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Abandoned mines › New Mexico
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Lincoln County, New Mexico

Lincoln County, New Mexico has 803 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1934–2004, including 212 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 421 prospect pits; 14 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 31 problems in the county, 14 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 41 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Lincoln 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)
803
Mine openings
212
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
14
MSHA mines marked abandoned
41
14 features carry a name421 prospect pits60 quadrangle maps, published 1934–2004 31 OSMRE problems, 17 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
    225 27.0%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    421 50.5%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    48 5.8%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    122 14.6%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    8 1.0%
  6. Mills, tipples and facilities
    processing plants and hazardous structures
    1 0.1%
  7. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    9 1.1%
Named features on the maps14 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
American Mine Mine Shaft
Conqueror Mine Mine Shaft
Corona Queen Mine Open Pit Mine
Great Western Mine Adit
Helen Rae Mine Mine Shaft
Jicarilla Mine Mine Shaft
Junction Mine Mine Shaft
Old Abe Mine Adit
Old Price Mine Adit
Oscura Coal Mine Coal Mine
Oscura Mine Adit
Parsons Mine Adit
Silver Spoon Mine Mine Shaft
Torgac 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 problems31 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Bogg Canyon P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Bonito Lake P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Bonito Lake P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Capitan New Mexico P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Capitan New Mexico P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Capitan New Mexico P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Coalora P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption Reclamation Completed
Coalora P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Coalora P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Coalora P3 Bench Reclamation Pending
Coalora P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Coalora P3 Haul Road Reclamation Pending
Coalora P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Pending
Old Abe P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Pending
Old Abe P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Old Abe P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Old Abe P3 Bench Reclamation Pending
Old Abe P3 Equipment Facility Reclamation Pending
Old Abe P3 Gobs In Reclamation
Old Abe P3 Haul Road Reclamation Pending
Old Abe P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Pending
Oscura P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Oscura P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Rough Mountain P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Rough Mountain P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Rough Mountain P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Three Rivers P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Three Rivers P3 Gobs In Reclamation
Willow P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Pending
Willow P3 Bench Reclamation Completed
Willow P3 Gobs 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 Abandoned41 on register
  1. American Mineral Recovery Mill
    Facility metal/non-metal · American Mineral Recovery Inc · MSHA ID 2901792
    Abandoned
  2. Angus Job
    Surface metal/non-metal · Kent Nowlin Construction Inc · MSHA ID 2901803
    Abandoned
  3. Beavers Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Beavers Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 2901959
    Abandoned
  4. Beavers Sand And Gravel Incorporated
    Surface metal/non-metal · Beavers Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 2901104
    Abandoned
  5. Bonito Project
    Underground metal/non-metal · Pioneer Metals Corp · MSHA ID 2902027
    Abandoned
  6. Bonnell Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Bonnell Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 2901352
    Abandoned
  7. Bonnell Pit No 2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Bill Mccarty Construction Company · MSHA ID 2901682
    Abandoned
  8. Bp-2
    Surface metal/non-metal · J W Jones Construction Company · MSHA ID 2901942
    Abandoned
  9. Carrizozo Job
    Surface metal/non-metal · T Brown Constructors Inc · MSHA ID 2901850
    Abandoned
  10. Carrizozo Mill
    Facility metal/non-metal · Cimarron Mining Corp Inc · MSHA ID 2901718
    Abandoned
  11. Coe Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Quad Company · MSHA ID 2901972
    Abandoned
  12. Crewshaw Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Draw Resources · MSHA ID 2902162
    Abandoned
  13. Crusher #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Restoration Group, Inc. · MSHA ID 2902525
    Abandoned
  14. El Capitan Precious Metals Inc
    Surface metal/non-metal · El Capitan Precious Metals Inc · MSHA ID 2902448
    Abandoned
  15. Ft Stanton Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lincoln County Road Department · MSHA ID 2901783
    Abandoned
  16. Harkey Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Bonnell Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 2902025
    Abandoned
  17. Harris Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Quad Company · MSHA ID 2901909
    Abandoned
  18. Helen Rae
    Surface metal/non-metal · Helen Rae Company · MSHA ID 2901883
    Abandoned
  19. Helen Rae Group
    Underground metal/non-metal · Helen Rae Mines Inc · MSHA ID 2902029
    Abandoned
  20. JGM Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · JGM Construction LLC · MSHA ID 2902535
    Abandoned
  21. Jicarilla Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sierra Blanca Milling & Processing Corp · MSHA ID 2901795
    Abandoned
  22. LA RUE IRON PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Seven Western Mining Company Inc · MSHA ID 2902168
    Abandoned
  23. Lincoln Of Nevada Pits Mill
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lincoln Mine Of Nevada · MSHA ID 2901724
    Abandoned
  24. Mt View #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · W O G Mining Company · MSHA ID 2901835
    Abandoned
  25. NOSKAR PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Drew Engineering · MSHA ID 2902155
    Abandoned
  26. Nosker Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wylie Corp · MSHA ID 2901934
    Abandoned
  27. Proctor Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wylie Corp · MSHA ID 2901945
    Abandoned
  28. Sierra Blanca Mill
    Facility metal/non-metal · Sierra Blanca Milling & Processing Corp · MSHA ID 2901796
    Abandoned
  29. Silver Contact #8
    Underground metal/non-metal · Monjeau Mining & Minerals Inc · MSHA ID 2901840
    Abandoned
  30. Smokey Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · H N La Rue & Sons · MSHA ID 2901458
    Abandoned
  31. Stansel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Jakes Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 2901612
    Abandoned
  32. State Lease
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lincoln Mining & Milling · MSHA ID 2901717
    Abandoned
  33. Toms Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Toms Gravel · MSHA ID 2902018
    Abandoned
  34. Vera Cruz
    Surface metal/non-metal · J Rock Construction · MSHA ID 2902330
    Abandoned
  35. Vindicator
    Underground metal/non-metal · American Lode Corp · MSHA ID 2902046
    Abandoned
  36. W. O. Project
    Surface metal/non-metal · White Oaks Resources, LLC · MSHA ID 2902207
    Abandoned
  37. Warner Gulch Mill
    Surface metal/non-metal · American Eagle Mining Company · MSHA ID 2902074
    Abandoned
  38. Warner Gulch Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Warner Gulch Mining Company · MSHA ID 2901812
    Abandoned
  39. White Oaks
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lincoln Gold & Tungsten Inc · MSHA ID 2901836
    Abandoned
  40. WWC #1726
    Surface metal/non-metal · W W C Inc · MSHA ID 2902098
    Abandoned
  41. WWC #2521
    Surface metal/non-metal · W W C Inc · MSHA ID 2900494
    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 421
Adit 165
Gravel Pit 61
Mine Shaft 47
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 41
Open Pit Mine 32
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 11
Gravel Pit 10
P3 Gobs 6
Quarry 5
Quarry 5
P2 Portals 4
P2 Vertical Openings 4
Open Pit Mine 4
P3 Bench 3
P1 Portals 3
P3 Spoil Area 2
P1 Vertical Openings 2
P3 Haul Road 2
P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities 1
P3 Equipment Facility 1
Coal Mine 1
P2 Subsidence 1
P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption 1
P1 Subsidence 1
Other counties in New MexicoAll 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.