Mining Incidents

Elkhorn Mine/ Golden Dream: 72 MSHA citations Metal/Non-Metal

Elkhorn Goldfields Inc · Underground
Controlled by Eastern Resources, Inc.
Elkhorn, Jefferson County, MT  ·  Abandoned
MSHA Mine ID: 2402207

Elkhorn Mine/ Golden Dream has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $55 outstanding across 1 contested dockets, plus health sampling and the full incident record.

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Fatalities
0
Total incidents
1
Years on record
2001
Latest incident
Oct 2001
Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2001
72
citations
17
significant & substantial
$6,039
proposed penalties
$5,984
paid to date
99% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $55 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2001
17
inspections on record
369
inspection hours
n/a
citations per 100 inspection hours
This rate is recorded citations divided by MSHA inspection hours, per 100 hours. It reflects inspection effort, not mine size or production.
Rate withheld: 369 inspection hours is too few for a stable rate. A minimum of 1,000 inspection hours is required.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.

Elkhorn Mine/ Golden Dream has $6K in proposed MSHA penalties and $55 outstanding across 1 contested dockets.

Penalty disposition
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.
$6K
proposed penalties
$6K
current assessed
$6K
paid to date
$55
outstanding
72 assessments are final orders; 1 contested dockets.
Of $200 in penalties contested before the Commission, $200 was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2012-05-23.
Source: MSHA assessed-violations and conference/litigation data, updated weekly.
Violation severity profile
Shares are computed over citations that carry the MSHA gravity and negligence coding; a small share of records are uncoded.
23.6%
significant & substantial
0.0%
high negligence or reckless
23.6%
reasonably likely or greater
22.2%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 6.9% low, 93.1% moderate, 0.0% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
When citations were contested
Contesting a citation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is a lawful right. These figures state the public outcomes of that process, from MSHA's Contested Violations file.
2 citations taken to the federal commission · 3% of citations on record
  • Settled 2 · 100%
100%
S&S designation survived the contest
Counts a Significant & Substantial citation as surviving when a settlement or judge's decision kept the designation, or the contest was dismissed or defaulted so the citation stands as issued. Vacated and withdrawn citations, and settlements that removed the designation, count against.
of 2 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
0%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$200 proposed, $200 after decisions · industry: 39%
Source: MSHA Contested Violations file (public record), updated weekly. A dismissed or defaulted contest leaves the citation standing as issued; a vacated or withdrawn citation is removed from the violation record. Latest contest filed 2011-11-08.
Contested penalties
A reduction or dismissal at the Commission is a lawful outcome of contesting a proposed penalty. Figures are the proposed amount and the amount upheld in the docket's decision.
Largest penalties this mine contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
Docket Decision Judge Year Proposed / upheld
WEST 2012-148M Settlement Lesnick 2012 $200 → $200
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Health sampling
A sample is a point in time compliance measurement, not an individual exposure history. These figures describe MSHA sampling records and do not establish causation or personal dose.

Metal and nonmetal contaminants (personal samples)
Many samples are screening measurements of substances with no applicable exposure limit; they are counted as samples but excluded from every over-limit figure. Over-limit shares use only limit-tested samples.

Last sampled: 2011-09-13, 15 years ago
0%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
6
samples
4
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
  • Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz2
  • Total Carbon,calculated from elemental carbon.2
  • Total Carbon,TC2
  • Respirable dust, <.1mg1
Show the individual readings (8)
Date Contaminant Concentration Limit Conc / limit Occupation
2011-09-13 Respirable dust, <.1mg 0 Surveyor
2002-11-26 Total Carbon,TC 256.77 400 0.64 Miner, Drift
2002-11-26 Total Carbon,calculated from elemental carbon. 196.36 400 0.49 Miner, Drift
2002-11-26 Total Carbon,calculated from elemental carbon. 376.45 400 0.94 Miner, Drift
2002-11-26 Total Carbon,TC 340.42 400 0.85 Miner, Drift
2001-05-09 Unlisted Particulate, respirable, <1% Qtz 1.75 Miner, Drift
2001-05-09 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 0.27 1.08 0.25 Front-end Loader Operator
2001-05-09 Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz 1.56 3.31 0.47 Miner, Drift
Source: MSHA respirable dust, quartz, and noise sampling records, updated weekly. Metal/nonmetal contaminant figures come from MSHA's Personal Health Samples and Area Samples files (public record), updated weekly.
Ownership history
  1. Elkhorn Goldfields Inc 2001 to present
Source: MSHA controller and operator history, updated weekly.
Workforce and production
Year Employees
2013 0
2012 7
2011 7
2003 1
2002 3
2001 1
Source: MSHA quarterly employment and production, updated weekly.

Elkhorn Mine/ Golden Dream sits in Jefferson County, Montana, where the Census mining category is 1.4% of county employment.

Local economic context
County figures come from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 5-year pooled estimates, so the 2023 vintage covers 2019 through 2023. The Census category is 'mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction', which is broader than MSHA jurisdiction and includes oil and gas workers no mine employs. These figures describe the surrounding county, not this mine, and are not a factor in any specific incident.
Jefferson County, Montana · Population 12,501
1.4%
Mining share of county employment
$76,576
Median household income
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates.
Quarterly safety rates
Citations per million reported employee-hours. Rates begin in 2000, when MSHA's quarterly employment data starts; earlier incidents are counted but cannot be rate-adjusted. Quarters under 100,000 reported hours are greyed: too few hours for a stable rate.
Citations per million employee-hours, as reported to MSHA
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2013 Q3 0 0 0
2013 Q2 0 0 0
2013 Q1 120 0 0 0.0
2012 Q4 120 0 0 0.0
2012 Q3 3,432 0 0 0.0
2012 Q2 3,716 6 2 1614.6
2012 Q1 3,919 8 1 2041.3
2011 Q4 2,010 6 1 2985.1
Show 10 earlier quarters
Quarter Hours worked Citations S&S Per 1M hrs
2011 Q3 2,654 3 2 1130.4
2003 Q3 0 0 0
2003 Q2 480 0 0 0.0
2003 Q1 480 0 0 0.0
2002 Q4 2,631 3 0 1140.3
2002 Q3 2,238 0 0 0.0
2002 Q2 480 0 0 0.0
2002 Q1 480 0 0 0.0
2001 Q4 480 1 0 2083.3
2001 Q3 480 1 0 2083.3
No fatalities recorded at this mine.

Reportable incidents

1 on file

2001 · 1 incident

October 9, 2001 MT · Metal/Non-Metal drill helper SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON
Elkhorn Goldfields Inc · Fall from machine

EMPLOYEE WAS STEPPING OFF DRILL TRAILER AND SLIPPED ON THE LOOSE ROCK AND CUTTINGS AND FELL. HE TWISTED HIS LEFT ANKLE.