Abandoned mines in Mineral County, West Virginia
Mineral County, West Virginia has 140 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1919–1997, including 10 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts); 5 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 56 problems in the county, 42 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 23 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.
Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Mineral 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)
- 140
- Mine openings
- 10
- OSMRE problems unreclaimed
- 42
- MSHA mines marked abandoned
- 23
-
11 5.6%Mine openingsshafts, adits, air shafts, portals and vertical openings: the ways into underground workings
-
126 64.3%Mines and surface workingslabelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
-
4 2.0%Quarries, gravel and borrow pitsconstruction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
-
16 8.2%Dumps, tailings, spoil and gobwhat mining left above ground
-
3 1.5%Mills, tipples and facilitiesprocessing plants and hazardous structures
-
36 18.4%Other reclamation problemshighwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
| Name on map | Feature |
|---|---|
| Former Mine | Strip Mine area |
| Former Mine | Strip Mine area |
| Former Mine | Strip Mine area |
| Former Mine | Strip Mine area |
| Former Mine | Strip Mine area |
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.
| Problem area | Problem | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Allegheny WMA AMD | P3 Spoil Area | Reclamation Pending |
| Allegheny WMA AMD | P3 Water Problems | Reclamation Pending |
| Barnum Highwall | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Bloomington Lake Refuse | P3 Gobs | Reclamation Pending |
| Bloomington Lake Refuse 2 | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | Reclamation Pending |
| Bloomington Lake Refuse 2 | P2 Dangerous Impoundments | Reclamation Pending |
| Bloomington Lake Refuse 2 | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Pending |
| Bloomington Lake Refuse 2 | P3 Equipment Facility | Reclamation Pending |
| Burdock Highwall | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | Reclamation Completed |
| Burdock Highwall | P3 Pits | Reclamation Completed |
| Cranberry Run Highwall | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | Reclamation Pending |
| Cranberry Run Refuse | P3 Gobs | In Reclamation |
| Cranberry Run Refuse | P3 High Wall | In Reclamation |
| Cranberry Run Refuse | P3 Mine Opening | In Reclamation |
| Cranberry Run Refuse | P3 Spoil Area | In Reclamation |
| Crosstown Strip | P3 Gobs | In Reclamation |
| Deep Run Highwall #1 | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Deep Run Highwall #2 | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Deep Run Refuse | P2 Dangerous Impoundments | Reclamation Pending |
| Deep Run Refuse | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Pending |
| Deep Run Refuse | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Elk Garden (Etchison) AMD | P2 Clogged Streams | Reclamation Pending |
| Elk Garden (Etchison) AMD | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | Reclamation Pending |
| Elk Garden (Etchison) AMD | P2 Hazardous Water Bodies | Reclamation Pending |
| Elk Garden (Etchison) AMD | P3 Spoil Area | Reclamation Pending |
| Elk Garden (Etchison) AMD | P3 Water Problems | Reclamation Pending |
| Elk Garden Highwall | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Elk Garden Subsidence | P2 Subsidence | Reclamation Pending |
| Emoryville Mine Complex | P2 Clogged Streams | Reclamation Completed |
| Emoryville Mine Complex | P2 Dangerous Impoundments | Reclamation Completed |
| Emoryville Mine Complex | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Completed |
| Emoryville Mine Complex | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Completed |
| Emoryville Mine Complex | P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities | Reclamation Completed |
| Emoryville Mine Complex | P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial | Reclamation Completed |
| Kephart Ramp Site | P1 Dangerous Impoundments | Reclamation Completed |
| Montgomery Run Portal & Tipple | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Pending |
| Montgomery Run Portal & Tipple | P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities | Reclamation Pending |
| Montgomery Run Portal & Tipple | P2 Portals | Reclamation Pending |
| Montgomery Run Refuse | P3 Industrial/Residential Waste | Reclamation Pending |
| Montgomery Run Refuse | P3 Spoil Area | Reclamation Pending |
| Oakmont Highwall #1 | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Oakmont Highwall #2 | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | Reclamation Pending |
| Oakmont Highwall #2 | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Piney Swamp Highwall | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Piney Swamp Run Refuse #1 | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | Reclamation Completed |
| Piney Swamp Run Refuse #1 | P2 Dangerous Impoundments | Reclamation Completed |
| Piney Swamp Run Refuse #1 | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Completed |
| Piney Swamp Run Refuse #1 | P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities | Reclamation Completed |
| Piney Swamp Run Refuse #1 | P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial | Reclamation Completed |
| Piney Swamp Run Refuse #4 | P2 Dangerous Impoundments | Reclamation Pending |
| Piney Swamp Run Refuse #4 | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Pending |
| Piney Swamp Strips | P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | Reclamation Pending |
| Piney Swamp Strips | P3 Spoil Area | Reclamation Pending |
| Shaw Highwall | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | Reclamation Pending |
| Stoney River Highwall #3 | P3 High Wall | Reclamation Pending |
| Warnocks Highwall | P2 Dangerous Highwalls | 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.
