Mining Incidents
Search Operators Mines Alerts Research Controllers Fatalgrams About
Countries
Peru Chile
English Español
Abandoned mines › Arizona
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Apache County, Arizona

Apache County, Arizona has 567 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1952–1998, including 108 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 113 prospect pits; 17 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 425 problems in the county, 7 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 23 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Apache County, every OSMRE abandoned mine land problem in the county, and every MSHA-registered mine here with status Abandoned. Named features are listed below; unnamed ones are counted by type. Locations are deliberately not shown: this page says what abandoned workings are in the county, not where to find them. They are dangerous and should not be entered.

Mapped mine features (USGS)
567
Mine openings
108
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
7
MSHA mines marked abandoned
23
17 features carry a name113 prospect pits118 quadrangle maps, published 1952–1998 425 OSMRE problems, 418 reclaimed 0 MSHA mines abandoned and sealed
What the features are
  1. Mine openings
    shafts, adits, air shafts, portals and vertical openings: the ways into underground workings
    215 21.7%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    113 11.4%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    20 2.0%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    325 32.8%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    75 7.6%
  6. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    243 24.5%
  7. Other
    symbols outside the classes above
    1 0.1%
Named features on the maps17 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Aniceto Cinder Pit Cinder Pit
Camp Mine Adit
Cisco Mine Adit
Copper Mine Mine Shaft
East Mesa Mine Adit
Hall Mine Adit
Jimmie King No 9 Mine Adit
Joleo Mine Adit
Knife Edge Mesa Mine Mine Shaft
Martin Mine Adit
Mexican Cry Mine Adit
Mildred Mine Adit
Monument No 2 Mine Open Pit Mine area
Rattlesnake Mine Adit
Sah Tah Mine Adit
Syracuse Mine Adit
Tohe Thlany Begay Mine Adit

A name is the label printed beside the symbol on the map. "First mapped" is the earliest topographic edition that shows the symbol, which bounds the feature's age from above; it is not the date it was worked. Unnamed features (most prospect pits, adits and shafts carry no label) are in the counts above but not this list.

OSMRE abandoned mine land problems425 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Balakai Mine P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Balakai Mine P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Completed
Balakai Mine P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Barton 3 Mine P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Barton 3 Mine P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Barton 3 Mine P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Barton 3 Mine P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Barton 3 Mine P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Barton 3 Mine P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Beclabito P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Beclabito 4 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Beclabito 4 P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Completed
Beclabito 4 P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Completed
Beclabito Headstart PF Public (Infra) Structure Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Copper Mine P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Copper Mine P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P1 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Beclabito: Syracuse Mine P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 High Wall Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa 3 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 28 P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 28 P1 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 28 P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 28 P3 Haul Road In Reclamation
Black Mesa: Claim 28 P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 28 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 7, 10, And 28 P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 7, 10, And 28 P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 7, 10, And 28 P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 7, 10, And 28 P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 7, 10, And 28 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 7, 10, And 28 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Claim 7, 10, And 28 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P1 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Etsitty Mine P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Slope No. 9 P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Slope No. 9 P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Slope No. 9 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Black Mesa: Slope No. 9 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Blue Gap Mine P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Blue Gap Mine P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Blue Gap Mine P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Blue Gap Mine P3 Industrial/Residential Waste Reclamation Completed
Blue Gap Mine P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Bluestone Mine P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Bluestone Mine P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Bluestone Mine P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Bluestone Mine P3 Haul Road Reclamation Pending
Bluestone Mine P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Brodie 1 Mine P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Brodie 1 Mine P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Brodie 1 Mine P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Brodie 1 Mine P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Brodie 1 Mine P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Industrial/Residential Waste Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Carrizo 2 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Carson / Plot 13 P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Carson / Plot 13 P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Carson / Plot 13 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Carson / Plot 13 P3 Industrial/Residential Waste Reclamation Completed
Carson / Plot 13 P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Chee Nez Mine P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Chee Nez Mine P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Chee Nez Mine P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Chee Nez Mine P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Chee Nez Mine P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Chee Nez Mine P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Chester Mud 1 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Chester Mud 1 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Chester Mud 1 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Chester Mud 1 P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Cove 1 : Mesa Iv 1/2 P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cove 1 : Mesa Iv 1/2 P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 1 : Mesa Iv 1/2 P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Cove 1 : Mesa Iv 1/2 P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Cove 1 : Mesa Iv 1/2 P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Cove 1 : Mesa Iv 1/2 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Cove 2 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cove 2 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Cove 2 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 2 Ph 2 P3 Haul Road Reclamation Completed
Cove 2 Ph 2 P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cove 3 Ph 2 P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed

…and 275 more problems not listed here.

Problem types carry OSMRE's priority prefix: P1 and P2 are threats to health, safety and property, P3 is environmental. A problem area is a cluster of problems reclaimed as one project; several rows can share one location.

