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Abandoned mines › Wyoming
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Sheridan County, Wyoming

Sheridan County, Wyoming has 104 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1960–1993, including 3 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 2 prospect pits; 2 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 129 problems in the county, 37 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 40 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Sheridan 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)
104
Mine openings
3
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
37
MSHA mines marked abandoned
40
2 features carry a name2 prospect pits28 quadrangle maps, published 1960–1993 129 OSMRE problems, 92 reclaimed 5 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
    31 13.3%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    2 0.9%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    14 6.0%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    85 36.5%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    16 6.9%
  6. Mills, tipples and facilities
    processing plants and hazardous structures
    2 0.9%
  7. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    75 32.2%
  8. Other
    symbols outside the classes above
    8 3.4%
Named features on the maps2 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Taylor Mine Mine Shaft
Taylor 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 problems129 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Acme No. 1 P2 Subsidence Reclamation Pending
Acme No. 1 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Acme No. 1 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Acme No. 1 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Acme No. 1 North Sher1077 P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial Reclamation Completed
Acme No. 1 North Sher1077 P2 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
Acme No. 1 North Sher1077 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Acme No. 1 North Sher1077 P2 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Acme No. 1 North Sher1077 P3 Slump Reclamation Pending
Acme No. 1 North Sher1077 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Acme No. 3 Mine Sher1087 P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Acme No. 3 Mine Sher1087 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Arvada Mine & Townsite P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Arvada School Subsidence Sher0039 P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Arvada Town Building Subsidence P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Ash Creek Sher1085 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Ash Creek Sher1085 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Ash Creek Sher1085 P2 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Completed
Ash Creek Sher1085 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Ash Creek Sher1085 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Ash Creek Sher1085 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Ash Creek Sher1085 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Big Goose Drop Canal (PF 22) PF Public (Infra) Structure Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Forest No. 2 SHER1076 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Forest No. 2 SHER1076 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Forest No. 2 SHER1076 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Strip Mine P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Strip Mine P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Strip Mine P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Strip Mine P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Big Horn Strip Mine P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Black Diamond Mine Sher1037 P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities In Reclamation
Black Diamond Mine Sher1037 P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Black Diamond Mine Sher1037 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Burgess Visitor Center P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Burgess Visitor Center P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Carney Mine P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Carney Mine P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Carney Mine P2 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
Carney Mine P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Custer P2 Clogged Stream Lands Reclamation Completed
Custer P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Custer P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Custer P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities Reclamation Completed
Custer P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Custer P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Custer P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Dayton WWTP Improvements (PF 72) PF Public Utilities Reclamation Completed
Dietz 1,2,3,4,7,8 Mines P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Dietz 1,2,3,4,7,8 Mines P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Dietz 5 And 8 P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Dietz No. 3 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Dietz No. 3 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Pending
Gay Creek No. 4 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Gay Creek No. 4 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Hotchkiss P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Hotchkiss P2 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Hotchkiss P3 Mine Opening In Reclamation
Hotchkiss P3 Spoil Area In Reclamation
Kleenburn P1 Hazardous Water Bodies In Reclamation
Kleenburn P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments In Reclamation
Kleenburn P3 Slump Reclamation Completed
Kooi Mine P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Kooi Mine P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Kooi Mine P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Krezelok Sher0046 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Krezelok Sher0046 P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Krezelok Sher0046 P3 Mine Opening In Reclamation
Krezelok Sher0046 P3 Slump In Reclamation
Laya Property P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Little Bald Mountain Shaft P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Little Bald Mountain Shaft P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Model Mine P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Model Mine P3 Slump Reclamation Pending
Monarch 45 P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Monarch 45 P2 Vertical Openings In Reclamation
Old Monarch P2 Clogged Stream Lands Reclamation Completed
Old Monarch P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Old Monarch P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Old Monarch P2 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
Old Monarch P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Old Monarch P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Old Monarch P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Completed
Old Monarch P3 Slump Reclamation Completed
Old Monarch P3 Slump Reclamation Completed
Plachek Pit P1 Clogged Streams In Reclamation
Plachek Pit P2 Dangerous Highwalls In Reclamation
Plachek Pit P2 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Randall Mine Sher1134 P2 Clogged Streams Reclamation Completed
Randall Mine Sher1134 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Randall Mine Sher1134 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Randall Mine Sher1134 P2 Dangerous Impoundments Reclamation Completed
Randall Mine Sher1134 P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Completed
Randall Mine Sher1134 P2 Hazardous Water Bodies In Reclamation
Randall Mine Sher1134 P3 Pits Reclamation Completed
Randall Mine Sher1134 P3 Spoil Area Reclamation Completed
