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Abandoned mines › Montana
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Flathead County, Montana

Flathead County, Montana has 180 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1958–1999, including 32 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 8 prospect pits; 7 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 4 problems in the county, all of them reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 81 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Flathead 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)
180
Mine openings
32
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
0
MSHA mines marked abandoned
81
7 features carry a name8 prospect pits55 quadrangle maps, published 1958–1999 4 OSMRE problems, 4 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
    32 17.4%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    8 4.3%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    5 2.7%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    135 73.4%
  5. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    4 2.2%
Named features on the maps7 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Battle Butte Mine Adit
Felix Mine Adit
Flathead Mine Mine Shaft
Martin Mine Adit
Mary Ann Mine Adit
Micho Mine Adit
West Flathead 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 problems4 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
White Fish Sand & Gravel Pit #3 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Whitefish Sand & Gravel Pit #1 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Whitefish Sand & Gravel Pit #2 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Whitefish Sand & Gravel Pit #4 P2 Dangerous Highwalls 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 Abandoned81 on register
  1. 4070 Gravel Crushing Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schellinger Construction · MSHA ID 2402485
    Abandoned
  2. 4071 Gravel Crushing Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schellinger Construction · MSHA ID 2402487
    Abandoned
  3. American Asphalt Incorporated
    Surface metal/non-metal · American Asphalt Inc · MSHA ID 2401228
    Abandoned
  4. Bar Z
    Surface metal/non-metal · Montana Rock Works, LLP · MSHA ID 2402324
    Abandoned
  5. Bar Z
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hadley Stone Supply · MSHA ID 2402669
    Abandoned
  6. Bitterroot
    Surface metal/non-metal · Interstate Rock Products Inc. · MSHA ID 2402261
    Abandoned
  7. Bitterroot
    Surface metal/non-metal · Glacier Stone Supply LLC · MSHA ID 2402354
    Abandoned
  8. Blue Moon Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hamilton Sand & Gravel LLC · MSHA ID 2400500
    Abandoned
  9. Blue Moon Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lawrence Nesuacil · MSHA ID 2401729
    Abandoned
  10. CEC Roadrunner Screen Plant #4080
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nelcon Inc · MSHA ID 2402543
    Abandoned
  11. Creston Maintenance Site
    Surface metal/non-metal · Prime Cut Construction LLC · MSHA ID 2402814
    Abandoned
  12. CRESTON SAND & GRAVEL
    Surface metal/non-metal · Creston Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 2402132
    Abandoned
  13. Crusher #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nelcon Inc · MSHA ID 2402488
    Abandoned
  14. Crusher #3 The Bozeman
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nelcon, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402537
    Abandoned
  15. Doten Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Tanner J Smith Construction Inc · MSHA ID 2402723
    Abandoned
  16. Dunshire Fault Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · De Atley Company Inc · MSHA ID 2401623
    Abandoned
  17. Elk Ridge
    Surface metal/non-metal · K2 Stone (Montana) LLC · MSHA ID 2402232
    Abandoned
  18. Elmo Quarry 2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Anderson Masonry, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402350
    Abandoned
  19. Flathead County Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Flathead County · MSHA ID 2401229
    Abandoned
  20. FLATHEAD COUNTY SCREENING PLANT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Flathead County · MSHA ID 2402039
    Abandoned
  21. Frontier Stone LLC
    Surface metal/non-metal · Frontier Stone LLC · MSHA ID 2402447
    Abandoned
  22. Goose Bay Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · T & T Contracting Inc. · MSHA ID 2402528
    Abandoned
  23. Goose Bay Wash Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · LHC, Incorporated · MSHA ID 2402714
    Abandoned
  24. H & H
    Surface metal/non-metal · H & H Goodstone · MSHA ID 2402234
    Abandoned
  25. HARDING READY MIX
    Surface metal/non-metal · Harding Ready Mix Inc · MSHA ID 2401970
    Abandoned
  26. Herrig Creek
    Surface metal/non-metal · Stanton Stone Supply, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402376
    Abandoned
  27. Hog Heaven Mine
    Underground metal/non-metal · Coca Mines Inc · MSHA ID 2400284
    Abandoned
  28. Island Lake
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pleasant Valley Rock · MSHA ID 2402549
    Abandoned
  29. Jefferson City
    Surface metal/non-metal · R.S. Giulio Contractor · MSHA ID 2402671
    Abandoned
  30. Jellison Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schellinger Construction Co., Inc. · MSHA ID 2402325
    Abandoned
  31. Jensen Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · T5 Services · MSHA ID 2402725
    Abandoned
  32. K'n'R Sand & Gravel
    Surface metal/non-metal · K'n'R Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 2402453
    Abandoned
  33. Kavalla Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · B & M Stone · MSHA ID 2402361
    Abandoned
  34. Lake Blain Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Siderius Sand & Gravel. LLC · MSHA ID 2402804
    Abandoned
  35. Libby Creek
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rocky Mountain Rock Inc · MSHA ID 2402280
    Abandoned
  36. Loon Lake
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rocky Mountain Rock Inc · MSHA ID 2402279
    Abandoned
  37. M.E. Inc.
    Surface metal/non-metal · Murphy's Excavating Inc. · MSHA ID 2402464
    Abandoned
  38. Mc Elroy & Wilken Incorporated Pit No 2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mc Elroy & Wilken Inc · MSHA ID 2401387
