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Abandoned mines › Washington
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Thurston County, Washington

Thurston County, Washington has 199 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1944–1994, including 1 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 5 prospect pits; 5 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 5 problems in the county, 4 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 52 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Thurston 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)
199
Mine openings
1
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
4
MSHA mines marked abandoned
52
5 features carry a name5 prospect pits25 quadrangle maps, published 1944–1994 5 OSMRE problems, 1 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 2.0%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    5 2.5%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    35 17.2%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    158 77.5%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    1 0.5%
  6. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    1 0.5%
Named features on the maps5 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Boxer Mine Prospect Pit
Columbia Quarry Quarry
Monarch Mines Prospect Pit
Quality Coal Mine Prospect Pit
Tono Mine No 1 Open Pit Mine

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 problems5 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Bucoda Mines P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Tono Mine P1 Vertical Openings In Reclamation
Tono Mine P2 Vertical Openings In Reclamation
Tono Mine P3 Equipment Facility In Reclamation
Tono Mine P3 Gobs 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 Abandoned52 on register
  1. 113TH AVE PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wilder Construction Company · MSHA ID 4503062
    Abandoned
  2. 14-B Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Weyerhaeuser Company · MSHA ID 4502880
    Abandoned
  3. 93rd Avenue Site Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Capital Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 4502887
    Abandoned
  4. Alpine Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Alpine Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 4500142
    Abandoned
  5. Apple Avenue Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pacific Sand & Gravel Company Inc · MSHA ID 4501378
    Abandoned
  6. BREEN PORTABLE NO.1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sterling Breen Crushing Inc · MSHA ID 4501545
    Abandoned
  7. Bucoda Clay Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Dulin Construction Inc · MSHA ID 4503252
    Abandoned
  8. C W O'NEILL PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · O'Neill & Sons Inc · MSHA ID 4503444
    Abandoned
  9. Case Road Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Capital Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 4502886
    Abandoned
  10. CENTRAL REDDI-MIX MAYTOWN PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cascade Olympic Construction Inc · MSHA ID 4503470
    Abandoned
  11. Cmi Portable Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cascade Pumice Inc · MSHA ID 4502627
    Abandoned
  12. County Line Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Washington State Department Of Natural Resources · MSHA ID 4502936
    Abandoned
  13. Fish Portable Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lakeside Industries, Inc · MSHA ID 4501312
    Abandoned
  14. Grand Mound
    Surface metal/non-metal · Black Lake Resources · MSHA ID 4503220
    Abandoned
  15. GRAND MOUND PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Dulin Construction Inc · MSHA ID 4503260
    Abandoned
  16. Grand Mound Pit And Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cascade Hauling Company · MSHA ID 4500984
    Abandoned
  17. Hanna Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hanna Construction Company · MSHA ID 4502213
    Abandoned
  18. HARDROCK PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hard Rock Mining Co Of Olympia Inc · MSHA ID 4503212
    Abandoned
  19. HERCULES
    Surface metal/non-metal · Tenino Group Llc · MSHA ID 4503295
    Abandoned
  20. Hogum Bay Road Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Tom Martin Construction Inc · MSHA ID 4502005
    Abandoned
  21. I-5 S & G Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · I-5 Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 4503262
    Abandoned
  22. James & Neal Portable Operation
    Surface metal/non-metal · James & Neal · MSHA ID 4503091
    Abandoned
  23. JOHNSON CREEK QUARRY
    Surface metal/non-metal · Glacier Construction & Equipment Company Inc · MSHA ID 4503308
    Abandoned
  24. Junction Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lewis County-Department Of Public Works · MSHA ID 4501768
    Abandoned
  25. LAND USE CO
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gary's Bulldozing LLC · MSHA ID 4503476
    Abandoned
  26. Martin Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 4500657
    Abandoned
  27. Maytown Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Graystone Of Olympia · MSHA ID 4500633
    Abandoned
  28. Maytown Sand & Gravel
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lloyd Enterprises, Inc. · MSHA ID 4503698
    Abandoned
  29. Mima Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lakeside Industries · MSHA ID 4502823
    Abandoned
  30. Nisqually
    Surface metal/non-metal · Black Lake Resources Nisqually Inc · MSHA ID 4503751
    Abandoned
  31. O'Connor Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Jim O'Connor · MSHA ID 4501544
    Abandoned
  32. o8cec5x12
    Surface metal/non-metal · mj&j soil screening · MSHA ID 4503703
    Abandoned
  33. Pit #7
    Surface metal/non-metal · Hard Rock Excavating LLC · MSHA ID 4503807
    Abandoned
  34. Sargent Road Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · J D Dutton Inc · MSHA ID 4501738
    Abandoned
  35. Sjoboen Pit & Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Olympia Fuel & Asphalt · MSHA ID 4501250
    Abandoned
  36. South Mottman Road Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Evergreen Park Inc · MSHA ID 4501755
    Abandoned
  37. Steilacoom Road Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Thurston County Road Department · MSHA ID 4501993
    Abandoned
  38. Tenino
    Surface metal/non-metal · Marenakos Inc · MSHA ID 4503445
    Abandoned
  39. THURSTON COUNTY PORTABLE CRUSHER
    Surface metal/non-metal · Thurston County Roads & Transportation Services · MSHA ID 4501328
    Abandoned
  40. Tilley Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Thurston County Road District No 3 · MSHA ID 4500535
    Abandoned
  41. Tumwater
    Surface metal/non-metal · Black Lake Resources · MSHA ID 4503752
    Abandoned
  42. Tumwater 205 Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Quigg Brothers-Mc Donald Inc · MSHA ID 4502729
    Abandoned
  43. Tumwater Sand & Gravel
    Surface metal/non-metal · Tumwater Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 4503213
    Abandoned
  44. VAIL OPS
    Surface metal/non-metal · Weyerhaeuser Company · MSHA ID 4503052
    Abandoned
  45. Waldrick Pick
    Surface metal/non-metal · Emerick Company · MSHA ID 4503090
    Abandoned
  46. Waldrick Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Fairview Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 4503096
    Abandoned
  47. Waldrick Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lakeside Industries Inc. · MSHA ID 4503682
    Abandoned
  48. Waldrick Pit And Mill
    Surface metal/non-metal · Thurston County Road Department · MSHA ID 4501988
    Abandoned
  49. Waldrick Screen It
    Surface metal/non-metal · Quality Rock Products, Inc · MSHA ID 4503584
    Abandoned
  50. Westbrook Site
    Surface metal/non-metal · Fairview Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 4503192
    Abandoned
  51. Wood & Son - K&M Quarries
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wood & Son - K&M Quarries · MSHA ID 4502667
    Abandoned
  52. Wood & Son Portable Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wood & Son · MSHA ID 4503109
    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 43
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 38
Gravel Pit 28
Borrow Pit 27
Disturbed Surface - Pit 16
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 11
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 6
Borrow Pit 6
Prospect Pit 5
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 5
Quarry 3
Open Pit Mine 3
Open Pit Mine 3
Quarry 2
Disturbed Surface 2
P1 Vertical Openings 2
P3 Equipment Facility 1
P3 Gobs 1
Adit 1
P2 Vertical Openings 1
Other counties in WashingtonAll 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.