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Abandoned mines › Colorado
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Moffat County, Colorado

Moffat County, Colorado has 190 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1915–1986, including 33 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 65 prospect pits; 15 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 40 problems in the county, 10 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 40 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Moffat 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)
190
Mine openings
33
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
10
MSHA mines marked abandoned
40
15 features carry a name65 prospect pits49 quadrangle maps, published 1915–1986 40 OSMRE problems, 30 reclaimed 2 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
    46 20.0%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    65 28.3%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    23 10.0%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    69 30.0%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    8 3.5%
  6. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    19 8.3%
Named features on the maps15 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Bridges Mine Adit
Bridges Mine Open Pit Mine
Cedar Creek Mine Adit
Cedar Creek Mine Open Pit Mine
Hamilton Mine Mine
Hart Mine Open Pit Mine
Mantle Mine Adit
Seymour Mine Adit
Seymour Mine Open Pit Mine
Shephard Mine Adit
Star Mine Open Pit Mine
Streeter Mine Adit
Walker Mine Adit
Walker Mine Open Pit Mine
Whispering Cave 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 problems40 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Axial/streeter/red Wing - 62/60-01 P1 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
Axial/streeter/red Wing - 62/60-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Axial/streeter/red Wing - 62/60-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Axial/streeter/red Wing - 62/60-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Axial/streeter/red Wing - 62/60-01 P2 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Blair/phillips Mines - 79/85-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Blair/phillips Mines - 79/85-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Blair/phillips Mines - 79/85-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Blue Flame - 91/56-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Pending
Blue Flame - 91/56-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Blue Flame - 91/56-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Coal White Ash - 83/55-01 P1 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
Collom - Noi P1 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
James Mine - 61/56-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
James Mine - 61/56-01 P3 Equipment Facility Reclamation Pending
James Mine - 61/56-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Kimberly Bank - 85/89-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Moffat - Non-coal-county-wide P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Moffat - Non-coal-county-wide P1 Portals In Reclamation
Moffat - Non-coal-county-wide P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Moffat County - Coal - Co-wide P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Pending
Poison Basin Mines (66) P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Poison Basin Mines (66) P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Poison Basin Mines (66) P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Sand Spring Outcrop Fire - Noi P1 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
Skyline - 84/56-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Skyline - 84/56-01 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Skyline - 84/56-01 P3 Equipment Facility Reclamation Pending
Skyline - 84/56-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Walker/sadvar Coal Mine - Noi P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Walker/sadvar Coal Mine - Noi P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Walker/sadvar Coal Mine - Noi P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Walker/sadvar Coal Mine - Noi P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Wallihan - 56/88-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Wallihan - 56/88-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Whitlock - 77/73-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Wise Hill # 3/hart - 75/78-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Wise Hill # 3/hart - 75/78-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Wise Hill # 3/hart - 75/78-01 P2 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
Wise Hill # 3/hart - 75/78-01 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed

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 Abandoned40 on register
  1. 6203
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hardrock Custom Crushing LLC · MSHA ID 0504852
    Abandoned
  2. Am Gilsonite Loading & Bagging Plt
