Big Dog Mining Book a call

Mining AI tools. Free.

MSHA safety data and the mining engineering handbooks, inside Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor. Every answer shows its source.

Connect URL

https://mcp.bigdogmining.com/mcp

Paste it into your AI app as a custom connector. How, step by step.

Claude answering how many mining fatalities MSHA recorded each year from 2020 through 2025, as a table with the MSHA source line, using the Big Dog Mining connector
In ClaudeA real answer from the connector, with its source.

What is in it

Two tool sets, one connection.

  • MSHA data. Accidents, violations, inspections and mines across the U.S. Counts, rates, trends and charts.
  • What happened. Search MSHA's own accident narratives in plain words, like "caught in a conveyor while cleaning spillage".
  • Canada. British Columbia and Quebec mine safety data, with the government source on every answer.
  • The handbooks. 22 mining engineering references. It quotes short passages and always cites the book, chapter and page.

What you can ask

Real questions. Real answers.

We asked these in Claude with the connector on, November 6, 2026. The answers below are what came back, trimmed for length.

MSHA data

How many mining fatalities did MSHA record each year from 2020 through 2025?

2020: 29. 2021: 38. 2022: 30. 2023: 40. 2024: 28. 2025: 33. National totals across coal and metal/nonmetal mining, mine operator and contractor employees together.

Source: MSHA open government data
Accident narratives

Find fatal incidents where a miner was caught in a conveyor belt while cleaning spillage.

Close matches came back with MSHA's own narratives, among them Hazleton Shaft, Pennsylvania, July 25, 2024, and West Elk Mine, Colorado, August 11, 2024. The pattern across them: the belt moved while someone was cleaning it.

Source: MSHA open government data
The handbooks

What rolling resistance should I use for a haul road?

It depends on the surface. Gravel, well compacted, dry: 2.0%. Gravel, loose: 10.0%. Dirt, deeply rutted: 16.0%, as equivalent percent haul road grade. The answer quotes the table and names the page.

Source: SME Mining Reference Handbook, 2nd ed., Chapter 13, Haul Roads, p. 319

Answers come from public data and published references. They are research aids, not engineering designs: decisions on a live operation belong to the competent person on site.

Connect it

Two minutes, once.

You need the connect URL and a work email. Sign-up is free: we email you a 6-digit code, you press Approve, and you are in. Signing up also adds you to The Pulse, our mining newsletter. One click unsubscribes, and the tools stay free either way.

Claude

On claude.ai or the Claude desktop app. These are screenshots from a real sign-up.

  1. 01

    Open Customize, then Connectors.

    In Claude, open Customize in the sidebar (or Settings, then Customize). On the Connectors tab, press Add and pick Add custom connector.

    Claude settings on Customize, Connectors, with the Add menu open on Add custom connector
  2. 02

    Name it and paste the URL.

    Name: Big Dog Mining. URL: https://mcp.bigdogmining.com/mcp. Press Continue.

    The Add custom connector dialog with the name Big Dog Mining and the server URL filled in
  3. 03

    Keep the defaults and press Add.

    Claude detects the sign-in on its own: Sign in now is already picked. Nothing else to set.

    Step 2 of the dialog with Sign in now and Use Claude's published identity both marked Detected
  4. 04

    Press Connect.

    Big Dog Mining now shows in your connectors. Press Connect to sign in.

    The new connector with the message You're not connected to Big Dog Mining yet and a Connect button
  5. 05

    Enter your work email.

    Tick the box and press Email me a code. The code comes from Big Dog Mining within a minute. Check spam if it does not.

    The Big Dog Mining sign-up page asking for an email, with the newsletter box ticked and an Email me a code button
  6. 06

    Type the 6-digit code.

    It works for 15 minutes. Lost it? Press Send a new code.

    The Check your email page with a box for the 6-digit code and a Continue button
  7. 07

    Press Approve.

    The page lists what Claude can do with it. It is read only: it sees nothing of yours and changes nothing. You land back in Claude.

    The Review access page listing what Claude will be able to do, with Cancel and Approve buttons
  8. 08

    Optional: stop the approval prompts.

    All ten tools are read only. Set Read-only tools to Always allow and Claude will not stop to ask before each one.

    The connected Big Dog Mining connector with its ten read-only tools and the tool permission setting
  9. 09

    Ask.

    Start a new chat and ask in plain words. Saying "using the Big Dog Mining connector" helps Claude pick it the first time.

    Claude answering a question about fatal conveyor incidents with three MSHA cases and the MSHA source line

ChatGPT

Custom connectors depend on your ChatGPT plan and settings. Menu names change between releases; look for these.

  1. Open Settings, then Apps and connectors. Under Advanced settings, turn on Developer mode.
  2. Press Create. Name: Big Dog Mining. URL: https://mcp.bigdogmining.com/mcp. Authentication: OAuth.
  3. ChatGPT opens the same Big Dog Mining sign-up as above: email, 6-digit code, Approve.
  4. In a new chat, turn the connector on from the tools menu and ask.

Cursor

For engineers who live in an editor.

  1. Open Cursor Settings, then the MCP section, and add a new MCP server. Or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json by hand.
  2. Add this server: 
    {
  "mcpServers": {
    "big-dog-mining": {
      "url": "https://mcp.bigdogmining.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
  3. Cursor asks you to sign in the first time. Same steps: email, 6-digit code, Approve.

Any other app that supports remote MCP servers with sign-in works the same way: paste the URL, then sign in with your email.

Want the same thing on your own documents?

Procedures, contracts, ground support plans and past reports, searchable by asking, in your own cloud. Every answer shows the page it came from.

Book a call A 20-minute call. See Knowledge.

More free tools

  • Field Tools16 free engineering calculators for mining and heavy civil. Every equation cited to the handbook and the page.
  • The PulseMining news worth knowing, every two weeks. New tools are announced there first.