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Abandoned mines › West Virginia
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Grant County, West Virginia

Grant County, West Virginia has 105 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1919–1981, including 11 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts). OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 40 problems in the county, 24 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 34 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Grant 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)
105
Mine openings
11
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
24
MSHA mines marked abandoned
34
0 features carry a name0 prospect pits14 quadrangle maps, published 1919–1981 40 OSMRE problems, 16 reclaimed 11 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
    15 10.3%
  2. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    78 53.8%
  3. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    11 7.6%
  4. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    10 6.9%
  5. Mills, tipples and facilities
    processing plants and hazardous structures
    7 4.8%
  6. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    24 16.6%
OSMRE abandoned mine land problems40 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Abram Creek AMD Treatment Phase I&I P3 Water Problems Reclamation Pending
Abram Creek AMD Treatment Phase I&I P3 Water Problems Reclamation Completed
Allegheny Front Highwall P2 Clogged Streams Reclamation Pending
Allegheny Front Highwall P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Allegheny Front Highwall P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Arnold Mine Road (ray) Subsidence P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Bayard Refuse P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Bayard Refuse P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Pending
Bismark Mine 23 P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial Reclamation Pending
Bismark Mine Site #27 P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial Reclamation Pending
Bismark Strip Drainage And Refuse P2 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Completed
Bismark Strip Drainage And Refuse P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Bismark Strip Drainage And Refuse P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial Reclamation Completed
Brown Road Tipple P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Brown Road Tipple P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Completed
Elk Garden (kahn) Portal & Drng. P2 Portals Reclamation Pending
Fairfax Stone Refuse & Highwall P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Fairfax Stone Refuse & Highwall P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Fairfax Stone Refuse & Highwall P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Fourmile Run Highwall P3 High Wall Reclamation Pending
Hoffman P1 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Hoffman P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Little Buffalo Creek Strip P3 High Wall Reclamation Pending
Little Buffalo Creek Strip P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Pending
Mt. Pisgah Road Vo P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Mt. Pisgah Washout P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Mt. Pisgah Washout P2 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Completed
Mt. Pisgah Washout P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Mt. Pisgah Washout P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Mt. Pisgah Washout P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Mt. Storm Lake Highwall P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Mt. Storm Mine 25 & 25a P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial Reclamation Pending
Red Brush Ridge Highwall P3 High Wall Reclamation Pending
Stoney River Highwall P3 High Wall Reclamation Pending
Stoney River Highwall #2 P3 High Wall Reclamation Pending
Stoney River Highwall #4 P3 High Wall Reclamation Pending
Stony River Refuse #1 P2 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Pending
Stony River Refuse #1 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Stony River Refuse #1 P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Pending
Stony River Refuse #1 P3 Equipment Facility Reclamation Pending

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 Abandoned34 on register
  1. #2 Mine (Strip)
    Surface coal · Allegheny Mining Corp · MSHA ID 4602147
    Abandoned
  2. #5 Ug
    Underground coal · Moomau Coal Company · MSHA ID 4600369
    Abandoned
  3. Alpine No 2 Mime
    Underground coal · Island Creek Coal Company · MSHA ID 4604149
    Abandoned
  4. Auger Machine No 2
    Surface coal · Smeltzer Augering Company · MSHA ID 4604764
    Abandoned
  5. Bean's Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Fairfax Materials Inc · MSHA ID 4600004
    Abandoned
  6. Benbush Mine
    Underground coal · Blackwater Mining Inc · MSHA ID 4607722
    Abandoned and Sealed
  7. Bismarck Mine
    Surface coal · Vindex Energy LLC · MSHA ID 4609369
    Abandoned
  8. Buffalo No 5
    Surface coal · Buffalo Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4602628
    Abandoned
  9. Cabin Mine
    Underground coal · Double H Mining Co., Inc. · MSHA ID 4608473
    Abandoned and Sealed
  10. Dobbin Mine
    Underground coal · Island Creek Coal Company · MSHA ID 4605480
    Abandoned and Sealed
  11. Dobbin Ridge Prep Plant
    Facility coal · Vindex Energy LLC · MSHA ID 4607837
    Abandoned
  12. East Preparation Plant
    Facility coal · Laurel Run Mining Company · MSHA ID 4608252
    Abandoned
  13. Evans Job
    Surface coal · Chestnut Ridge Coal Corp · MSHA ID 4605889
    Abandoned
  14. Hanlin Mine
    Underground coal · Vindex Energy LLC · MSHA ID 4609402
    Abandoned
  15. Job No 4 Mine Strip
    Surface coal · Allegheny Mining Corp · MSHA ID 4602559
    Abandoned
  16. Job No 72-1 Mine Surface
    Surface coal · Glade Run Mining Company · MSHA ID 4603130
    Abandoned
  17. Keplinger Lime
    Surface metal/non-metal · Aggregate Industries · MSHA ID 4602792
    Abandoned
  18. Mt Storm Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Alleghany Investments LLC · MSHA ID 4609276
    Abandoned
  19. Mt Storm Tipple And Mine
    Facility coal · Grafton Coal Company · MSHA ID 4605397
    Abandoned
  20. New Creek Mountain Quarry & Mill
    Surface metal/non-metal · Petersburg Blocks Inc · MSHA ID 4605883
    Abandoned
  21. No 1 Strip
    Surface coal · Allison Engineering Corp · MSHA ID 4600366
    Abandoned
  22. No 3 Strip
    Surface coal · Allegheny Mining Corp · MSHA ID 4602600
    Abandoned
  23. North Branch
    Underground coal · Island Creek Coal Company · MSHA ID 4601309
    Abandoned and Sealed
  24. North Branch Fuel Supply
    Facility coal · Laurel Run Mining Company · MSHA ID 4608253
    Abandoned and Sealed
  25. North Branch Operations
    Facility coal · Link Resources Inc · MSHA ID 4608338
    Abandoned
  26. North Point Deep Mine
    Underground coal · Vindex Energy Corporation · MSHA ID 4609061
    Abandoned and Sealed
  27. Parker Job
    Surface coal · Rostosky Mining · MSHA ID 4607351
    Abandoned
  28. Patriot Mining Co Inc
    Surface coal · Patriot Mining Company Inc · MSHA ID 4607769
    Abandoned and Sealed
  29. Portal No 1
    Underground coal · Laurel Run Mining Company · MSHA ID 4602845
    Abandoned and Sealed
  30. Potomac Mine
    Underground coal · Laurel Run Mining Company · MSHA ID 4604190
    Abandoned and Sealed
  31. Stony River Mine
    Underground coal · Wolf Run Mining Company · MSHA ID 4608631
    Abandoned and Sealed
  32. Vindex Energy
    Facility coal · Vindex Energy LLC · MSHA ID 4602151
    Abandoned
  33. West Preparation Plant
    Facility coal · Laurel Run Mining Company · MSHA ID 4601308
    Abandoned and Sealed
  34. Wilson Strip #6
    Surface coal · Buffalo Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4602602
    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 65
Adit 11
Quarry 7
P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments 7
P3 High Wall 6
Disturbed Surface 6
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 5
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 4
P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial 4
Tipple 4
P2 Dangerous Impoundments 3
P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities 3
Quarry 3
P3 Water Problems 2
Strip Mine 2
P2 Portals 2
P1 Subsidence 1
P3 Spoil Area 1
Mine Dump 1
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 1
P2 Clogged Streams 1
P1 Vertical Openings 1
P1 Portals 1
P2 Subsidence 1
P3 Gobs 1
P1 Dangerous Highwalls 1
P3 Equipment Facility 1
Other counties in West VirginiaAll 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.