    Abandoned
  39. Mc Elroy & Wilken, Inc.
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mc Elroy & Wilken, Inc. · MSHA ID 2400477
    Abandoned
  40. McGregor Peak Boulder Patch
    Surface metal/non-metal · Stanton Stone Supply Inc · MSHA ID 2402377
    Abandoned
  41. Murr Creek
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rocky Mountain Rock Inc · MSHA ID 2402335
    Abandoned
  42. Murr Peaks
    Surface metal/non-metal · Andersen Rock Sales Inc. · MSHA ID 2402253
    Abandoned
  43. Natures Beauty Rock & Wood
    Surface metal/non-metal · Natures Beauty Rock, Wood, Fine Finishes · MSHA ID 2402682
    Abandoned
  44. Owl Creek Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Les Schlegel Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 2402005
    Abandoned
  45. Pit #2 Wash Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mc Elroy & Wilken, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402111
    Abandoned
  46. Portable
    Surface metal/non-metal · Craig Smith Enterprises · MSHA ID 2402231
    Abandoned
  47. Portable Base Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Knife River Mountain Region · MSHA ID 2401360
    Abandoned
  48. Portable Colberg Screen
    Surface metal/non-metal · Goose Bay Equipment Inc · MSHA ID 2402267
    Abandoned
  49. Portable Crusher #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Preferred Paving Inc · MSHA ID 2402077
    Abandoned
  50. Portable Crushing Plant #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · L S Jensen Construction & Paving · MSHA ID 2402254
    Abandoned
  51. Portable Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Carie Trucking Inc · MSHA ID 2402401
    Abandoned
  52. Powerscreen Chieftan 2100 Scrn Plt #4031
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nelcon, Inc · MSHA ID 2402567
    Abandoned
  53. Randy Gembala Excavating Company
    Surface metal/non-metal · Randy Gembala Excavating Company · MSHA ID 2402499
    Abandoned
  54. Red Rock Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Big Horn Calcium Company · MSHA ID 2400663
    Abandoned
  55. River Pit Wash Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Knife River · MSHA ID 2402110
    Abandoned
  56. Robin Rock Works
    Surface metal/non-metal · Robin Rock Works · MSHA ID 2402276
    Abandoned
  57. Sandon Gravel Pit #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sandon Construction Co. Inc. · MSHA ID 2402352
    Abandoned
  58. Sickler Shale & Gravel Portable Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sickler Shale & Gravel, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402372
    Abandoned
  59. Skyline D and E #2 Portable Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Skyline Dredging & Excavating · MSHA ID 2402618
    Abandoned
  60. Skyline Dredging & Exc.-Portable Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Skyline Dredging & Excavating · MSHA ID 2402345
    Abandoned
  61. Smasher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lonnie Knutson · MSHA ID 2402419
    Abandoned
  62. SPOKLIE'S
    Surface metal/non-metal · Spoklie'S South Valley Gravel · MSHA ID 2402186
    Abandoned
  63. Spoklie's #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Spoklie's South Valley Gravel · MSHA ID 2402559
    Abandoned
  64. Telesmith Wash Plant Portable
    Surface metal/non-metal · Knife River Western Mountain Region · MSHA ID 2402500
    Abandoned
  65. Telsmith Jaw Plant #4010
    Surface metal/non-metal · Nelcon, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402538
    Abandoned
  66. Thompson Lake Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Anderson Masonry Inc · MSHA ID 2402546
    Abandoned
  67. Trumble Creek Road Site
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schwarz Construction, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402475
    Abandoned
  68. Tutvedt Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mc Elroy & Wilken, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402176
    Abandoned
  69. TWIN CREEK QUARRY
    Surface metal/non-metal · Custom Rock · MSHA ID 2402208
    Abandoned
  70. Twin Creeks
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schellinger Sand & Gravel, Inc. · MSHA ID 2402297
    Abandoned
  71. Twin Creeks
    Surface metal/non-metal · Twin Creek Quarries LLC · MSHA ID 2402468
    Abandoned
  72. Wash Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · LHC Incorporated · MSHA ID 2401964
    Abandoned
  73. WASH PLANT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pack & Company/Nupac · MSHA ID 2401355
    Abandoned
  74. WEAVER GRAVEL INC
    Surface metal/non-metal · Weaver Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 2401543
    Abandoned
  75. West Bear Rock Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hadley Stone Supply LLC · MSHA ID 2402556
    Abandoned
  76. West Shore Works LLC
    Surface metal/non-metal · West Shore Works LLC · MSHA ID 2402197
    Abandoned
  77. West Shore Works LLC
    Surface metal/non-metal · West Shore Works LLC · MSHA ID 2402328
    Abandoned
  78. Whale Creek Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cutting Edge Excavation LLC · MSHA ID 2402808
    Abandoned
  79. Wolf Creek 26 Mile
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pleasant Valley Rock · MSHA ID 2402548
    Abandoned
  80. Woodring Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Woodring Company · MSHA ID 2401873
    Abandoned
  81. Woods Bay Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Curtis & Curtis Construction · MSHA ID 2401973
    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 84
Gravel Pit 39
Adit 25
Prospect Pit 8
Mine Shaft 7
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 6
Disturbed Surface 5
Quarry 5
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 4
Borrow Pit 1
Other counties in MontanaAll 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.