Data / Mines / Colorado / Willow Creek Mine
Willow Creek Mine, Lake County, Colorado: 15 MSHA citations
Updated November 6, 2026. Source: US Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Open Government Data Sets.
Willow Creek Mine is an intermittent gold ore surface mine in Lake County, Colorado, operated by Mt Elbert Mining Co LLC with 4 employees on MSHA's record (mine ID 0504855). Since January 1, 2022 MSHA inspectors issued 15 citations and orders there with $2,853 in proposed penalties, and 0 accident reports were filed there, with no injury or illness cases.
The request: Watch Willow Creek Mine (MSHA mine ID 0504855) in Lake County, Colorado: each new citation and each accident report. $10 of work on sign-up, no card.
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- MSHA mine ID
- 0504855
- Status
- Intermittent since March 19, 2025
- Main commodity
- Gold ore
- Mine type
- Surface
- County
- Lake County, Colorado
- Nearest town
- Leadville
- Operator
- Mt Elbert Mining Co LLC
- Employees
- 4
- MSHA field office
- Denver CO Field Office
- Citations and orders since January 1, 2022
- 15
- Significant and substantial
- 3 (20.0%)
- Closure orders
- 0
- High negligence or reckless
- 2
- Proposed penalties
- $2,853
- Amount paid so far
- $2,853
- Inspections
- 8
- Inspector hours on site
- 38
- Citations per inspection
- 1.88 (all mines 2.30)
- Accident reports
- 0
- Injury and illness cases
- 0
- Fatalities
- 0
- Latest MSHA record
- May 5, 2026
Citations and injury cases by year
Calendar years since 2022; 2026 runs to the date of the MSHA files.
| Year | Citations and orders | Significant and substantial | Proposed penalties | Injury and illness cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | $931 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | $151 | 0 |
| 2026 | 7 | 3 | $1,771 | 0 |
Standards cited most at Willow Creek Mine
Sections of Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations named on the citations, with the part each belongs to.
| Standard | What the part covers | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 30 CFR 56.14132 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 2 |
| 30 CFR 56.14100 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 2 |
| 30 CFR 56.4201 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 2 |
| 30 CFR 56.14101 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 2 |
| 30 CFR 56.12008 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 2 |
| 30 CFR 56.11012 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.12028 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 56.14107 | Surface metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 57.20003 | Underground metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
| 30 CFR 57.12004 | Underground metal and nonmetal mines | 1 |
Other open mines in Lake County, Colorado
| Mine | Operator | County | Main commodity | Employees | Citations since 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climax Mine | Climax Molybdenum Company | Lake County, CO | Molybdenum ore | 315 | 330 |
| Box Creek Placer | Titan Au, Inc. | Lake County, CO | Gold ore | 14 | 35 |
| Lake County Crusher | Lake County | Lake County, CO | Construction sand and gravel | 2 | 5 |
| 50-3-03 Portable Wash Plant II | Aca Products Inc | Lake County, CO | Construction sand and gravel | 2 | 3 |
| 50-3-13 Pioneer 3042 Jaw Crusher | Aca Products Inc | Lake County, CO | Construction sand and gravel | 5 | 0 |
US government work, public domain. Counts come from the MSHA files published on November 6, 2026. An open mine is one MSHA lists as Active, Intermittent, New Mine, Temporarily Idled or NonProducing; 13,673 were open that day. Citations, penalties, inspections and accident reports run from January 1, 2022. A citation is an inspector's allegation and an operator can contest it; the penalty is the amount MSHA first proposed, before any contest or settlement. An operator is the legal entity MSHA assesses, and a parent company is its controller. Mines run by sole proprietors or by individuals are counted in every total and are not named. This page uses MSHA data and is not endorsed or certified by MSHA. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0. Spot a wrong value? Write to [email protected] with the link to this page.