Every death at a US mine, counted from MSHA's own accident data. Through September 30, 2026, updated monthly.
24 miners died at US mines from January 1 to September 30, 2026, 1 fewer than the 25 in the same months of 2025. 7 were at coal mines and 17 at metal/nonmetal mines; 12 worked for contractors. The most common classifications this year are powered haulage, machinery and slip or fall of person, with 5 each. In 2025, 34 miners died.
Source: MSHA accident and mines data, extract of November 6, 2026. Counted November 10, 2026.
By year
Coal and metal/nonmetal are MSHA's two sectors. Metal/nonmetal covers stone, sand and gravel, metal and industrial mineral mines and their plants.
| Year | Coal | Metal/nonmetal | Total | MSHA published total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (to September 30) | 7 | 17 | 24 | Not yet published |
| 2025 | 8 | 26 | 34 | 33 |
| 2024 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 28 |
| 2023 | 9 | 31 | 40 | 40 |
| 2022 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 30 |
| 2021 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 38 |
| 2020 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 29 |
| 2019 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 27 |
| 2018 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 28 |
| 2017 | 15 | 13 | 28 | 28 |
| 2016 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 25 |
| 2015 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 29 |
| 2014 | 16 | 30 | 46 | 46 |
| 2013 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 42 |
| 2012 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 36 |
| 2011 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 36 |
| 2010 | 48 | 24 | 72 | 72 |
| 2009 | 18 | 17 | 35 | 35 |
| 2008 | 30 | 23 | 53 | 53 |
| 2007 | 34 | 33 | 67 | 67 |
| 2006 | 47 | 26 | 73 | 73 |
| 2005 | 23 | 35 | 58 | 58 |
| 2004 | 28 | 27 | 55 | 55 |
| 2003 | 30 | 26 | 56 | 56 |
| 2002 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 70 |
| 2001 | 42 | 30 | 72 | 72 |
| 2000 | 38 | 47 | 85 | 85 |
We check our count against MSHA's own coal and metal/nonmetal fatality tables at every refresh. Every year from 2000 to 2025 matches except one. 2025: we count 34 (8 coal, 26 metal/nonmetal), MSHA's table says 33 (8 and 25). The accident file is updated every week and a report can change after an accident, for example when an injured miner later dies, so the two MSHA sources can disagree until the tables are next updated. The table above shows both numbers.
MSHA publishes each death as it happens on its fatality reports page: an alert, then a preliminary and a final report. That list runs ahead of the accident data, so it can show deaths from the last few weeks that are not counted here yet.
This year
| Month | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 3 | 6 |
| February | 0 | 3 |
| March | 4 | 3 |
| April | 3 | 0 |
| May | 3 | 1 |
| June | 1 | 1 |
| July | 5 | 4 |
| August | 2 | 3 |
| September | 3 | 4 |
| Total | 24 | 25 |
| Year | Coal | Metal/nonmetal | Coal share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 so far | 7 | 17 | 29% |
| 2025 | 8 | 26 | 24% |
| 2024 | 10 | 18 | 36% |
| 2023 | 9 | 31 | 22% |
| 2022 | 11 | 19 | 37% |
| 2021 | 11 | 27 | 29% |
By cause
The classification is MSHA's call on the circumstance that contributed most directly to the accident. In the fatal reports from 2021 to 2025, powered haulage was mostly haul trucks, conveyors, front-end loaders and personnel carriers, and machinery was mostly excavators and shovels, dozers, crushers and drills.
| Classification | 2026 so far | 2025 | 2021 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powered haulage | 5 | 13 | 57 |
| Machinery | 5 | 7 | 45 |
| Other | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Slip or fall of person | 5 | 1 | 12 |
| Fall of roof or back | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Electrical | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Falling/sliding/rolling materials | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Fall of face/rib/pillar/side/highwall | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Handling of materials | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Inundation | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Exploding vessels under pressure | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Explosives and breaking agents | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Fire | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hoisting | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 24 | 34 | 170 |
Where and who
| 2026 so far | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | 11 | 21 |
| Underground | 10 | 9 |
| Facility | 3 | 4 |
| Contractor employees | 12 | 10 |
Mine type is MSHA's type for the mine: underground, surface, or facility (mills and plants). A contractor death is one where the accident report names a contractor.
| State | 2026 so far |
|---|---|
| Texas | 4 |
| Nevada | 3 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 |
| West Virginia | 2 |
| Alabama | 1 |
| Arizona | 1 |
| California | 1 |
| Connecticut | 1 |
| Illinois | 1 |
| Iowa | 1 |
| Kentucky | 1 |
| Mississippi | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 1 |
| Oregon | 1 |
| Utah | 1 |
| Vermont | 1 |
| Wyoming | 1 |
Each death
One row per person, from the accident report each mine files with MSHA. MSHA's alert and investigation report for each one is on its fatality reports page.
