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Abandoned mines › Iowa
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Polk County, Iowa

Polk County, Iowa has 79 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1911–1976. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 10 problems in the county, 4 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 51 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Polk 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)
79
Mine openings
0
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
4
MSHA mines marked abandoned
51
0 features carry a name0 prospect pits18 quadrangle maps, published 1911–1976 10 OSMRE problems, 6 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
    3 3.4%
  2. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    29 32.6%
  3. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    47 52.8%
  4. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    3 3.4%
  5. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    7 7.9%
OSMRE abandoned mine land problems10 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Colonial Emergency P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
East Capitol P2 Subsidence Reclamation Pending
Erickson P2 Subsidence Reclamation Pending
Ia - Polk - Fea P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Ia - Polk - Fea P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Ireland P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Rider P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Pending
Schall Subsidence P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
South Des Moines Emergency P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Thirty-fourth Street P2 Subsidence Reclamation Pending

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 Abandoned51 on register
  1. ARMY POST ROAD
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates · MSHA ID 1302022
    Abandoned
  2. Atlantic Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1301771
    Abandoned
  3. Avon Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Peters Construction Company · MSHA ID 1301868
    Abandoned
  4. Can-Tex Industries-Grimes Plant-West Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Harris & Sons Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 1300338
    Abandoned
  5. Carlisle Sand And Gravel Incorporated Pi
    Surface metal/non-metal · Carlisle Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 1301691
    Abandoned
  6. COMMERCE PIT AND PLANT
    Surface metal/non-metal · West Des Moines Sand Co. · MSHA ID 1300780
    Abandoned
  7. DES MOINES NORTH SAND
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates · MSHA ID 1302180
    Abandoned
  8. Des Moines North Sand Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates · MSHA ID 1300740
    Abandoned
  9. Des Moines Plant
    Facility metal/non-metal · Monarch Cement Company · MSHA ID 1301722
    Abandoned
  10. Fostoria Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials Inc · MSHA ID 1302149
    Abandoned
  11. Goodwin Clay Pit And Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Goodwin Tile & Brick Company · MSHA ID 1300340
    Abandoned
  12. Grimes Plant
    Facility metal/non-metal · Can-Tex Industries · MSHA ID 1301352
    Abandoned
  13. Harlan Portable
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1301692
    Abandoned
  14. KESWICK SHOP
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates Of Southern Iowa Inc · MSHA ID 1302049
    Abandoned
  15. Old Johnston Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302366
    Abandoned
  16. OMG Midwest Shop
    Facility metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302342
    Abandoned
  17. PCP #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials Inc · MSHA ID 1302240
    Abandoned
  18. PCP #5
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1301050
    Abandoned
  19. Phoenix Recycling Portable Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Phoenix C & D Recycling Inc · MSHA ID 1302375
    Abandoned
  20. Plant #4
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates · MSHA ID 1302124
    Abandoned
  21. PLANT #845 WASH PLANT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates · MSHA ID 1302032
    Abandoned
  22. PLANT 852
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Materials Inc · MSHA ID 1302121
    Abandoned
  23. Pleasant Hill
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302306
    Abandoned
  24. Port. Plant #7 & #2 Stripping Crew
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302177
    Abandoned
  25. Portable #3
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1300999
    Abandoned
  26. PORTABLE PLANT #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates Of Southern Iowa Inc · MSHA ID 1302048
    Abandoned
  27. Portable Plant #6
    Surface metal/non-metal · Kaser Corp · MSHA ID 1302052
    Abandoned
  28. Portable Screen #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302293
    Abandoned
  29. Portable Screen Plant #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302294
    Abandoned
  30. Portable Stripping
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302397
    Abandoned
  31. Portable Stripping # 2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302323
    Abandoned
  32. Portable Wash Plant #7
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials Inc · MSHA ID 1302329
    Abandoned
  33. PSP #3
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302311
    Abandoned
  34. PSP #4
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302313
    Abandoned
  35. PSP #5
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302321
    Abandoned
  36. PSP #6
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302322
    Abandoned
  37. PSP #8
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302324
    Abandoned
  38. PSP #8
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302331
    Abandoned
  39. PWP #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1301053
    Abandoned
  40. PWP #3
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1300645
    Abandoned
  41. PWP #4
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302176
    Abandoned
  42. PWP #8
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302336
    Abandoned
  43. RIP RAP #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates Of Southern Iowa Inc · MSHA ID 1302247
    Abandoned
  44. Saylorcreek Sand Company LLC
    Surface metal/non-metal · Saylorcreek Sand Company LLC · MSHA ID 1302442
    Abandoned
  45. STRIPPING #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates · MSHA ID 1302236
    Abandoned
  46. Stripping #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302189
    Abandoned
  47. STRIPPING #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Aggregates · MSHA ID 1302237
    Abandoned
  48. Stripping Crew #3
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials Inc · MSHA ID 1302328
    Abandoned
  49. Van Meter Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1302327
    Abandoned
  50. Vandalia Rd Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hallett Materials · MSHA ID 1300921
    Abandoned
  51. West Des Moines Plant #8
    Facility metal/non-metal · Penn-Dixie Industries Inc · MSHA ID 1301657
    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
Gravel Pit 28
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 14
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 12
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 8
P1 Subsidence 4
Gravel Pit 4
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 4
P1 Vertical Openings 3
P2 Subsidence 3
Borrow Pit 3
Mine Dump 3
Strip Mine 1
Open Pit Mine 1
Disturbed Surface - Pit 1
Other counties in IowaAll 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.