MSHA-registered mines with status Abandoned23 on register
  1. Alpine Dump Pit B
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rusty Wright Enterprise · MSHA ID 0202909
    Abandoned
  2. ARIZONA SILICA SAND COMPANY
    Surface metal/non-metal · Arizona Silica Sand Company · MSHA ID 0200633
    Abandoned
  3. Bia Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nelson & Sons Inc Materials Suppl · MSHA ID 0201778
    Abandoned
  4. BLUE CANYON RESERVOIR DAM QUARRY
    Surface metal/non-metal · Missouri Army National Guard · MSHA ID 0202664
    Abandoned
  5. Bordshack Knoll Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Arizona Department Of Transportation · MSHA ID 0201739
    Abandoned
  6. Cheto Mine 01
    Surface metal/non-metal · Clariant Corporation · MSHA ID 0200106
    Abandoned
  7. Concho Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Apache County Engineering · MSHA ID 0202899
    Abandoned
  8. Concho Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Francis Day & Sons · MSHA ID 0201144
    Abandoned
  9. Dale Hall Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hatch Construction & Paving Inc · MSHA ID 0203178
    Abandoned
  10. DUMP PIT #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · SUG ROGERS CONSTRUCTION LLC · MSHA ID 0203255
    Abandoned
  11. El Jay Double Cone
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nielsons Inc · MSHA ID 0201795
    Abandoned
  12. Emma Brown Borrow Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority · MSHA ID 0203409
    Abandoned
  13. Fort Defiance Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nielsons Inc · MSHA ID 0201860
    Abandoned
  14. Hogback
    Surface metal/non-metal · Richey Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 0202480
    Abandoned
  15. Kaibeto Resources Crusher #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Tsehootso Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 0203306
    Abandoned
  16. KOHLBERG PORTABLE SCREENING
    Surface metal/non-metal · Arizona Department Of Transportation · MSHA ID 0201563
    Abandoned
  17. Mobile Unit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Perkins Cinders Inc. · MSHA ID 0203343
    Abandoned
  18. NIZ
    Surface metal/non-metal · Arrowzona Stone Works & Mining · MSHA ID 0203309
    Abandoned
  19. Plant 79
    Surface metal/non-metal · Superior Materials · MSHA ID 0201936
    Abandoned
  20. S U Knoll Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Arizona Department Of Transportation · MSHA ID 0201639
    Abandoned
  21. Salado
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cedar Creek Stone LLC · MSHA ID 0203093
    Abandoned
  22. Teec Nos Pos Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Navajo Engineering and Construction Authority · MSHA ID 0203487
    Abandoned
  23. White Mountain Cinders
    Surface metal/non-metal · White Mountain Cinders · MSHA ID 0203267
    Abandoned

Status and date are as reported to MSHA by the operator. Each mine's own page carries its accident, citation and inspection record.

By source vocabularythe publishers' own terms
Feature type Features
Prospect Pit 113
Adit 103
Borrow Pit 84
Cinder Pit 75
P3 Haul Road 66
P2 Portals 60
P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments 48
Gravel Pit 47
Borrow Pit 46
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 35
P3 Bench 32
P3 Other 27
P1 Portals 26
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 23
P1 Dangerous Highwalls 23
Cinder Pit 23
P3 Mine Opening 19
P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments 19
P3 Pits 18
P1 Vertical Openings 16
Gravel Pit 13
Open Pit Mine 11
Open Pit Mine 7
Quarry 6
Mine Shaft 5
P2 Vertical Openings 5
P1 Subsidence 4
Sand Pit 4
P2 Industrial/Residential Waste 4
P3 Gobs 4
P3 Industrial/Residential Waste 3
P2 Subsidence 3
P3 High Wall 3
P1 Industrial/Residential Waste 3
Sand Pit 3
P3 Spoil Area 3
P1 Dangerous Impoundments 2
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 2
P4 Public Utilities 1
PF Public (Infra) Structure 1
Quarry 1
Tailings - Undifferentiated 1
Other counties in ArizonaAll counties →
How to read these numbers

A USGS feature is a symbol on a historical topographic map, there when the map was surveyed; it may since have been sealed, reclaimed, built over or reopened as a working mine, and the map does not say which. An OSMRE row is a problem the abandoned mine land program tracks, not a mine. An MSHA mine is a registered operation whose operator reported abandonment, a record that starts in the 1970s. The three overlap and are never added together. The county is assigned from each feature's coordinates against the Census 2023 county boundaries. The full method is on the national page.

Sources
  1. USGS, Consolidated Prospect- and Mine-Related Features from 7.5- and 15-Minute Topographic Quadrangle Maps of the United States (USMIN)
    597,612 point and area features digitized from about 106,350 historical topographic maps published 1886–2006; public domain (CC0). A feature is a map symbol, not a field-verified site, and the map does not say whether it was still worked.
  2. USGS Fact Sheet 2025–3003, The Abandoned Mine Inventory of the United States
    States that as of 2025 there is no comprehensive national inventory of abandoned mine features, and that the detailed national database now being built will not be published.
  3. OSMRE, Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System (e-AMLIS), public Problems layer
    One row per abandoned mine land problem in a problem area, with its type, funding program and reclamation status; mostly coal mined before the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Coordinates are the problem area's.
  4. MSHA, Mines dataset (Mine Data Retrieval System)
    Every mine registered with MSHA since the 1970s; a mine reads Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed when its operator reported that status. Refreshed weekly.
  5. US Census Bureau, 2023 cartographic county boundaries (1:500,000)
    Each feature's county is assigned by its coordinates against these boundaries, not copied from the source file.
  6. GAO-20-238, Abandoned Hardrock Mines (March 2020)
    Federal agencies had identified at least 140,000 abandoned hardrock mine features on federal land and estimated more than 390,000 more not yet captured in their databases.
  7. Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) Program, US Department of the Interior
    The program the USGS inventory is compiled for. Its appropriations and the 674,000 field-confirmed feature count on this page were provided by the program manager, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, and are cited with permission (2026-09-08).
  8. IMCC-NAAMLP Hardrock AML Report
    Page 48 carries the two figures this page leans on: USGS estimates 633,181 of the 725,690 mine features it recorded from historic topographic maps, 87 percent, are hardrock; and state and federal agencies have submitted more than 724,000 AML features to the national database being built, already more than the historic maps hold. Year-by-year AHMR funding is on page 35.