Gold mines by state
| State | MSHA, not abandoned | MSHA, abandoned | USGS historic producers | All records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 57 | 512 | 4,446 | 5,015 |
| Alaska | 55 | 325 | 3,133 | 3,513 |
| Colorado | 16 | 301 | 4,490 | 4,807 |
| California | 11 | 428 | 10,337 | 10,776 |
| Idaho | 10 | 249 | 2,057 | 2,316 |
| Arizona | 8 | 261 | 3,467 | 3,736 |
| Montana | 7 | 358 | 2,521 | 2,886 |
| Oregon | 7 | 146 | 1,884 | 2,037 |
| Utah | 4 | 78 | 1,061 | 1,143 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 82 | 749 | 833 |
| Washington | 1 | 72 | 775 | 848 |
| South Dakota | 1 | 24 | 427 | 452 |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 | 298 | 299 |
| South Carolina | 1 | 7 | 139 | 147 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 9 | 126 | 136 |
| North Carolina | 0 | 12 | 467 | 479 |
| Virginia | 0 | 1 | 299 | 300 |
| Alabama | 0 | 3 | 185 | 188 |
| Maine | 0 | 0 | 49 | 49 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 1 | 42 | 43 |
| Maryland | 0 | 0 | 30 | 30 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Texas | 0 | 3 | 19 | 22 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Massachusetts | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Michigan | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Connecticut | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Missouri | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| New York | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Arkansas | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Why two sources give two different answers
MSHA lists mines that have had to report to the federal safety regulator, which is why it knows how many people work at each. USGS records 37,084 historic producers that mostly closed long ago and are not in the MSHA list. A state can look small in one and large in the other. 15 states have historic gold producers in USGS records but no gold mine in the MSHA data: Maine, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Missouri, New York and others.
The top three states for historic producers are California (10,337), Colorado (4,490), Nevada (4,446).
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.
- USGS data: the Mineral Resources Data System, retrieved 2026-10-13. It was last updated around 2011 and a "producer" in it is not necessarily operating today.
- USGS sites already matched to an MSHA mine by location (within 2 km) are counted once, in the MSHA columns.
- Tours, museums and panning spots are a separate list: see the tours pages.
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 employeesWho owns the land under abandoned 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