Nevada gold mine cited for alleged violations

RENO -- Federal regulators have cited an Elko County gold mine for alleged safety violations.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration issued six citations to Jerritt Canyon Mill following a special October "impact" inspection that targeted mines nationwide with a poor compliance history, agency spokesman Jesse Lawder said.

At the same time, MSHA issued eight "closure" orders to withdraw miners from certain portions of the mine, located 50 miles north of Elko, he added.

"Thirteen of the 14 actions against the mine concerned significant and substantial violations" that could result in serious injury or illness, Lawder said .

The mine is operated by Queenstake Resources USA Inc., a subsidiary of Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Officials from Yukon-Nevada did not immediately respond to phone and email messages for comment.

According to its website, the company is modernizing the milling facility and emission control systems.

Jerritt Canyon was the only Nevada mine included in the special October inspection of 11 mines nationwide, including eight coal mines.

MSHA's impact inspections began in April 2010 after 29 men died in an explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. They focus on mines with compliance concerns, including high numbers of violations or closure orders.

It was the mine agency's fourth such special inspection at Jerritt Canyon this year, the Elko Daily Free Press reported.

MSHA issued six citations to the mine in August, 11 citations and two closure orders in May and 24 citations and eight closure orders in January.

Lawder said an additional 30 citations and three closure orders were issued to the mine after his agency's routine, annual inspection of it that ended Nov. 7.

Among other things, the mine was cited for violating regulations requiring:

■ Employees to be protected from moving machine parts.

■ Unsafe areas to be barricaded or posted with warning signs.

■ Tractors and loaders to have roll-over protective structures and seat belts.

■ Proper disposal and storage of combustible waste.

Penalties for the citations have not been determined yet, Lawder said.