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Abandoned mines › Pennsylvania
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Venango County, Pennsylvania

Venango County, Pennsylvania has 281 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1922–1982. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 61 problems in the county, 36 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 45 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Venango 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)
281
Mine openings
0
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
36
MSHA mines marked abandoned
45
0 features carry a name0 prospect pits18 quadrangle maps, published 1922–1982 61 OSMRE problems, 25 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
    4 1.2%
  2. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    218 63.7%
  3. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    59 17.3%
  4. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    21 6.1%
  5. Mills, tipples and facilities
    processing plants and hazardous structures
    5 1.5%
  6. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    35 10.2%
OSMRE abandoned mine land problems61 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Anderson Stone House P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Big Bend Church P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Big Bend Church P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption Reclamation Pending
Big Bend Church P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption Reclamation Pending
Big Bend Church P2 Subsidence Reclamation Pending
Big Bend Church P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Pending
Coal Hill P2 Industrial/Residential Waste Reclamation Pending
Dennison Run P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Dennison Run P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
East Branch Wolf Creek P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Emlenton West P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Emlenton West P2 Hazardous Water Bodies In Reclamation
Emlenton West P3 Spoil Area In Reclamation
Franklin P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Gilmore Run P2 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Pending
Gilmore Run P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Harveys Run North P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Harveys Run North P1 Hazardous Water Bodies Reclamation Completed
Harveys Run North P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Harveys Run North P3 High Wall In Reclamation
Harveys Run North P3 Other In Reclamation
Harveys Run North P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Hill City North P2 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Hill City North P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Pending
Hill City North P3 Spoil Area In Reclamation
Irwin Oil Field P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Nectarine West P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Peter's Chapel P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Peter's Chapel P2 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Sawtown P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Smith Corners South P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Smith Corners South P2 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Pending
Smith Corners South P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Smith Corners South P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Smith Corners Se Ii P2 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Smith Corners Se Ii P3 Spoil Area In Reclamation
Smiths Corners P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Smiths Corners P2 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Smiths Corners P3 Mine Opening In Reclamation
Smiths Corners P3 Spoil Area In Reclamation
Tippery P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Tippery P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Wallace Corners W P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Wallace Corners W P3 Other Reclamation Completed
Weaver Contracting, Inc. P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Weaver Contracting, Inc. P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Wesley South P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Wesley South P2 Hazardous Water Bodies In Reclamation
Woods Corner Southeast P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Woods Corner Southeast P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments In Reclamation
Woods Corner Southeast P3 Slurry In Reclamation
Woods Corners P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P3 Slurry Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Woods Corners P3 Water Problems 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 Abandoned45 on register
  1. 2036
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wood Gravel Company · MSHA ID 3608012