Riley Sher0037 P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Schreibeis Mine P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Sher1075 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Sher1079 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Sher1082 P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Completed
Sher1082 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Sher1082 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Sheridan Co St Paving (PF 21) PF Roads Reclamation Completed
Sheridan Co. Road Repair (PF 57) PF Roads Reclamation Completed
Sheridan County Hospital (PF 30) PF Public (Infra) Structure Reclamation Completed
Sheridan County Road 74 (PF 28) PF Roads Reclamation Completed
Sheridan Slope Flood Control (PF 50 PF Other Reclamation Completed
Sheridan Street Paving (PF 20) PF Roads Reclamation Completed
Smith/deitz P2 Dangerous Highwalls Reclamation Pending
Smith/deitz P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Pending
Smith/deitz P3 Pits Reclamation Pending
Star Mine P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments Reclamation Pending
Star Mine P2 Portals Reclamation Pending
Star Mine P2 Subsidence Reclamation Pending
Star Mine P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Pending
Storm King Mine P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Storm King Mine P2 Subsidence In Reclamation
Storm King Mine P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Storm King Mine P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Storm King Mine P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Taylor Mine SHER1046 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Taylor Mine SHER1046 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Taylor Mine SHER1046 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Tibbits P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Tibbits P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Tibbits P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Tibbits P3 High Wall Reclamation Completed
Walker Mine 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 Abandoned40 on register
  1. Barbula Turley Mine
    Surface coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 4801193
    Abandoned and Sealed
  2. Big Horn Coal Co
    Surface coal · Big Horn Coal Co · MSHA ID 4800090
    Abandoned
  3. Black Mountain Surface
    Surface coal · Black Mountain Coal Company · MSHA ID 4801175
    Abandoned
  4. Clabaugh Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · J D Pelesky Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801303
    Abandoned
  5. Connell Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Empire Sand & Gravel Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801464
    Abandoned
  6. Crusher #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Fletcher Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801364
    Abandoned
  7. Crusher 7-10
    Surface metal/non-metal · J D Pelesky Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801451
    Abandoned
  8. Cunningham Pit #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Cunningham Excavation · MSHA ID 4801618
    Abandoned
  9. Dutchman
    Surface coal · J M T Company · MSHA ID 4801282
    Abandoned and Sealed
  10. Dygert Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · J D Pelesky Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4800244
    Abandoned
  11. Frady Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gilpatrick Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801257
    Abandoned
  12. Garber Pit Portable #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Garber Agri-Business Inc · MSHA ID 4801558
    Abandoned
  13. Joint Crusher 7-1 7-9
    Surface metal/non-metal · J D Pelesky Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801254
    Abandoned
  14. JR Civil Portable 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · JR Civil, LLC · MSHA ID 4801776
    Abandoned
  15. Marshall Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Reeves Inc · MSHA ID 4801361
    Abandoned
  16. Marshall Pit #3
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gilpatrick Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801258
    Abandoned
  17. Meyers Crusher 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Northern Improvement Company · MSHA ID 4801401
    Abandoned
  18. Mobile Plant 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · GW Construction, LLC · MSHA ID 4801852
    Abandoned
  19. Mozley #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Guernsey Stone & Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801419
    Abandoned
  20. MULLINAX SAND & GRAVEL PLANT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mullinax Inc · MSHA ID 4800289
    Abandoned
  21. Owens Creek Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Gilpatrick Construction Company Inc · MSHA ID 4801259
    Abandoned
  22. Portable 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · All B Excavating Co · MSHA ID 4801732
    Abandoned
  23. Portable Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Husman Inc · MSHA ID 4801476
    Abandoned
  24. Portable Crusher #2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Guernsey Stone & Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801418
    Abandoned
  25. Portable Crusher No 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Guernsey Stone & Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801442
    Abandoned
  26. Portable Screen #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Guernsey Stone & Construction Company · MSHA ID 4801236
    Abandoned
  27. Pso Mine N0 1
    Surface coal · E H Oftedal & Sons Inc · MSHA ID 4801044
    Abandoned
  28. ROCK SOLID PORTABLE #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Rock Solid Inc · MSHA ID 4801521
    Abandoned
  29. Roth Shale Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sheridan County Highway Dept · MSHA ID 4800222
    Abandoned
  30. Sand & Gravel
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wondra Constr Co · MSHA ID 4800306
    Abandoned
  31. Sheridan Airport Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Big Horn Construction · MSHA ID 4801106
    Abandoned
  32. Sparrow Hawk Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Husman Inc · MSHA ID 4801224
    Abandoned
  33. Taylor One
    Surface metal/non-metal · Taylor Quarry LLC · MSHA ID 4801657
    Abandoned
  34. Welch I - North Mine
    Surface coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 4801194
    Abandoned and Sealed
  35. Welch I - South Mine
    Surface coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 4801195
    Abandoned and Sealed
  36. Welch Ii Mine
    Surface coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 4801196
    Abandoned and Sealed
  37. Welch Strip
    Surface coal · Welch Coal Company · MSHA ID 4800081
    Abandoned
  38. WGC Masaba
    Surface metal/non-metal · WYO Group Construction, LLC · MSHA ID 4801797
    Abandoned
  39. WMC- Industrial Road Plant
    Facility coal · Wolf Mountain Coal, Inc. · MSHA ID 4801762
    Abandoned
  40. York'S Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · York'S Inc · MSHA ID 4801389
    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 50
Gravel Pit 30
P2 Subsidence 21
P2 Vertical Openings 20
P2 Dangerous Highwalls 14
P2 Dangerous Piles & Embankments 8
P3 Spoil Area 8
P2 Underground Mine Fires 8
P2 Portals 8
Strip Mine 7
P3 Slump 6
Disturbed Surface 5
P3 Mine Opening 5
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 4
P3 Pits 4
PF Roads 4
P1 Subsidence 4
P2 Surface Burning 3
Mine Shaft 2
PF Public (Infra) Structure 2
P2 Dangerous Impoundments 2
Prospect Pit 2
P2 Clogged Stream Lands 2
P2 Hazardous Equip & Facilities 2
P2 Clogged Streams 1
P2 Polluted Water: Agricultural & Industrial 1
PF Public Utilities 1
Open Pit Mine 1
Quarry 1
P1 Hazardous Water Bodies 1
Adit 1
PF Other 1
P2 Hazardous Water Bodies 1
P3 High Wall 1
P1 Clogged Streams 1
Open Pit Mine 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.