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Abandoned mines › Wyoming
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Converse County, Wyoming

Converse County, Wyoming has 198 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1949–1985, including 29 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 72 prospect pits; 10 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 57 problems in the county, 8 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 Converse 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)
198
Mine openings
29
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
8
MSHA mines marked abandoned
52
10 features carry a name72 prospect pits46 quadrangle maps, published 1949–1985 57 OSMRE problems, 49 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
    43 16.9%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    72 28.2%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    41 16.1%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    43 16.9%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    28 11.0%
  6. Mills, tipples and facilities
    processing plants and hazardous structures
    2 0.8%
  7. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    23 9.0%
  8. Other
    symbols outside the classes above
    3 1.2%
Named features on the maps10 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Antelope Mine Open Pit Mine area
Badger Mine Mine Shaft
Big Muddy Coal Mine Coal Mine
Glenrock Gravel Pit Gravel Pit
Lockett Mine Mine Shaft
Odins Lode Mine Shaft
Old Copper King Mine Adit
Oriole Mine Mine Shaft
Rosin Mine Adit
Sunset Mine 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 problems57 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Celenite P3 Slump In Reclamation
Celenite P3 Spoil Area In Reclamation
Cnvr1006 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1020 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1020 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1042 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1042 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1042 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1044 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1044 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1044 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1047 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1047 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1048 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1048 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1049 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1049 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1050 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1050 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1050 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1051 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cnvr1051 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Converse County Road 37 (PF 36) PF Roads Reclamation Completed
Dave Johnston Mine P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Fischer Mine P2 Portals In Reclamation
Fischer Mine P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Fischer Mine P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Fischer Mine P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Glenrock No. 1 & 2 Cnvr1027 P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Glenrock No. 1 & 2 Cnvr1027 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Glenrock No. 1 & 2 Cnvr1027 P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Glenrock No. 1 & 2 Cnvr1027 P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Inez West Cnvr1021 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Inez West Cnvr1021 P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
McDonald/Fairview P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
McDonald/Fairview P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Memorial Hospital Converse (PF 70) PF Public (Infra) Structure Reclamation Completed
Ridgewater Water System (PF 40) PF Public Utilities Reclamation Completed
Rosin Mine Cnvr0011 P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Completed
Rosin Mine Cnvr0011 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Rosin Mine Cnvr0011 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Rosin Mine Cnvr0011 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Sand Creek P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Sand Creek P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Slichter P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Sunset Mine P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Tenderfoot Group P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Pending
Tenderfoot Group P3 Equipment Facility Reclamation Pending
Three Cripples P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Pending
Three Cripples P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Pending
Tillard P3 Equipment Facility Reclamation Completed
Tillard P3 Gobs Reclamation Completed
Tillard P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Completed
Tillard P3 Slump Reclamation Completed
Winter Mote P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Winter Mote P3 Slump Reclamation Completed
Winter Mote P3 Spoil Area 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 Abandoned52 on register
  1. Abbott Sand And Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · C J Abbott Inc · MSHA ID 4801201
    Abandoned
  2. Anderson Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Menter Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 4801207
    Abandoned
  3. B&M Sand & Gravel Inc
    Surface metal/non-metal · B&M Sand and Gravel, Inc. · MSHA ID 4801823
    Abandoned
  4. Bear Creek
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rocky Mountain Energy · MSHA ID 4801099
    Abandoned
  5. Buffalo Shaft
    Underground metal/non-metal · Exxon Minerals Company · MSHA ID 4800946
    Abandoned
  6. Carmen Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Eagle Engineering Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801047
    Abandoned
  7. Casper Portable #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Knife River - Casper · MSHA ID 4801529
    Abandoned
