checksums.

OWNERSHIP

Operator and controller history

Current ownership comes from MSHA Mines. Historical start and end dates come from MSHA Controller and Operator History.

CURRENT HIERARCHYCore Natural Resources Inc → Mountain Coal Company, L.L.C. → West Elk Mine
HISTORY RECORDS38 relationships
INTERVAL CHECKPASScontroller/operator overlap
—

Core Natural Resources InccontrolsMountain Coal Company, L.L.C.operatesWest Elk Mine

msha-controller-operator-history · controller/operator co-tenure derived on mine 0503672
—

Arch Resources InccontrolsMountain Coal Company, L.L.C.operatesWest Elk Mine

msha-controller-operator-history · controller/operator co-tenure derived on mine 0503672
—

Atlantic Richfield CompanycontrolsMountain Coal CompanyoperatesWest Elk Mine

msha-controller-operator-history · controller/operator co-tenure derived on mine 0503672
Other historical summaries · source-specific periods

RECORD SUMMARY

Production, safety and enforcement

These summaries use the periods stated on each card, independently of the reporting period above.

01 / SAFETYwatch

Accidents and injuries

413 historical accident/injury rows; 2 coded fatalities and 7,660 lost days across the published record.

ACCIDENT + INJURY RECORD55 since 2021
accidentsmine-production-quarterly
02 / COMPLIANCEwatch

Violations and penalties

6,903 violation rows across the full record; 1,012 carry an S&S flag and $4,338,613 appears in current assessed amounts.

ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITY1,391 since 2021
inspectionsviolationsassessed-violationsorders-107a
03 / HEALTHwatch

Occupational health samples

14,961 coal dust; 654 coal quartz; 814 noise. 0 personal-sample rows have a published C/E ratio above 1; 262 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.

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE16K samples
coal-dust-samplesquartz-samplesnoise-samples
04 / PRODUCTIONcontext

Quarterly production and employment

139K employee hours and 276 summed average employees across reported subunits in the latest published quarter.

2026-Q21.5M tons
mine-production-quarterlymine-production-yearly
05 / LEGALwatch

Contests, conferences and decisions

545 contested-violation rows, 593 civil-penalty docket/decision rows, and 217 conference records linked by issuance number.

POST-ISSUANCE LIFECYCLE1,355 linked rows
conferencescontested-violationscivil-penalty-dockets-decisions
06 / CONTRACTORScontext

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.

ENTITY-LEVEL CONTEXT45 linked entities
contractor-production-quarterlycontractor-production-yearlyaccidentsviolations
07 / INSPECTIONScontext

Inspections

2,430 inspection events and 97K published inspection hours across the historical record.

OVERSIGHT COVERAGE497 since 2021
inspectionsviolations

HEALTH SAMPLING

Silica and quartz

Matching records2121 coal · 0 personal · 0 area
Sample status21 not voided0 voided · 0 status not reported
Mean coal quartz concentration22.57 µg/m³21 eligible measurements · 0 missing concentration
2026 · Jan 6, 2026–Jul 28, 2026
Date / sampleDataset / analyteOccupation / areaMeasurementSample statusPublished action
58516680 / lab 2026031194Coal quartzQuartzOCCUPATION CODE NOT FOUNDINTAKE AIR4 µg/m³2.2% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58517110 / lab 2026031196Coal quartzQuartzROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)NON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION42 µg/m³5.8% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58517145 / lab 2026031190Coal quartzQuartzCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATORDESIGNATED OCCUPATION28 µg/m³4.8% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516617 / lab 2026022721Coal quartzQuartzLONGWALL OPERATOR (TAILGATE SIDE)DESIGNATED OCCUPATION21 µg/m³2.9% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58517052 / lab 2026022717Coal quartzQuartzJACK SETTER (LONGWALL)NON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION21 µg/m³2.5% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516633 / lab 2026022724Coal quartzQuartzMECHANICNON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION12 µg/m³2.8% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516654 / lab 2026022719Coal quartzQuartzOCCUPATION CODE NOT FOUNDINTAKE AIR16 µg/m³3.4% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516663 / lab 2026018817Coal quartzQuartzROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)NON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION35 µg/m³5.5% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516666 / lab 2026018814Coal quartzQuartzOCCUPATION CODE NOT FOUNDINTAKE AIR3 µg/m³1.4% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58517138 / lab 2026018813Coal quartzQuartzOCCUPATION CODE NOT FOUNDDESIGNATED AREA10 µg/m³4.1% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58517086 / lab 2026018818Coal quartzQuartzCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATORDESIGNATED OCCUPATION26 µg/m³3.9% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58517137 / lab 2026018409Coal quartzQuartzCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATORDESIGNATED OCCUPATION13 µg/m³2.9% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516671 / lab 2026018408Coal quartzQuartzROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)NON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION25 µg/m³3.8% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58517133 / lab 2026018417Coal quartzQuartzOCCUPATION CODE NOT FOUNDINTAKE AIR8 µg/m³2.6% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516319 / lab 2026003939Coal quartzQuartzOCCUPATION CODE NOT FOUNDINTAKE AIR56 µg/m³6.9% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516327 / lab 2026003940Coal quartzQuartzROOF BOLTER (TWIN HEAD) (RETURN SIDE)NON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION65 µg/m³7.5% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516320 / lab 2026003944Coal quartzQuartzCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATORDESIGNATED OCCUPATION68 µg/m³7.1% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516332 / lab 2026000416Coal quartzQuartzOCCUPATION CODE NOT FOUNDINTAKE AIR0 µg/m³—% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516454 / lab 2026000414Coal quartzQuartzJACK SETTER (LONGWALL)NON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION14 µg/m³1.9% quartzNot voidedNot reported
58516566 / lab 2026000412Coal quartzQuartzMECHANICNON DESIGNATED OCCUPATION0 µg/m³—% quartzNot voidedNot reported
Sources and interpretation
  • Coal means use numeric concentrations from samples marked not voided, excluding control/invalid sample types and dates after the snapshot. Missing values remain null; reported zeroes remain zero.
  • Quarterly means describe available samples, not mine-wide or worker-average exposure. Quarters with no eligible measurements remain empty; the current quarter is partial.
  • Personal C/E is MSHA's published concentration-to-limit ratio. A value above 1 is not by itself a citation or a determination under the 2024 silica rule. Personal and area files do not publish a void-status field.
  • Area records include bulk-dust analyses and are kept separate from personal exposure results. Their concentration units are not specified in the source dictionary.
  • Missing samples do not establish safe conditions. Coal quartz percentage and concentration are separate measures. No compliance threshold is inferred for coal samples.

