How many abandoned mines are in Owsley County, Kentucky?

Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Owsley County, Kentucky

Owsley County, Kentucky has 46 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1952–1979, including 14 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts). OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 15 problems in the county, 8 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 124 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Owsley 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): 46
Mine openings: 14
OSMRE problems unreclaimed: 8
MSHA mines marked abandoned: 124

0 features carry a name0 prospect pits7 quadrangle maps, published 1952–1979 15 OSMRE problems, 7 reclaimed 0 MSHA mines abandoned and sealed

What the features are

Mine openings

shafts, adits, air shafts, portals and vertical openings: the ways into underground workings

15 24.6%
Mines and surface workings

labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings

31 50.8%
Quarries, gravel and borrow pits

construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction

1 1.6%
Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob

what mining left above ground

1 1.6%
Other reclamation problems

highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory

13 21.3%

OSMRE abandoned mine land problems15 on inventory

Problem area	Problem	Program	Status
Bee Branch Strip	P2 Clogged Stream Lands	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Pending
Bee Branch Strip	P2 Dangerous Impoundments	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Pending
Bee Branch Strip	P2 Dangerous Slides	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Pending
Bowling Landslides	P1 Dangerous Slides	Coal Interim Site Funding	Reclamation Pending
Bowling Landslides	P1 Portals	Coal Interim Site Funding	Reclamation Pending
Bowling Landslides	P2 Dangerous Slides	Coal Interim Site Funding	Reclamation Pending
City Of Boonville Water Supply	P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	In Reclamation
Owsley Co. Water Supply #1	P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Completed
Owsley Co. Water Supply #10	P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Completed
Owsley Co. Water Supply #11	P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Completed
Owsley Co. Water Supply #3	P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Completed
Owsley Co. Water Supply #6	P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Completed
Owsley Co. Water Supply #8	P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Pre-SMCRA Coal State/Tribe Program (P1, P2, P3)	Reclamation Completed
Pre 87	P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments	Rural Abandoned Mine Program	Reclamation Completed
Sag Hollow Development 2021 AMLER P	P3 Other	AMLER	In Reclamation

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 Abandoned124 on register

#1
Surface coal · Emlyn Coal Processing LLC · MSHA ID 1519130

Abandoned 2016-07-18
#1 Strip
Surface coal · South Fork Leasing Inc · MSHA ID 1512808

Abandoned 1982-01-05
#1 Surface
Surface coal · Ace Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1512137

Abandoned 1991-02-08
#1 Surface
Surface coal · Freeman Fork Mining Company Inc · MSHA ID 1513796

Abandoned 1983-05-25
#1 Surface
Surface coal · W M N Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1513802

Abandoned 1984-02-27
#1 Surface
Surface coal · Buffalo Creek Reclamation Inc · MSHA ID 1515725

Abandoned 1987-11-25
#1 Wash Plant
Facility coal · Sturgeon Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1517245

Abandoned 1996-03-27
#2
Surface coal · T B & J Construction · MSHA ID 1512441

Abandoned 1981-08-06
#2
Surface coal · D & D Trucking Company · MSHA ID 1513811

Abandoned 1984-11-29
201
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512572

Abandoned 1981-09-17
202
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512573

Abandoned 1981-09-17
203
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512574

Abandoned 1981-09-17
301
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512575

Abandoned 1981-09-17
302
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512576

Abandoned 1981-09-17
401
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512577

Abandoned 1981-09-17
402
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512578

Abandoned 1981-09-17
403
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512579

Abandoned 1981-09-17
404
Underground coal · Gabriel Energy Corp · MSHA ID 1512580

Abandoned 1981-09-17
Auger #1
Surface coal · Southern Auger Inc · MSHA ID 1517968

Abandoned 1998-01-05
Beechfork Surface
Surface coal · Kenerco Corp · MSHA ID 1512289

Abandoned 1986-01-31
Beechfork Surface #2
Surface coal · W R K Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1513016

Abandoned 1982-07-23
Betty Bowman
Surface coal · Amerienergy LLC · MSHA ID 1518879

Abandoned 2008-05-01
Betty Bowman No2
Surface coal · J C W Mining Company Inc · MSHA ID 1515182

Abandoned 1986-09-09
Big Springs Rd Job
Surface coal · C & A Construction Inc · MSHA ID 1517754

Abandoned 1996-08-26
Bingham Job #13
Surface coal · B & W Resources, Inc. · MSHA ID 1519617

Abandoned 2015-05-14
Booneville #1
Surface coal · Erline Resources LLC · MSHA ID 1519530

Abandoned 2018-04-03
Caney Branch Mine
Surface coal · Ed Barrett · MSHA ID 1518106

Abandoned 2009-08-21
Clay County #1 1 Saddler Branch
Surface coal · Kenerco Corp · MSHA ID 1514578

Abandoned 1984-08-06
Clays Gap
Surface coal · Whymore Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1517131

Abandoned 1993-12-20
Courtland
Surface coal · T&T Coal Company Inc. · MSHA ID 1519800

Abandoned 2024-01-19
Emlyn Processing
Surface coal · C & T Excavators, LLC · MSHA ID 1519513

