Source
Every mine on this site comes from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) Mines data set, a public record of mines in the United States. We keep the records where gold ore is the primary or secondary commodity: 3,059 records in 38 states, retrieved 2026-10-13. Gold Mines Map is independent and is not affiliated with MSHA or any government agency.
USGS historic producers
The county pages also list historic gold producers from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS), retrieved 2026-10-13: 37,084 sites recorded as producers, past producers or plants that do not match an MSHA record. We drop exploration prospects and occurrences. MRDS was last updated around 2011, positions can be approximate, and a "producer" in that database is not necessarily operating today.
Land status
Land status for mapped MSHA mines comes from the BLM Surface Management Agency dataset (a point-in-polygon lookup). It says who manages the surface, not who owns the minerals or any claim, and it can be out of date.
What is not in the MSHA data
- Mines that do not report to MSHA, including many small placer and recreational sites.
- Mineral claims, prospects and historic districts that never had an MSHA record.
- Mines outside the United States.
Tour mines, panning spots and mining museums come from a different source: Google Maps listings (retrieved 2026-10-13), shown on the tours pages. We keep places that mention gold, panning or mine tours and have at least 3 reviews. Names, ratings and phone numbers are as listed by each business; we do not verify hours or prices. A few operating mines also link to their official website, matched from Google Maps by name and location.
For claims and mines offered for sale, see OreList.
Status labels
The statuses are MSHA's own: active, intermittent, new mine, temporarily idled, non-producing and abandoned. See MSHA for their formal definitions. "Type" is surface, underground or facility (a mill or processing plant).
Privacy
We show an operator name only when it clearly looks like a business. For mines MSHA files under a sole proprietor, we show no operator, replace a mine name that is just the owner's name with a generic label, and generalize the location to about 7 miles. We publish no phone numbers, emails or home addresses.
Corrections and removal requests
If a record is wrong, or you are the owner of a mine listed here and want it changed or removed, email admin@orelist.com with the MSHA mine ID. We answer removal requests for individuals first. The data itself comes from MSHA, so status errors are best fixed there too.
Maps
Maps use Leaflet with © OpenStreetMap contributors tiles. Coordinates are as reported to MSHA and can be approximate.