January 5, 2026 - The mining industry finished 2025 with 33 miner fatalities involving accidents – including four in December.

The unofficial total was up 27 percent from 2024, when the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) reported 26 mining fatalities. MSHA had not yet issued a final year-end total as of Jan. 5.

The majority of mining fatalities last year (25) happened at metal/nonmetal operations. Coal operations accounted for the other eight.

Accidents Classifications

Powered haulage was the leading cause of 2025 mining fatalities, with 13. MSHA data shows six miners died in machinery accidents, with a variety of other causes accounting for the year’s remaining mining fatalities.

Two miners died in 2025 accidents tied to the fall of a face, rib, side or highwall; two died in fall of roof or back accidents; two died in accidents involving falling, rolling or sliding rock or material of any kind; and two died in electrical accidents.

The other fatal accident causes last year were exploding vessels under pressure; explosives and breaking agents; handling material; hoisting; inundation; and slip or fall of person. These causes each claimed one miner in 2025.

Accidents by State

By state, West Virginia had the most fatal mining accidents last year with six. All six occurred at coal operations.

Texas had the next most with four. Florida and Missouri had three each, and Pennsylvania had two.

States with a single fatal mining accident last year were California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee and Virginia.

December’s Fatalities

Two of the four miners who died in December drowned at a Florida crushed/broken limestone operation on Dec. 10. According to MSHA’s preliminary report, the miners died after the dragline they were operating went into a water-filled pit. MSHA classified the incident as a machinery accident.

In a separate incident at a West Virginia coal operation Dec. 18, a miner died after he was pinned against the rib by a tractor. Powered haulage was the accident classification.

The final mining fatality of 2025 occurred Dec. 22 at a crushed/broken limestone operation in Virginia, where a contractor died after receiving burns from a pressurized hydraulic line that ruptured and caught fire. According to MSHA, the contractor was cutting wedges from a cone crusher with a torch.