Abandoned gold mines by surface manager
| Surface manager (BLM dataset) | Mapped abandoned mines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Private land or land not mapped as public | 199 | 47% |
| Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management | 70 | 17% |
| Federal land in a US Forest Service national forest or grassland | 55 | 13% |
| State land | 38 | 9% |
| Land status not determined in the BLM dataset | 36 | 9% |
| Alaska Native land | 7 | 2% |
| Local government land | 5 | 1% |
| Tribal or Indian trust land (BIA) | 3 | 1% |
| Federal land managed by the Department of Defense | 1 | 0% |
| Alaska Native allotment | 1 | 0% |
| Not mapped in the BLM land dataset | 1 | 0% |
| Federal land managed by the Department of Defense | 1 | 0% |
| Federal land managed by the National Park Service | 1 | 0% |
| Federal land managed by the Bureau of Reclamation | 1 | 0% |
Only abandoned MSHA records that have coordinates (and are not filed under a sole proprietor) can be placed. That is 419 of 2,877.
By state
| State | Mapped | Federal | State | Private or unmapped | Other or undetermined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 76 | 42% | 0% | 55% | 3% |
| Alaska | 70 | 16% | 39% | 21% | 24% |
| Montana | 53 | 26% | 8% | 64% | 2% |
| California | 42 | 38% | 0% | 0% | 62% |
| Colorado | 42 | 33% | 0% | 67% | 0% |
| Arizona | 34 | 24% | 18% | 56% | 3% |
| Oregon | 33 | 21% | 0% | 79% | 0% |
| Idaho | 32 | 50% | 0% | 44% | 6% |
| Utah | 14 | 14% | 7% | 79% | 0% |
| Washington | 8 | 50% | 0% | 50% | 0% |
States with fewer than 8 mapped abandoned mines are left out.
What this does and does not mean
Federal land is not an invitation to go underground. The agency that manages the land decides on closures and access, and old workings can be closed or hazardous whoever owns the surface. On private land you need the owner's permission to be there at all. The surface manager is also not the same as who owns the minerals or any mining claim.
How these numbers were made
- MSHA data: the public Mines data set, retrieved 2026-10-13. It covers only mines that report to MSHA, so small placer and recreational sites are missing.
- Land status is a point lookup in the BLM Surface Management Agency dataset. It can be out of date, and private land is what the dataset leaves unmapped, so "private or unmapped" is the honest label.
- Mines MSHA files under a sole proprietor are not looked up, for privacy.
Data refreshed 2026-10-13. Spotted a mistake? Email admin@orelist.com with the page address.
More guides
Largest gold mines in the US by employeesWhich states have the most gold mines?Counties with the most historic gold minesLargest historic gold mines in USGS recordsSurface vs underground gold mines in the USGold panning rules on public land: what the agencies say