ABANDONED MINE LANDS

The BLM’s Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) program enhances public safety and improves water, soil, and air quality by reducing or eliminating the effects of past hardrock (such as gold, silver, lead, and uranium) mining in the Western United States.

The BLM maintains an inventory of known abandoned mine lands (mostly hardrock mines) on BLM-managed land.  Currently, the inventory contained 57,586 sites, of which about 20 percent have been remediated or do not require further action.  The remaining 80 percent require further investigation and/or remediation.