Abandoned 2010-09-14
First Coal #2
Surface coal · First Coal, LLC. · MSHA ID 1518891

Abandoned 2014-09-19
Hard Dollar #2
Surface coal · Apex Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1514360

Abandoned 1984-08-06
Hard Dollar #2
Surface coal · R B S Inc · MSHA ID 1514586

Abandoned 1985-06-24
Hard Times Mine #1 Surface
Surface coal · Hard Times Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1511772

Abandoned 1982-06-24
Helco No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Helco Minerals Corp · MSHA ID 1508447

Abandoned 1979-10-01
Island City
Surface coal · Stafland Energy LLC · MSHA ID 1519337

Abandoned 2011-12-20
Island City Job
Surface coal · J R Mining, Inc. · MSHA ID 1518527

Abandoned 2007-11-08
Levi Strip
Surface coal · Cape Coal Corp · MSHA ID 1511062

Abandoned 1979-10-01
Lewis Coal Co #8
Surface coal · Lewis Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1507989

Abandoned 1980-12-02
Meadow Creek Mine
Surface coal · Fordy Coal Corp · MSHA ID 1512026

Abandoned 1980-07-18
Mine #1
Surface coal · H W Peters Company · MSHA ID 1514650

Abandoned 1984-07-16
Mine #41
Surface coal · Cortland Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1513795

Abandoned 1983-03-08
Mine No 1
Surface coal · Botner Enterprises LLC · MSHA ID 1518682

Abandoned 2005-03-02
Mountain Clay No 7
Surface coal · Mountain Clay Inc · MSHA ID 1510281

Abandoned 1983-08-31
No 1
Surface coal · Pete Coal Company · MSHA ID 1512501

Abandoned 1981-03-11
No 1
Facility coal · C & C Mineral Inc · MSHA ID 1512519

Abandoned 1981-06-24
No 1
Surface coal · Morgan Smith & Morgan Coal Company · MSHA ID 1514219

Abandoned 1984-04-09
No 1
Surface coal · B & S Coal · MSHA ID 1514771

Abandoned 1984-11-29
No 1
Surface coal · T & R Construction · MSHA ID 1514906

Abandoned 1985-01-10
No 1
Surface coal · Buck Creek Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1515214

Abandoned 1985-10-04
No 1
Surface coal · Big River Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1515388

Abandoned 1986-03-24
No 1
Surface coal · Allen Clay Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1515391

Abandoned 1989-12-14
No 1
Surface coal · Taylor Brothers Construction Inc · MSHA ID 1515439

Abandoned 1986-05-09
No 1
Surface coal · Spruce Fork Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1515467

Abandoned 1992-01-29
No 1
Surface coal · Pedco Inc · MSHA ID 1515800

Abandoned 1987-02-27
No 1
Surface coal · Bob Terry · MSHA ID 1515801

Abandoned 1986-12-11
No 1
Surface coal · Kevin Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1516178

Abandoned 1989-07-25
No 1
Surface coal · Carson Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1516894

Abandoned 1990-10-03
No 1
Surface coal · Newberry Mining · MSHA ID 1516954

Abandoned 1995-01-10
No 1
Surface coal · Rio Mining · MSHA ID 1519458

Abandoned 2011-12-20
No 1 Owsley
Surface coal · Ruby Coal Company · MSHA ID 1515563

Abandoned 1991-06-03
No 1 Processing
Facility coal · Hallmark Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1514138

Abandoned 1983-11-09
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Phil Young Mining Company · MSHA ID 1504353

Abandoned 1977-07-11
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Grubb & Sons Coal Company · MSHA ID 1510908

Abandoned 1977-11-01
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · North Fork Leasing Inc · MSHA ID 1512823

Abandoned 1982-10-27
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Four Mile Coal · MSHA ID 1512976

Abandoned 1982-02-04
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Double R Mining · MSHA ID 1513034

Abandoned 1982-07-23
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Justice & Gabbard Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1513203

Abandoned 1982-05-20
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Americoal Corp · MSHA ID 1513379

Abandoned 1982-05-04
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Boo-M Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1513427

Abandoned 1982-06-24
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · C & F Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1513470

Abandoned 1982-07-22
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Oliver & Oliver Mining Company · MSHA ID 1513545

Abandoned 1989-11-15
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Spencer Fork Mining · MSHA ID 1513546

Abandoned 1982-11-08
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Brave Star Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1513597

Abandoned 1983-09-20
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · R & N Coal Company · MSHA ID 1514029

Abandoned 1983-09-12
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · Sturgill Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 1514054

Abandoned 1983-07-06
No 1 Strip
Surface coal · H & W Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1514593

Abandoned 1986-11-10
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Consumers Elkhorn Coal Corp · MSHA ID 1506905

Abandoned 1976-10-18
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Lee County Consolidated Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1507130

Abandoned 1977-04-11
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · B & F Mining Company · MSHA ID 1508370

Abandoned 1977-06-23
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Creekview Coal Corp · MSHA ID 1509365

Abandoned 1978-02-28
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · D & E Coal Company · MSHA ID 1509385

