Abandoned mine lands are those lands, waters, and surrounding watersheds that once supported the powerful mining industry that brought America into the superpower it is today. Abandoned mine lands include areas where mining or processing activity is determined to have ceased for the time being.
AMLs exist across private, mixed, state and federal lands. There are many types of mines, each with their own unique characteristics, making every one a unique site. The three main types are hardrock, coal, and uranium. Hardrock mines can either be lode claims or placer claims, depending on whether the vein contained the mineral is intact or has released its minerals by erosion. Uranium mines are almost always lode claims and coal today is leased by the federal government to mine operators.
Abandoned Ophir Hill Mine
Abandoned Hard Rock Mines
Hard Rock Mines primarily mined metallic ores (e.g. gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, nickel). Most are small to medium in size, though there are a handful of large, significant sites. These sites are predominately in the West, which gave rise to the establishment of cities and towns as Western population expanded. The majority of these hardrock mines sit on or adjacent to Federal lands and often involve “mixed-ownership.” Many of these sites have been “patented” to mining claimants and are now on private lands. The patenting of mining claims was once a common occurance. Congress has placed a moratorium on any future patents since the early 1990s.
Hard Rock mines are the safest mines to explore, and are some of the longest lasting. Their tunnels are solid and provide a more unique exploration experience. The mines, buildings and structures related to hardrock mining are possibly the most deserving sites to warrant preservation.
Abandoned Coal Mines
Abandoned coal mines are the most dangerous type of abandoned mine. They are generally reffered to as a Soft Rock mine. The integrity of these sites is quickly compromised with time. Most of the dangers associated with abandoned mines fall into softrock mines, such as coal.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), within the Department of the Interior, is the primary Federal agency responsible for abandoned coal mine reclamation. A national program, established by 1977 law, is in place that includes an inventory of high priority sites; a reclamation fee paid by the coal mining industry; and a funding mechanism comprised largely of grants to States and Indian tribes with approved programs. Priority focus is on sites posing health and safety hazards. Most of these sites have already been reclaimed.
Abandoned Uranium Mines
Flooded Coal Mine in Spring Canyon, UT
The uranium mining industry blossomed in the 1940s primarily to produce uranium for weapons and later for nuclear fuel. Although there are about 4,000 mines with documented production, a database compiled by EPA [with information provided by other federal, state, and tribal agencies] lists 15,000 mine locations with uranium occurrence in 14 western states. Most of those locations are found in Colorado , Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming, with about 75% of those on federal and tribal lands.
The majority of these sites were conventional (open pit and underground) mines. The mining of uranium ores by both underground and surface methods produces large amounts of bulk waste material, including bore hole drill cuttings, excavated top soil, barren overburden rock, weakly uranium-enriched waste rock, and subgrade ores (or proto-ore). At some abandoned mine sites, ore enriched with uranium was left on site when prices fell, while transfer stations at some distance from remote mines may contain residual radioactive soil and rock without any visible facilities to mark their location.
Most of these sites pose minimal radiation risk to the public, since exposure is most likely to be short and intermittent (e.g., visitation, recreation). According to UDOGM specialists, Utahs most irradiated mines would require at least 8 hours exposure to be equivalent to a dental X-Ray. The surrounding rock is generally sandstone or another hardrock material, and post little safety hazard. Many ghost towns, buildings, and structures still reside to tell of the legacy that accelerated America into the Nuclear Age.
Other mines
There are a plethora of other kinds of mines such as iron and phosphate, and there are thousands of sand, gravel, and clay pits and quarries that are not addressed by Federal abandoned mine lands programs.
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