    Abandoned
  2. Allied Fuel Strip
    Surface coal · Allied Fuel & Materials Inc · MSHA ID 3603538
    Abandoned
  3. BURKHARDT OPERATION
    Surface metal/non-metal · I A Construction Corp · MSHA ID 3605672
    Abandoned
  4. Carl E Huff Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Carl E Huff · MSHA ID 3607560
    Abandoned
  5. CHAPMANVILLE
    Surface metal/non-metal · I A Construction Corp · MSHA ID 3608585
    Abandoned
  6. CHAPMANVILLE PORTABLE
    Facility metal/non-metal · I A Construction Corp · MSHA ID 3607748
    Abandoned
  7. Chutz
    Surface coal · Chutz Contracting Limited · MSHA ID 3606204
    Abandoned
  8. Clarion Realty Strip
    Surface coal · Clarion Realty Company · MSHA ID 3605271
    Abandoned
  9. Eagle 1400-45 S/N 22337
    Surface metal/non-metal · Glenn O Hawbakers inc · MSHA ID 3304706
    Abandoned
  10. Elbe Strip
    Surface coal · Elbe Construction Company · MSHA ID 3606094
    Abandoned
  11. Equitable Coal Company
    Surface coal · Equitable Coal Company · MSHA ID 3605418
    Abandoned
  12. FRANKLIN GRVL. CO.
    Surface metal/non-metal · Franklin Gravel Company · MSHA ID 3607190
    Abandoned
  13. Fw & Rr Strip
    Surface coal · Fw & Rr Inc · MSHA ID 3606101
    Abandoned
  14. Gierlach Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gierlach Crushing & Contracting · MSHA ID 3609782
    Abandoned
  15. Goetz Tipple
    Facility coal · William O Goetz Coal Co · MSHA ID 3604133
    Abandoned
  16. Guiste #1 Mine
    Surface coal · William A Guiste Excavating · MSHA ID 3608144
    Abandoned
  17. H & D Strip
    Surface coal · H & D Coal Company · MSHA ID 3603348
    Abandoned
  18. Hawk Run Mine
    Surface coal · Rusnak Coal Company · MSHA ID 3606871
    Abandoned
  19. Imel Pit & Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Richland Stone Inc · MSHA ID 3606887
    Abandoned
  20. IMOD Field Project
    Underground metal/non-metal · RockWell Petroleum (U.S.), Inc · MSHA ID 3609646
    Abandoned
  21. Jack Bros Construction Co
    Surface coal · Jack Brothers Construction Company · MSHA ID 3603335
    Abandoned
  22. Joy Global BB0
    Surface coal · Ohio HD Video · MSHA ID 3610170
    Abandoned
  23. Klapec
    Surface metal/non-metal · Bert Klapec Inc · MSHA ID 3609709
    Abandoned
  24. Lepley Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Franklin Gravel Company · MSHA ID 3606769
    Abandoned
  25. LOUISE MINE
    Surface metal/non-metal · Marlowe Excavating · MSHA ID 3608009
    Abandoned
  26. Mc Gowan-Stauffer Strip
    Surface coal · Mc Gowan-Stauffer Inc · MSHA ID 3606686
    Abandoned
  27. Merle H Phillips Strip
    Surface coal · Merle H Phillips · MSHA ID 3604006
    Abandoned
  28. Mineral Hill Strips
    Surface coal · Mineral Hill Corp · MSHA ID 3604172
    Abandoned
  29. Nectarine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Bedrock Mines, LP · MSHA ID 3608774
    Abandoned
  30. Oil City Coal Inc Strip
    Surface coal · Oil City Coal Inc · MSHA ID 3603358
    Abandoned
  31. Pengrove Strip
    Surface coal · Pengrove Coal Company · MSHA ID 3603002
    Abandoned
  32. Phillips Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schiffer Excavating, Inc. · MSHA ID 3609376
    Abandoned
  33. Phillips Pit & Mill
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lewis Phillips Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 3604678
    Abandoned
  34. PORTABLE #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gierlach Crushing & Contracting · MSHA ID 3608801
    Abandoned
  35. Reno Pit & Mill
    Surface metal/non-metal · Emlenton Limestone Company Inc · MSHA ID 3606066
    Abandoned
  36. River Ridge Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · I A Construction Corp · MSHA ID 3604671
    Abandoned
  37. Rockland No 1 Strip
    Surface coal · Rockland Mining Company · MSHA ID 3605039
    Abandoned
  38. Romanko Bros Mine
    Surface coal · Romanko Brothers Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 3606584
    Abandoned
  39. UNIVERSAL PORTABLE
    Facility metal/non-metal · I A Construction Corp · MSHA ID 3608586
    Abandoned
  40. Venango Quarry And Mill
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pennsylvania Glass Sand Corp · MSHA ID 3603124
    Abandoned
  41. Vendale Strips
    Surface coal · Vendale Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 3606630
    Abandoned
  42. Weaver Strip #1356-3
    Surface coal · Weaver Contracting Inc · MSHA ID 3605697
    Abandoned
  43. White City Sand & Gravel Co White C
    Surface metal/non-metal · White City Sand & Gravel Co · MSHA ID 3603233
    Abandoned
  44. Winger Coal
    Surface coal · Winger Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 3601543
    Abandoned
  45. Zuck Prep Plant
    Facility coal · Zuck Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 3604016
    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
Strip Mine 171
Disturbed Surface 42
Gravel Pit 32
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 16
P3 Spoil Area 11
Gravel Pit 10
P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments 9
Borrow Pit 6
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 5
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 4
Quarry 4
Tipple 4
P2 Polluted Water: Human Consumption 3
P2 Vertical Openings 3
P3 Slurry 2
P3 Other 2
P2 Dangerous Impoundments 2
P2 Hazardous Water Bodies 2
Quarry 2
P2 Industrial/Residential Waste 1
P3 High Wall 1
P3 Mine Opening 1
P1 Subsidence 1
P2 Subsidence 1
P3 Gobs 1
P1 Hazardous Water Bodies 1
P1 Dangerous Highwalls 1
P3 Water Problems 1
P1 Vertical Openings 1
P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities 1
Sand Pit 1
Other counties in PennsylvaniaAll 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.