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Abandoned mines › Wyoming
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Johnson County, Wyoming

Johnson County, Wyoming has 254 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1954–1993, including 11 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 28 prospect pits; 13 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 41 problems in the county, 9 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 41 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Johnson 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)
254
Mine openings
11
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
9
MSHA mines marked abandoned
41
13 features carry a name28 prospect pits35 quadrangle maps, published 1954–1993 41 OSMRE problems, 32 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
    22 7.5%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    28 9.5%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    15 5.1%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    200 67.8%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    7 2.4%
  6. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    22 7.5%
  7. Other
    symbols outside the classes above
    1 0.3%
Named features on the maps13 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Babion Mine Open Pit Mine
Big Horn Mine Mine Shaft
Bunning Mine Open Pit Mine
Bybee Mines Open Pit Mine
Christensen Mine Open Pit Mine
Emerald Park Mine Mine Shaft
Jeri Marie Mine Adit
North Star Prospect Prospect Pit
Outlaw Cave Adit
Pugsley Mine Open Pit Mine
Sippie and Smith Mine Open Pit Mine
Top Hand Mine Mine Shaft
Top Hand Mine Mine Shaft

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 problems41 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Apache P2 Portals In Reclamation
Apache P3 Mine Opening In Reclamation
Buffalo Deep Mine Jons0036 P2 Portals In Reclamation
Buffalo Wyoming Slope Shaft Mine P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Buffalo Wyoming Slope Shaft Mine P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Bybee # 1 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Cottonwood Creek Bentonite Jons1036 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cottonwood Creek Bentonite Jons1036 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cottonwood Creek Bentonite Jons1036 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cottonwood Creek Bentonite Jons1038 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Cottonwood Creek Bentonite Jons1038 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Cottonwood Creek Bentonite Jons1038 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Cross H P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Jons0011 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Pending
Jons0037 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Jons0037 P3 Pits Reclamation Pending
Jons1013 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Jons1031 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Jons1031 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Jons1031 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Jons1047 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Jons1047 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Jons1047 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Kaycee Medical Center (PF 38) PF Public (Infra) Structure Reclamation Completed
Linch Quarry # 1JONS0003 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Linch Quarry # 1JONS0003 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
McNeese Draw P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
McNeese Draw P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
McNeese Draw P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Mitchell Subsidence JONS1102 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Mitchell Subsidence JONS1102 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Piney Creek Mines JONS1119 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Piney Creek Mines JONS1119 P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Piney Creek Mines JONS1119 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Piney Creek Mines JONS1119 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Rock Creek P2 Clogged Stream Lands Reclamation Completed
Rock Creek P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Rock Creek P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Waegle Draw P2 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Waegle Draw P3 Pits In Reclamation
Wash1022 P2 Vertical Openings 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 Abandoned41 on register
  1. Arno Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Reeves Inc · MSHA ID 4801198
    Abandoned
  2. BPM 76 Creek Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Bentonite Performance Minerals LLC · MSHA ID 4801845
    Abandoned
  3. Buffalo-Bull Creek Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lusher Inc · MSHA ID 4800280
    Abandoned
  4. Camino Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · CCC Services, LLC · MSHA ID 4801708
