Tilden Mining Company L C · Fall to lower level, (Not Elsewhere Classified)
Employee fell from stack cap level to preheat level suffering fatal injuries.
Tilden Mining Company L C: 1 recorded fatality operator
Controlled by
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc
MSHA operator ID: L11087
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Compliance record
MSHA citations since 2000
7,026
citations
1,008
significant & substantial
$9,430,541
proposed penalties
$6,869,913
paid to date
73% of proposed penalties paid to date, a $2,560,628 gap.
Source: MSHA violations data, updated weekly.
Inspection activity
MSHA inspections since 2000
358
inspections on record
37,006
inspection hours
19.0
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.7,026 citations across 37,006 inspection hours.
Source: MSHA inspections data, updated weekly.
Penalty disposition
ⓘ
Differences between proposed and paid penalties reflect both settlements and conference reductions and amounts still owed. Outstanding is the balance currently owed.$9.4M
proposed penalties
$7.4M
current assessed
$6.9M
paid to date
$495K
outstanding
6,857 assessments are final orders; 126 contested dockets.
Of $4.8M in penalties contested before the Commission, $2.6M was upheld in final decisions.
As of the most recent assessment on 2026-05-28.
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.14.4%
significant & substantial
1.9%
high negligence or reckless
14.6%
reasonably likely or greater
22.8%
permanently disabling or fatal if injury occurs
Negligence coding: 0.0% none, 21.1% low, 77.0% moderate, 1.9% high, 0.0% reckless.
Source: MSHA violations gravity and negligence coding, updated weekly.
Injury rate, 2025
ⓘ
This rate is reportable injury cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year, computed as 200,000 times cases divided by MSHA operator-reported employee-hours. Cases are injuries MSHA graded degree 01 through 07; accident-only events that hurt no one are excluded, and so are contractor injuries, whose hours do not attach to a single mine. Rates begin in 2000, when quarterly employment reporting starts, and are withheld below 20,000 hours in a year.1.59
total case rate
0.74
days-away rate
0.000
fatality rate
About average. The US metal and nonmetal mining average was 1.65 and the all-US-mining average was 1.97 cases per 100 workers.
| Year | total case rate | days-away | fatal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.83 | 1.22 | 0.000 |
| 2025 | 1.59 | 0.74 | 0.000 |
| 2024 | 0.80 | 0.20 | 0.000 |
| 2023 | 1.43 | 0.66 | 0.000 |
| 2022 | 0.85 | 0.32 | 0.000 |
| 2021 | 2.27 | 1.25 | 0.000 |
| 2020 | 2.06 | 1.03 | 0.000 |
| 2019 | 2.20 | 1.62 | 0.000 |
Source: injury cases from MSHA accident and injury records; employee-hours from MSHA quarterly employment reports. Rate is cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers, operator employees only.
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: 2026-06-03
ⓘ
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.15%
of limit-tested samples over the exposure limit
209
samples
156
limit-tested
Most sampled contaminants
- Quartz, respirable, >1% Qtz10318 over
- Copper fumes253 over
- Iron oxide fumes252 over
- Manganese fumes251 over
Area samples (mill and shop air)
Last sampled: 2024-01-1933
samples
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.
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.
1,966
citations taken to the federal commission · 28% of citations on record
- Settled 1,794 · 91%
- Stood as issued 35 · 2%
- Vacated or withdrawn 14 · 1%
- Still open 123 · 6%
67%
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 594 decided S&S contests · industry: 79%
44%
Penalty reduction in decided contests
$4.6M proposed, $2.6M 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 2026-07-28. Vacated and withdrawn citations are removed from the file this view attributes through, so that outcome is slightly undercounted here.
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 operator contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, with the outcome on record.
| Docket | Decision | Judge | Year | Proposed / upheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAKE 2017-0129 | Settlement | Lesnick | 2017 | $252K → $163K |
| LAKE 2017-0067 | Settlement | Miller | 2017 | $216K → $138K |
| LAKE 2019-0330 | Settlement | Paez | 2019 | $186K → $74K |
| LAKE 2016-0240 | Settlement | Rae | 2017 | $170K → $114K |
| LAKE 2016-0183 | Settlement | Rae | 2017 | $166K → $107K |
| LAKE 2019-0373 | Settlement | Paez | 2020 | $157K → $76K |
Source: FMSHRC civil penalty dockets and decisions (public record), updated weekly.
Top causes
- SLIP OR FALL OF PERSON 1 fatality · 288 non-fatal
- HANDLING OF MATERIALS 633 non-fatal
- HANDTOOLS (NONPOWERED) 216 non-fatal
- MACHINERY 206 non-fatal
- DISORDERS (REPEATED TRAUMA) 184 non-fatal
- POWERED HAULAGE 87 non-fatal
Incident timeline
2026
11
2025
21
2024
9
2023
17
2022
19
2021
24
2020
20
2019
22
2018
24
2017
27
2016
20
2015
28
2014
36
2013
43
2012
36
2011
29
2010
37
2009
22
2008
26
2007
31
2006
27 (1f)
2005
16
2004
21
2003
30
2002
44
2001
74
2000
68
1999
66
1998
94
1997
95
1996
106
1995
99
1994
100
1993
111
1992
108
1991
138
1990
97
1989
30
Mines on record
- Tilden Mine MI
Fatalities under this operator
1 recordedFor insurers, brokers, and safety consultants
Where Tilden Mining Company L C stands on silica, penalties, and injury rate
MSHA's standard limits respirable silica to 50 micrograms per cubic metre, but MSHA publishes dust and quartz as separate files and never the silica figure itself. We derive it per sample, score it against the limit, and set the operator's injury rate against a benchmark built from the full MSHA operator record. With the 26-year penalty trail, contest posture, and fatality history. Delivered as a PDF with the underlying data as CSV.
The federal record itself stays free on this site. What costs money, and why.