Working gold mines by type
| Type | Mines | Share of mines | Employees reported | Share of employees | Average per mine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface | 123 | 68% | 10,595 | 64% | 86 |
| Underground | 47 | 26% | 5,352 | 32% | 114 |
| Processing facility | 12 | 7% | 637 | 4% | 53 |
MSHA's "surface" type covers open pits and placer workings. "Facility" is a mill or processing plant.
By state
| State | Surface | Underground | Facility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 34 | 19 | 4 |
| Alaska | 51 | 4 | 0 |
| Colorado | 10 | 5 | 1 |
| California | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Idaho | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Arizona | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Montana | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Oregon | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Utah | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Washington | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Reading the numbers
An average underground gold mine in this data employs 114 people against 86 for a surface mine. Many of the surface mines are small placer operations with a handful of workers, which pulls that average down, while the biggest surface operations are open pits with hundreds. See the largest gold mines by employees for the top of the list.
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.
- Counts use MSHA's mine type for each record. Employees are what each mine reports, so contractors and shared staff may be counted differently.
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?Who owns the land under abandoned gold mines?Counties with the most historic gold minesLargest historic gold mines in USGS recordsGold panning rules on public land: what the agencies say