Making Synapses · Bringing Knowledge to Mankind
Mining & ExplosivesMapping the mine and reporting
The map is what the rescue leaves for everyone who comes after. The team's map person and the fresh air base attendant mark everything the team finds with the standard legend, placard by placard, and at the end the captain hands all the maps to the person in charge of the mine.
Free to startScenarios
- Paper maps with the team and at the fresh air base.
- Electronic mapping with Visio at the fresh air base and the command center.
- Part of the mine left unexplored.
The steps
- Before going in, place reference information on both maps.
- Use the standard mine map legend; if a symbol is missing, write the exact text of the placard on both maps.
- Mark the condition of every face, stopping and door, every placard or material, fires, barricades, and bodies and survivors with their identification.
- Mark the temporary stoppings the team builds and every gas found or shown on a placard.
- Carry the smoke for its full extent and show it cleared where ventilation clears it.
- Write what each placard says, word for word, within 6 feet of its real spot; victim statements are not mapped.
- After the 50-foot check, make every edit through the communication system and never compare the maps side by side.
- If the team does not explore the whole mine, draw a line across the entry at the farthest point of advance with the legend symbol.
- With every accessible area explored and every miner accounted for, return to the fresh air base, count off, hand all three maps to the person in charge and stop the timing device.
Safety rules that stop the station
- No side-by-side map comparison once the team has made its 50-foot check.
- No changes to either map after the team counts off at the end.
To pass
- Each placard missing from a map or more than 6 feet off costs 1 point on each map.
- A side-by-side map comparison costs 25; not finishing within the time limit costs 25.
- Every face, stopping, door, fire, barricade, gas and person on the map, word for word.
Official source
Federal · MSHA Mine Rescue Contest Rules 2026
2026 Metal and Nonmetal Mine Rescue Contest Rules
MSHA's mine rescue contest rules include the standard mine map legend and the map discount sheet.
Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by MSHA, NASA or any mine rescue association. Agency names are named only to describe the content.