The rate at which mining fatalities are occurring this year slowed in April, but the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) reports that another three miners were killed in accidents last month.
Additionally, MSHA notes that yet another mining fatality occurred May 2, meaning 18 fatal mining accidents already occurred this year in the U.S.
Mining fatalities were up in the first quarter of 2023, as 14 miners died in accidents during that period. Six of the first-quarter accidents happened in January, three occurred in February and another five took place in March.
Extrapolating the mining fatalities that occurred in the first third of the year across 12 months of 2023, the industry is on a pace that will exceed 50 fatal accidents for the first time since 2010. That was the year of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster that killed 29 miners.
The mining industry hasn’t exceeded 40 fatalities in a single year since 2014, when 46 miners were killed.