-
ALLEGANY QUARRIES, A DIV OF T.G.Abandoned 2002-06-12Surface metal/non-metal · Allegany Quarries · MSHA ID 4600002
-
Beryl TippleAbandoned 2021-08-06Facility coal · Beryl Coal Company · MSHA ID 4606330
-
Hampshire Hill StripAbandoned 2008-02-22Surface coal · Duckworth Coal Inc · MSHA ID 4602570
-
Hampshire Preparation FacilitiesAbandoned 1997-09-30Facility coal · Masteller Coal Company · MSHA ID 4606150
-
Hanlin Mine-SurfaceAbandoned 1987-01-07Surface coal · Chestnut Ridge Coal Corp · MSHA ID 4606621
-
Job No 9 Strip MineAbandoned 1972-06-14Surface coal · Allegheny Mining Corp · MSHA ID 4602157
-
Jones No 1 StripAbandoned 1977-08-09Surface coal · Wood Products Inc · MSHA ID 4604691
-
Jt #4Abandoned 2008-07-17Underground coal · Masteller Coal Company · MSHA ID 4607665
-
Jt#2Abandoned and Sealed 1992-07-10Underground coal · Masteller Coal Company · MSHA ID 4605948
-
Kalbaugh No 1 SurfaceAbandoned 1979-10-01Surface coal · Burdock Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4605527
-
Lynnwood No 4Abandoned 1975-04-08Underground coal · Masteller Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4601878
-
Mineral Stone Corporation Aurora StoneAbandoned 1991-11-15Surface metal/non-metal · Mineral Stone Corp · MSHA ID 4600003
-
Nally StrippAbandoned 1986-04-15Surface coal · Masteller Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4606845
-
No 1 AugerAbandoned 1973-01-26Surface coal · Smeltzer Augering Company · MSHA ID 4602641
-
No 1 StripAbandoned 2022-01-03Surface coal · D & L Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 4602489
-
No 1 StripAbandoned 1987-12-22Surface coal · Rostosky Mining · MSHA ID 4603081
-
No 2 AugerAbandoned 1973-01-26Surface coal · Wells Auger Mining Inc · MSHA ID 4603096
-
No 2 Mine AugerAbandoned 1972-06-13Surface coal · More Head Auger Mining Company · MSHA ID 4602638
-
No 4 Mine AugerAbandoned 1972-06-13Surface coal · More Head Auger Mining Company · MSHA ID 4602639
-
Piedmont MineAbandoned 2014-03-21Surface coal · Duckworth Coal Inc · MSHA ID 4609196
-
Plant No 3Abandoned 1981-01-29Surface metal/non-metal · Seneca Sand Inc · MSHA ID 4606167
-
Tanglewood No 2Abandoned and Sealed 2002-10-08Underground coal · Tanglewood Energy Inc · MSHA ID 4606329
-
Yukon No 1Abandoned and Sealed 1980-06-30Underground coal · Concord Coal Corp · MSHA ID 4605714
Status and date are as reported to MSHA by the operator. Each mine's own page carries its accident, citation and inspection record.
| Feature type | Features |
|---|---|
| Strip Mine | 92 |
| Open Pit Mine or Quarry | 19 |
| Adit | 10 |
| P3 High Wall | 10 |
| P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments | 8 |
| P2 Dangerous Highwalls | 8 |
| Strip Mine | 7 |
| Disturbed Surface | 6 |
| P2 Dangerous Impoundments | 5 |
| P3 Spoil Area | 5 |
| P3 Gobs | 3 |
| P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities | 3 |
| P2 Clogged Streams | 2 |
| Open Pit Mine or Quarry | 2 |
| P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial | 2 |
| Quarry | 2 |
| P3 Water Problems | 2 |
| P2 Portals | 1 |
| P3 Mine Opening | 1 |
| P2 Subsidence | 1 |
| P3 Equipment Facility | 1 |
| P2 Hazardous Water Bodies | 1 |
| Quarry | 1 |
| P3 Pits | 1 |
| Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated | 1 |
| P1 Dangerous Impoundments | 1 |
| P3 Industrial/Residential Waste | 1 |
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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).
-
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.