    Facility metal/non-metal · American Gilsonite Company · MSHA ID 0502842
    Abandoned
  3. Blm (Elk Springs)
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503367
    Abandoned
  4. Blm (W Of Maybell)
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503368
    Abandoned
  5. Blue Jet Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Blue Jet Mining Inc · MSHA ID 0501385
    Abandoned
  6. Bromide Mine
    Underground metal/non-metal · K T Mining Company Inc · MSHA ID 0502039
    Abandoned
  7. Bunn Ranch Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mobile Premix Company · MSHA ID 0502048
    Abandoned
  8. Bunn Ranch Pit
    Facility metal/non-metal · Mobile Premix Company · MSHA ID 0504047
    Abandoned
  9. CEDAR RAPIDS PLANT #3
    Surface metal/non-metal · Elam Construction Inc · MSHA ID 0504559
    Abandoned
  10. CEDARAPIDS SCREEN-ALL
    Surface metal/non-metal · WAGNER CONSTRUCTION INC. · MSHA ID 0504956
    Abandoned
  11. Colowyo Scoria Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nielsons Inc · MSHA ID 0503190
    Abandoned
  12. Crusher 3
    Surface metal/non-metal · 3B Enterprises LLC · MSHA ID 0505082
    Abandoned
  13. E J 1213
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hardrock Custom Crushing LLC · MSHA ID 0504079
    Abandoned
  14. Eagle #5
    Underground coal · Peabody Williams Fork Mining, LLC · MSHA ID 0501370
    Abandoned and Sealed
  15. Eagle Mine Project
    Surface metal/non-metal · Jubilee Venture Inc · MSHA ID 0504985
    Abandoned
  16. Eagle No 9 Mine
    Underground coal · Empire Energy Corp · MSHA ID 0503017
    Abandoned and Sealed
  17. Elmer Mack Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schmidt-Tiago Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503199
    Abandoned
  18. EXTEC SCREEN
    Surface metal/non-metal · WAGNER CONSTRUCTION INC. · MSHA ID 0504958
    Abandoned
  19. FAB-TEC
    Surface metal/non-metal · S&K CONSTRUCTION · MSHA ID 0504590
    Abandoned
  20. Fedenic Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nielsons Inc · MSHA ID 0502799
    Abandoned
  21. Fedinec Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Western Exploration & Road Construction · MSHA ID 0505180
    Abandoned
  22. Johnson
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503369
    Abandoned
  23. Joker Mine & Pilot Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Badger Hole LLC · MSHA ID 0502718
    Abandoned
  24. KOLBERG JAW CRUSHER
    Surface metal/non-metal · WAGNER CONSTRUCTION INC. · MSHA ID 0504959
    Abandoned
  25. KUE-KEN CRUSHER
    Surface metal/non-metal · WAGNER CONSTRUCTION INC. · MSHA ID 0504960
    Abandoned
  26. Maybell
    Surface metal/non-metal · Umetco Minerals Corp · MSHA ID 0502955
    Abandoned
  27. Maybell Enterprises Inc
    Surface metal/non-metal · Maybell Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 0504434
    Abandoned
  28. Maybell Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Steele Construction · MSHA ID 0502719
    Abandoned
  29. Moffat Limestone
    Surface metal/non-metal · Moffat Limestone Company · MSHA ID 0505113
    Abandoned
  30. Peroulis Snake River Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Precision Excavating Inc · MSHA ID 0504972
    Abandoned
  31. Preece Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schmidt-Tiago Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503200
    Abandoned
  32. Red Wing Mine-Ug
    Underground coal · Colowyo Coal Company L P · MSHA ID 0500298
    Abandoned
  33. SEC 06 CRAIG
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Transportation · MSHA ID 0504308
    Abandoned
  34. SECTION 06-1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Transportation · MSHA ID 0504301
    Abandoned
  35. Stafford Pit School Section
    Surface metal/non-metal · Union Carbide Corp · MSHA ID 0503161
    Abandoned
  36. Trappers Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schmidt-Tiago Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503426
    Abandoned
  37. Williams Fork Strip No 2
    Surface coal · Brasel & Sims Coal Company · MSHA ID 0502653
    Abandoned
  38. Wilson Loudy Loudout Facility
    Facility coal · Northern Coal Company · MSHA ID 0503597
    Abandoned
  39. Wise Hill #4 (Ug)
    Underground coal · Silengo Coal Company · MSHA ID 0500350
    Abandoned
  40. Wixson Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Frank Luvkulich Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 0503512
    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 65
Gravel Pit 36
Adit 33
Gravel Pit 27
Open Pit Mine 13
P2 Portals 8
P3 Gobs 7
P1 Underground Mine Fires 6
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 5
Quarry 5
Strip Mine 4
P1 Surface Burning 4
P1 Portals 3
P3 Equipment Facility 2
P2 Underground Mine Fires 2
P2 Surface Burning 1
P3 Mine Opening 1
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 1
P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments 1
P2 Vertical Openings 1
P1 Dangerous Highwalls 1
P1 Vertical Openings 1
P3 Pits 1
Mine 1
Clay Pit 1
Other counties in ColoradoAll 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.