  8. Choice Ready Mix
    Surface metal/non-metal · Choice Ready Mix · MSHA ID 4801643
    Abandoned
  9. Crusher No 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Thatcher & Sons Inc · MSHA ID 4801102
    Abandoned
  10. Crusher No 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · C J Abbott Inc · MSHA ID 4801206
    Abandoned
  11. Crusher No 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Menter Sand & Gravel Inc · MSHA ID 4801343
    Abandoned
  12. Dave Johnston Mine
    Surface coal · Glenrock Coal Company · MSHA ID 4800085
    Abandoned
  13. DEER CREEK PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Valentine Construction Inc · MSHA ID 4801352
    Abandoned
  14. Douglas Rental 2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Croell Redi-Mix Inc · MSHA ID 4801724
    Abandoned
  15. Dry Creek Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Converse County Road & Bridge · MSHA ID 4801798
    Abandoned
  16. East Antelope Strip
    Surface coal · Best Coal Company · MSHA ID 4800075
    Abandoned
  17. Fetterman Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Phillips and Jordan, Incorporated · MSHA ID 4801774
    Abandoned
  18. Forbis Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gilpatrick Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801261
    Abandoned
  19. Fort Fetterman Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Menter Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801214
    Abandoned
  20. Fort Fetterman Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Summit Materials Inc · MSHA ID 4801225
    Abandoned
  21. Golden Eagle Mine
    Underground metal/non-metal · Silver King Mines Inc · MSHA ID 4801051
    Abandoned
  22. H2K Rental Crusher #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · H2K · MSHA ID 4801817
    Abandoned
  23. Hakalo Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · H-K Contractors Inc · MSHA ID 4801371
    Abandoned
  24. Highland Operation
    Surface metal/non-metal · Exxon Minerals Company · MSHA ID 4800466
    Abandoned
  25. HIGHLAND URANIUM PROJECT
    Facility metal/non-metal · Power Resources Inc · MSHA ID 4801404
    Abandoned
  26. Hornbuckle Sand Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sterling Sand & Gravel Company Of Wyoming · MSHA ID 4801372
    Abandoned
  27. Huxtable Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cadlrock Mining LLC · MSHA ID 4801617
    Abandoned
  28. Irvine Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gilpatrick Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801293
    Abandoned
  29. Jennifer Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · C&H Excavation · MSHA ID 4801850
    Abandoned
  30. JTL - PORTABLE NO 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Jtl Group Inc · MSHA ID 4801535
    Abandoned
  31. L C'S Fortune
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rambo Mining Company · MSHA ID 4801457
    Abandoned
  32. Le Bar Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Thatcher & Sons Inc · MSHA ID 4801216
    Abandoned
  33. Leuenberger Project
    Facility metal/non-metal · Unc-Teton-Nedco Jv · MSHA ID 4801301
    Abandoned
  34. Lisco Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Eagle Engineering Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801049
    Abandoned
  35. Lovitt Gravel Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Converse County · MSHA ID 4801649
    Abandoned
  36. Nats Nugget
    Underground metal/non-metal · Silver King Mines Inc · MSHA ID 4801190
    Abandoned
  37. North Morton Shaft
    Underground metal/non-metal · Harrison Western Corp · MSHA ID 4801103
    Abandoned
  38. North Platte Mine
    Facility metal/non-metal · Uranium Resources Inc · MSHA ID 4801366
    Abandoned
  39. Open Pit Sections (28-33)(3-10)
    Surface metal/non-metal · Kerr-Mc Gee Nuclear Corp · MSHA ID 4801158
    Abandoned
  40. Orin Junction Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gilpatrick Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801241
    Abandoned
  41. Pittman Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Thatcher & Sons Inc · MSHA ID 4801284
    Abandoned
  42. RB 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rockin B Ranches, LLC · MSHA ID 4801837
    Abandoned
  43. Screener #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Dickau Grading, LLC · MSHA ID 4801773
    Abandoned
  44. Shawnee Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Phillips & Jordan, Incorporated · MSHA ID 4801759
    Abandoned
  45. SMITH RANCH PROJECT
    Facility metal/non-metal · Rio Algom Mining Corp · MSHA ID 4800837
    Abandoned
  46. South Morton Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Silver King Mines Inc · MSHA ID 4801117
    Abandoned
  47. Strock Pit Or Recluse Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Recluse Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801269
    Abandoned
  48. Upton West Mill
    Facility metal/non-metal · American Colloid Company Minerals Group · MSHA ID 4800597
    Abandoned
  49. V R Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · JTL Group, Inc. · MSHA ID 4801670
    Abandoned
  50. V-R Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Falcon Concrete · MSHA ID 4801409
    Abandoned
  51. Valentine Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · C J Abbott Inc · MSHA ID 4801296
    Abandoned
  52. Wintermote Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · N-C Paving · MSHA ID 4801227
    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 72
Gravel Pit 22
Open Pit Mine 20
Mine Shaft 20
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 14
Open Pit Mine 14
P3 Spoil Area 13
P2 Portals 9
Adit 9
Tailings - Undifferentiated 8
P3 Pits 7
P2 Subsidence 5
Gravel Pit 5
Mine Dump 5
P2 Vertical Openings 4
Coal Mine 4
P3 Slump 3
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 3
P3 Equipment Facility 2
P3 Gobs 2
P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities 2
P1 Subsidence 2
Mine 1
Strip Mine 1
PF Roads 1
PF Public (Infra) Structure 1
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 1
Sand Pit 1
Quarry 1
PF Public Utilities 1
P1 Vertical Openings 1
P3 Mine Opening 1
Other counties in WyomingAll 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.