Abandoned 1977-08-22
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · General Contracting Inc · MSHA ID 1510008

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Sturgeon Creek Coal Corp · MSHA ID 1510229

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · M G A Of Kentucky Inc · MSHA ID 1510275

Abandoned 1979-10-17
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Jellico Coal Corp · MSHA ID 1510577

Abandoned 1981-08-01
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Wilson Coal Company · MSHA ID 1511288

Abandoned 1978-05-01
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Roy Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1511443

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Hop Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1511568

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · J P W Company Inc · MSHA ID 1511674

Abandoned 1983-10-21
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Mid-Eastern Energy Inc · MSHA ID 1511729

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Red Dog Coal Company · MSHA ID 1511736

Abandoned 1980-01-24
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Mistletoe Energy Corp Inc · MSHA ID 1512980

Abandoned 1983-05-25
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · C & F Coal Company · MSHA ID 1513440

Abandoned 1984-06-18
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Christlin Enterprise Inc · MSHA ID 1514116

Abandoned 1984-12-27
No 1 Surface
Surface coal · Erico Processing Inc · MSHA ID 1516514

Abandoned 1989-10-10
No 1 Surface Mine
Surface coal · O O Coal Company · MSHA ID 1512223

Abandoned 1982-03-03
No 10 Surface
Surface coal · Hardly Able Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1511558

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 11 Surface
Surface coal · U S Mng & Exploration & Natural Resources Co Inc · MSHA ID 1508330

Abandoned 1981-03-09
No 11 Surface
Surface coal · River Mining Company Inc · MSHA ID 1511266

Abandoned 1980-11-07
No 2
Surface coal · Dumas Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1516076

Abandoned 1987-08-12
No 2 Owsley County
Surface coal · Kentucky Gem Coal Company-A Joint Venture · MSHA ID 1512711

Abandoned 1981-11-06
No 2 Strip
Surface coal · Trans American Mining & Development Corp · MSHA ID 1511711

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 2 Strip
Surface coal · Sky High Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1512829

Abandoned 1983-10-14
No 3 Surface
Surface coal · R B S Inc · MSHA ID 1510947

Abandoned 1984-07-19
No 3 Surface
Surface coal · Robinson Coal Company · MSHA ID 1511730

Abandoned 1979-10-01
No 3 Surface
Surface coal · D & S Contractors Inc · MSHA ID 1515356

Abandoned 1986-10-24
No 4 Auger Mine
Surface coal · United Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1505370

Abandoned 1974-04-29
No 6
Surface coal · Apex Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1515531

Abandoned 1988-02-17
No 6 Mine
Underground coal · Gibson Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 1511437

Abandoned 1980-06-11
No1
Surface coal · H B & S Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1515568

Abandoned 2001-09-21
No1
Surface coal · Crossroads Mining Inc · MSHA ID 1515597

Abandoned 1988-09-29
No1
Surface coal · Jamieson Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 1515625

Abandoned 1987-04-13
Owsley #1
Surface coal · Hammond Coal Company · MSHA ID 1513080

Abandoned 1983-12-01
Owsley Co #1
Surface coal · Goldens Creek Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 1517790

Abandoned 1998-07-22
OWSLEY COUNTY # 2
Surface coal · SAND HILL PROCESSING, CO · MSHA ID 1518800

Abandoned 2008-05-01
Owsley County #1
Surface coal · G & G Coal & Energy Company · MSHA ID 1513695

Abandoned 1984-03-29
Pebworth Mine
Surface coal · W M N Coal Inc · MSHA ID 1516736

Abandoned 1992-04-22
Sturgeon
Surface coal · Smith Mechanical LLC · MSHA ID 1519149

Abandoned 2009-04-02
Sturgeon #3
Surface coal · Sturgeon Mining Co., Inc. · MSHA ID 1516041

Abandoned 2007-07-30
Sturgeon #4
Surface coal · Sturgeon Mining Co., Inc. · MSHA ID 1519179

Abandoned 2012-02-16
Surface No 1
Surface coal · Hi Flame Coals Inc · MSHA ID 1506293

Abandoned 1980-07-18
Surface No 1
Surface coal · B W & K Coal Company · MSHA ID 1512655

Abandoned 1981-05-29

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	Class	Source	Features
Strip Mine	Mines and surface workings	USGS topo symbol (area)	29
Adit	Mine openings	USGS topo symbol (point)	14
P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption	Other reclamation problems	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	7
P2 Dangerous Slides	Other reclamation problems	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	2
Disturbed Surface	Mines and surface workings	USGS topo symbol (area)	1
P2 Dangerous Impoundments	Other reclamation problems	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	1
P2 Clogged Stream Lands	Other reclamation problems	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	1
P1 Portals	Mine openings	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	1
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated	Quarries, gravel and borrow pits	USGS topo symbol (point)	1
P3 Other	Other reclamation problems	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	1
Strip Mine	Mines and surface workings	USGS topo symbol (point)	1
P1 Dangerous Slides	Other reclamation problems	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	1
P1 Dangerous Piles & Embankments	Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob	OSMRE e-AMLIS problem	1

Other counties in KentuckyAll 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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.