Maintenance Man fatality at Minorca Mine (Cleveland-Cliffs Minorca Mine Inc.), MN, November 5, 2019

at 9:35 AM

On November 5, 2019, a maintenance man was fatally injured in a powered haulage accident at Minorca Mine (Cleveland-Cliffs Minorca Mine Inc.), MN.

Minorca Mine · Surface · Metal/Non-Metal

Operator: Cleveland-Cliffs Minorca Mine Inc. (ArcelorMittal USA LLC)

St Louis County, MN

Classification POWERED HAULAGE

Type Struck against a moving object

Investigator narrative

Employee was driving Service truck SR136 on the main haul road heading east towards the pit. For unknown reasons at this time it appears the truck hit the berm on the south side of the road causing it to tip sideways ending up on the drivers side. EE was found outside of the vehicle.

Final MSHA investigation

Kenny L. Mattson, a 51-year-old mobile mechanic with 15 years of mining experience, died on November 5, 2019. While operating his service truck, it veered off the road, struck a berm, and ejected him as it overturned.

Findings from MSHA's final investigation report, which supersedes the preliminary narrative above.

Record details

Activity at time of incident: Utility Truck, Water Trucks
Subunit / location: STRIP, QUARY, OPEN PIT
Accident type: Struck against a moving object
Source of injury: PASS CARS,PICKUP TRUCKS
Nature of injury: MULTIPLE INJURIES
Body part affected: MULTIPLE PARTS (MORE THAN ONE MAJOR)
Total mining experience: 15 years
Experience at this mine: 15 years
Experience in this job: 14 years
Degree of injury: FATALITY

Related fatalities

Same operator

June 8, 2007 · Bulldozer Operator · Cleveland-Cliffs Minorca Mine Inc., MN

Same classification

July 6, 2026 · Utility Man · U.S. Lime Company-St. Clair, OK
July 6, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc., AZ
June 26, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Le Claire Investments Inc, IA
April 3, 2026 · Section Foreman · Ohio County Coal Resources, Inc., WV
January 8, 2026 · Haul/Off Road/Coal/Ore/Pit/Quarry/Rock/Rubber Tire Truck Driver · Ash Grove Cement South Texas LLC, TX

Same year

December 23, 2019 · Beltman · The Marshall County Coal Company, WV
December 3, 2019 · Maintenance Man · Amrize Cement Inc., SC
November 16, 2019 · Mine Manager · U.S. Silica Company, LLC, MS
October 18, 2019 · Electrician · Calvary Enterprises, LLC, KY
September 17, 2019 · Electrician · Panther Creek Mining LLC, WV

Verify on MSHA

Every record on this page mirrors what MSHA publishes under its Open Government Data program, refreshed weekly. MSHA does not publish per-accident URLs (the Accidents data is distributed as a single bulk file), so this is how to retrieve the source for the specific record below:

Final investigation report: Read MSHA's final report
Accident record: Download MSHA Accidents.zip then search for Document number 220193180018 (the unique key per MSHA Form 7000-1)
Mine record: MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System and search by Mine ID 2102449
All MSHA datasets: Open Government Data program directory covering Accident, Mines, Inspections, Violations, etc.

Source: US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) · Document 220193180018 · Mine ID 2102449 Trainer view →