Coal quartz field definitions ↗Metal/nonmetal personal field definitions ↗Metal/nonmetal area field definitions ↗

EIA + TITLE 30

EIA production and cited regulations

EIA annual figures are reported separately from MSHA. Regulation links use the current eCFR snapshot.

RECENT PUBLIC RECORDS

Recent violations and samples

Latest records retained for inspection; aggregates above use the full source history.

VIOLATIONS12 latest shown
503290475.400Citation
503278675.400Citation
503278575.1725(a)Citation
5032784—Citation
503228775.1403Citation
973335475.370(a)(1)Citation
5032783—Citation
503175875.1913(b)Citation
OTHER HEALTH SAMPLES8 latest shown

Coal dust, noise and other contaminants. Silica records above ↑

Coal dustCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR
.591 mg/m³Voided · INVALID PRODUCTION
Coal dustCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR
.345 mg/m³Not voided
Coal dustCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR
.828 mg/m³Not voided
Coal dustCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR
.263 mg/m³Not voided
Coal dustCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR
.307 mg/m³Voided · INVALID PRODUCTION
Coal dustCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR
.43 mg/m³Not voided
Coal dustCONTINUOUS MINER OPERATOR
1.369 mg/m³Not voided
Coal dustBULLDOZER OPERATOR
.077 mg/m³Not voided

SOURCE COVERAGE

Reporting dates and coverage

17 datasets contain linked records. Missing datasets are listed below.

DATASETROWSWINDOWSTATUS
Accident, Injuries, and Illnessessafety · contractors413Jan 11, 2000—Aug 11, 2026mine-keyed
Addresses of Recordidentity · logistics1Apr 19, 2002—Apr 19, 2002mine-keyed
Assessed Violationscompliance · legal6,738Jan 12, 2000—Sep 1, 2026mine-keyed
Civil Penalty Dockets and Decisionscompliance · legal593Apr 24, 2000—Sep 4, 2026mine-keyed
Coal Dust Sampleshealth · safety14,961Jan 6, 2000—Oct 7, 2026mine-keyed
Conferencescompliance · legal217Mar 9, 2000—Mar 16, 2026mine-keyed
Contested Violationscompliance · legal545Jan 28, 2003—Jun 24, 2026mine-keyed
Contractor Employment and Production — Quarterlycontractors · production · safety7,477Not published—Not publishedentity-linked
Contractor Employment and Production — Yearlycontractors · production · safety1,509Not published—Not publishedentity-linked
Controller and Operator Historyidentity · compliance3Apr 1, 1981—Mar 23, 1998mine-keyed
Mine Employment and Production — Quarterlyproduction · safety · compliance381Not published—Not publishedmine-keyed
Mine Employment and Production — Yearlyproduction · safety · compliance98Not published—Not publishedmine-keyed
Inspectionssafety · compliance2,430Jan 4, 2000—Oct 7, 2026mine-keyed
Minesidentity · production · logistics1Not published—Not publishedmine-keyed
Metal and Nonmetal Area Sampleshealth · safety—No published rowsabsent / not applicable
Metal and Nonmetal Personal Health Sampleshealth · safety—No published rowsabsent / not applicable
Noise Sampleshealth · safety · equipment814Feb 27, 2001—Jul 28, 2026mine-keyed
Quartz Samples — Coalhealth · safety654Aug 20, 2000—Jul 28, 2026mine-keyed
Violationscompliance · safety · legal6,903Jan 12, 2000—Oct 8, 2026mine-keyed
107(a) Orders Issuedsafety · compliance—No published rowsabsent / not applicable

NOTES

Limitations

  • Contractor production is entity-level and is never represented as mine-attributable.
  • Missing rows can mean no event, publication delay, identity mismatch, or inapplicability.