| Date | Mine | State | Commodity | Mine type | Classification | Employer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 6 | Lebec Cement Plant | California | Cement | Facility | Machinery | Contractor |
| January 8 | Hunter Cement Plant | Texas | Cement | Facility | Powered haulage | Operator |
| January 19 | Danby Quarry | Vermont | Dimension Marble | Underground | Falling/sliding/rolling materials | Operator |
| March 3 | North American Silica Sand, LLC | Texas | Sand, Industrial NEC | Facility | Falling/sliding/rolling materials | Contractor |
| March 5 | Deer Run Mine | Illinois | Coal (Bituminous) | Underground | Machinery | Operator |
| March 12 | Kennecott Keystone Underground | Utah | Copper Ore NEC | Underground | Machinery | Contractor |
| March 28 | Alpine Silica-San Antonio | Texas | Sand, Industrial NEC | Surface | Slip or fall of person | Contractor |
| April 2 | Panther Eagle Mine | West Virginia | Coal (Bituminous) | Underground | Fall of roof or back | Operator |
| April 3 | Ohio County Mine | West Virginia | Coal (Bituminous) | Underground | Powered haulage | Operator |
| April 30 | Portable Crusher #1 | Oregon | Crushed, Broken Stone NEC | Surface | Slip or fall of person | Operator |
| May 19 | Bailey Mine | Pennsylvania | Coal (Bituminous) | Underground | Fall of face/rib/pillar/side/highwall | Operator |
| May 20 | Combs Branch Job | Kentucky | Coal (Bituminous) | Surface | Machinery | Contractor |
| May 21 | Lone Mountain Pit | Nevada | Construction Sand and Gravel | Surface | Exploding vessels under pressure | Contractor |
| June 26 | Leclaire Portable Crusher #2 | Iowa | Crushed, Broken Limestone NEC | Surface | Powered haulage | Contractor |
| July 1 | Blue Creek Mine No. 1 | Alabama | Coal (Bituminous) | Underground | Machinery | Operator |
| July 6 | Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc. | Arizona | Copper Ore NEC | Surface | Powered haulage | Operator |
| July 6 | U.S. Lime Company-St. Clair | Oklahoma | Lime | Underground | Powered haulage | Operator |
| July 11 | Bailey Mine | Pennsylvania | Coal (Bituminous) | Underground | Falling/sliding/rolling materials | Contractor |
| July 29 | Tata Chemicals Mine | Wyoming | Trona | Underground | Slip or fall of person | Contractor |
| August 13 | Perry | Mississippi | Sand, Common | Surface | Slip or fall of person | Operator |
| August 24 | Haynes Aggregates - Seymour LLC | Connecticut | Crushed, Broken Stone NEC | Surface | Fall of face/rib/pillar/side/highwall | Contractor |
| September 3 | Bald Mountain Mine | Nevada | Gold Ore | Surface | Handling of materials | Contractor |
| September 3 | Bald Mountain Mine | Nevada | Gold Ore | Surface | Handling of materials | Contractor |
| September 23 | Springfield Pit | Texas | Crushed, Broken Limestone NEC | Surface | Slip or fall of person | Operator |
How we count
Every number on this page is counted from two public MSHA files from its open government data: the Accident Injuries data set, built from the reports mine operators and contractors file on MSHA Form 7000-1, and the Mines data set, for each mine's name, type and commodity. A death is a report whose degree of injury is fatal; one report is one person. The year and month are the date of the accident. State is where the accident happened.
The newest months are left out until they are complete. Operators have ten working days to file the report and the published file lags behind that, so the last month or two usually look low. We count only the months before the newest one whose report count has reached 70% of its usual level, the same cut-off as our MSHA data tool, which errs a month on the safe side. On this refresh that means counting through September 30, 2026.
The script that downloads the files and counts them is in the site's repository, and we rerun it every month. If you spot a number that does not match MSHA, write to dan@bigdogmining.com.
Free to quote, chart and republish. Credit the counts to Big Dog Mining, from MSHA data, and link this page. The counts change as MSHA's files fill in, so give the date they run through.
Big Dog Mining. "MSHA fatalities in 2026: mining deaths by year and cause." Counted from MSHA Accident Injuries and Mines data through September 30, 2026, counted November 10, 2026. Updated monthly. https://www.bigdogmining.com/insights/msha-fatalities/<p>24 miners died at US mines from January 1 to September 30, 2026, according to MSHA accident data counted by <a href="https://www.bigdogmining.com/insights/msha-fatalities/">Big Dog Mining</a>.</p><a href="https://www.bigdogmining.com/insights/msha-fatalities/">US mining fatalities by year and cause, from MSHA data</a>
MSHA dataMSHA's accident data records 24 deaths at US mines from January 1 to September 30, 2026: 7 at coal mines and 17 at metal/nonmetal mines. The same months of 2025 had 25. Later months are not counted yet because accident reports reach MSHA's data with a lag.
MSHA data34 miners died at US mines in 2025: 8 in coal and 26 in metal/nonmetal mining, going by MSHA's accident data. 10 of them worked for contractors. MSHA's published yearly table shows 33 (8 coal, 25 metal/nonmetal).
MSHA dataPowered haulage. It is MSHA's classification for 57 of the 170 deaths from 2021 to 2025, and for 5 so far in 2026, level with machinery and slip or fall of person.
MSHA dataMetal/nonmetal mines, in every year from 2021 to 2025: 121 deaths against 49 in coal. Metal/nonmetal covers stone, sand and gravel, metal and industrial minerals, and MSHA counts 265,965 metal/nonmetal miners in 2025 against 62,246 in coal.
MSHA data12 of the 24 deaths from January 1 to September 30, 2026 were contractor employees, going by the contractor ID on MSHA's accident report. In 2025 it was 10 of 34.
Ask the same MSHA data your own question, work out your own incidence rate, or read how the reports work.
CalculatorMSHA Part 50 Incidence Rate CalculatorInjury, fatality and lost-time rates per 200,000 employee-hours from your Form 7000-1 and 7000-2 numbers, against what US mines of your type ran last year.
ArticleMSHA Fatality Reports: Where to Find Them and Ask QuestionsFind MSHA fatality alerts and final reports on msha.gov, read what each contains, and answer yearly, class, commodity and state questions from open data.
ArticleMSHA Accident Reports: Search by What Happened, Not by CodeSearch MSHA Part 50 narratives in plain words, find the pattern across incidents, and turn them into a toolbox talk or JHA for your own crew.Back on the surface
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