    Abandoned
  5. Carter Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Reeves Inc · MSHA ID 4801107
    Abandoned
  6. Cellers Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Empire Sand & Gravel Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801223
    Abandoned
  7. Chabot Mine
    Underground metal/non-metal · U S Energy Corp · MSHA ID 4801199
    Abandoned
  8. Charlie Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cotter Corp · MSHA ID 4801252
    Abandoned
  9. CHC Portable Crusher #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cook-Harriet Construction · MSHA ID 4801609
    Abandoned
  10. Christensen Ranch
    Facility metal/non-metal · Malapai Resources Company · MSHA ID 4801485
    Abandoned
  11. Cross H Mesa D Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Frost Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801134
    Abandoned
  12. Cross H Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Carlat Construction, Inc. · MSHA ID 4801802
    Abandoned
  13. CRUSHER #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Linch Environmental Contractors Inc · MSHA ID 4801407
    Abandoned
  14. Crusher #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sierra Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801427
    Abandoned
  15. Daniels Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gilpatrick Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801221
    Abandoned
  16. Faddis-Kennedy
    Surface metal/non-metal · MGM Enterprises, Inc. · MSHA ID 4801635
    Abandoned
  17. Hacker Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Reeves Inc · MSHA ID 4801037
    Abandoned
  18. IRIGARAY/CHRISTENSEN PROJECT
    Facility metal/non-metal · Cogema Mining Inc · MSHA ID 4801148
    Abandoned
  19. John Christian Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · K G Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801205
    Abandoned
  20. Johnson Cnty Road & Bridge Ptble Screen
    Surface metal/non-metal · Johnson County Road & Bridge · MSHA ID 4801237
    Abandoned
  21. Kaycee/Brock Mines
    Surface metal/non-metal · Kaycee Bentonite Corp · MSHA ID 4800970
    Abandoned
  22. Keith Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Fisher Sand & Gravel Company · MSHA ID 4801249
    Abandoned
  23. Larry's, Inc.
    Surface metal/non-metal · Larrys, Inc · MSHA ID 4801567
    Abandoned
  24. Muddy Creek Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Ararat Rock of Wyoming · MSHA ID 4801718
    Abandoned
  25. North Tisdale Shaft No 1
    Underground metal/non-metal · Hilcorp Energy Company · MSHA ID 4801147
    Abandoned
  26. Pine Tree Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Big Horn Construction · MSHA ID 4801319
    Abandoned
  27. PORTABLE #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Reeves · MSHA ID 4801422
    Abandoned
  28. PORTABLE #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rock Services · MSHA ID 4801555
    Abandoned
  29. PORTABLE WASH PLANT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cundy Asphalt Paving & Construction · MSHA ID 4801471
    Abandoned
  30. Portable Wash Plant #3
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pete Lien & Sons, Inc./Sand & Gravel Division · MSHA ID 4801543
    Abandoned
  31. Reynolds Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Reeves Inc · MSHA ID 4800294
    Abandoned
  32. Robinson Canyon Ranch
    Surface metal/non-metal · BF Construction, LLC · MSHA ID 4801835
    Abandoned
  33. Rule Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Jims Water Service, Inc · MSHA ID 4801612
    Abandoned
  34. Ruth Isl
    Facility metal/non-metal · Uranerz U S A Inc · MSHA ID 4801370
    Abandoned
  35. Scale Number One
    Surface metal/non-metal · Intermountain Construction and Materials · MSHA ID 4801735
    Abandoned
  36. Screen 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Barnum Construction Services LLC · MSHA ID 4801745
    Abandoned
  37. Screen No. 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Northern Plains Investments, LLC · MSHA ID 4801703
    Abandoned
  38. South Kaycee Mine
    Surface metal/non-metal · Kaycee Bentonite Corp · MSHA ID 4800876
    Abandoned
  39. Tisdale Exit Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Empire Sand & Gravel Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801328
    Abandoned
  40. Tom #1
    Underground metal/non-metal · Hilcorp Energy Company · MSHA ID 4801417
    Abandoned
  41. UNIT #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Kc Oilfield Service Inc · MSHA ID 4801461
    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
Clay Pit 66
Clay Pit 53
Gravel Pit 35
Gravel Pit 32
Prospect Pit 28
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 9
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 9
Mine Shaft 8
Open Pit Mine 8
P2 Vertical Openings 7
P3 Pits 7
Disturbed Surface 7
P3 Spoil Area 7
P2 Portals 4
Quarry - Rock 4
Adit 3
P1 Subsidence 2
P2 Subsidence 2
P3 Mine Opening 1
PF Public (Infra) Structure 1
P2 Clogged Stream Lands 1
Quarry 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.