Home › Oldest MinesOldest Mines in America
Mining in the United States stretches back centuries, long before the famous Gold Rush of 1849. Federal databases from the USGS document mineral deposits and mines with records reaching into the 1600s and earlier. The table below lists the oldest mines in America based on the earliest recorded production or discovery year in federal records.
These dates come from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System and MSHA records. Some represent the year a mine first began production; others reflect the year a mineral deposit was first documented. The earliest dates often correspond to colonial-era mining operations in the eastern states, particularly for iron, copper, and lead.
100 Oldest Mines Nationwide Mine State County Commodity Year Hy Grade Placer Montana Park 0 Kimbrough Mine Arkansas Independence 0 Nenana Claims Alaska Copper 0 Manganese Field Mine Arkansas Izard 0 Romero New Mexico Socorro 0 Hula Hula Claim Alaska Gold 0 Flagstaff Mining Co. Alaska Gold 0 Golden Fleece Mining Co. Alaska Gold 0 Coronation Island Mining Co. Alaska Lead 0 Copper Queen Prospect Alaska Copper, Iron 0 Cook Claim Alaska Gold 0 Poorman Prospect Alaska Iron 0 Dawson Mine Alaska Gold 0 Mount Vesta Prospect Alaska Gold, Silver 0 Wood Cove Occurrence Alaska Molybdenum 0 Mallard Bay Occurrence Alaska Iron 0 McLeod Bay Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Forrester Point Occurence Alaska Molybdenum 0 Carol Ann Prospects Alaska Uranium 0 I and L Prospect 3 Alaska Uranium, Thorium 0 I and L Prospects, 1 and 2 Alaska Uranium, Thorium 0 Number One Prospect, I, L and M Prospects Alaska Uranium 0 Number Two Prospect, I,l, and M Prospects Alaska Uranium 0 Wennie Prospect, Lazo Group Alaska Thorium, Uranium 0 Atom Marietta Prospect Alaska Uranium, Thorium 0 Little Joe Prospect Alaska Uranium, Thorium 0 Geiger Prospect Alaska Uranium 0 Bullion Alaska Gold 0 Copper Bullion Prospect Alaska Copper 0 Unnamed Near Salmon Bay Alaska Uranium, Thorium 0 Shakan Alaska Molybdenum 0 Alaska Oracle Mining Co. Alaska Gold 0 Calif. - Alaska Mining Co. Alaska Gold 0 Carter Claims Alaska Gold 0 Eldorado Alaska Gold 0 Frodenburg and Bloom Alaska Gold 0 George & McFarland Alaska Gold 0 Golden Wonder #1 Alaska Gold 0 Golden Wonder #9 Alaska Gold 0 Ripstein Ledge Prospect Alaska Silver, Gold 0 Wagner Mine Alaska Copper 0 Sky Pilot Alaska Gold 0 Tolson & Stanton Alaska Gold 0 Tomboy Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Yakima Alaska Gold 0 Bohemia Basin Prospect Alaska Nickel, Copper 0 Keynote Claim Alaska Gold 0 Grubstake Gulch Area Alaska Gold 0 Kasna Creek Prospect Alaska Copper 0 Arctic Prospect Alaska Copper, Zinc, Lead 0 Greens Creek Prospect Alaska Gold, Lead, Silver, Zinc 0 Glacier Creek Prospect Alaska Lead, Zinc, Barium-Barite 0 Sumdum Prospect Alaska Copper, Zinc 0 Ryan Mine Alaska Gold 0 Nunatak Prospect Alaska Molybdenum 0 Comet & Kensington Mines Alaska Gold 0 Orange Hill Prospect Alaska Copper, Molybdenum 0 Upperchistochina River Area Alaska Gold 0 Inmachuk River Area Alaska Gold, Tin 0 Mills & Canyon Creeks Area Alaska Gold 0 Dan Creek Alaska Copper, Gold, Silver 0 Kleary Creek Area Alaska Gold 0 Clara Gulch Placer Alaska Gold 0 Birch Creek Placer Alaska Gold 0 Emma Creek Placer Alaska Gold 0 Mascot Creek Placer Alaska Gold 0 Rye Creek Placer Alaska Gold 0 Arkansas Prospect Alaska Silver 0 Little Annie Mine Alaska Silver, Gold 0 Merinser Occurrence Alaska Antimony, Mercury 0 Mt. Eielson Prospects Alaska Lead, Silver, Zinc 0 Eureka Creek Placer Alaska Gold 0 Glacier Creek Placer Alaska Gold 0 Yellow Creek Placer Alaska Gold 0 Mayfield Mine Alaska Gold 0 Minnie Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Rambler Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Bessie Williams Alaska Gold 0 Silver Gem Mine Alaska Gold 0 Alice Mine Alaska Gold 0 Sealy-Davis Mine Alaska Gold 0 Alaska Gold Hill Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Valdez Mine Alaska Gold 0 Pinochle Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Curly Kidney Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Spirit Mountain Prospect Alaska Copper, Nickel 0 Solomon Gulch Placers Alaska Gold 0 Little Bremner River Placer Alaska Gold 0 Lowe River Placer Alaska Gold 0 Upper Cache Creek Placers Alaska Gold 0 Rainy Creek Placers Alaska Gold 0 Miller Gulch Placers Alaska Gold 0 Slate Creek Placers Alaska Gold 0 Chisna River Placers Alaska Gold 0 Ptarmigan Creek Prospects Alaska Molybdenum 0 Unnamed Occurrence Alaska Silver, Copper 0 Unnamed Occurrence Alaska Copper 0 Unnamed Occurrence Alaska Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper 0 Golden Treasure Prospect Alaska Gold 0 Treasury Hill Prospect Alaska Gold 0
Oldest Mine by State Each state has its own mining heritage. The table below shows the earliest recorded mine in each state.
State Oldest Mine Commodity Year Alabama Trickem Copper Anomoly Copper 0 Alaska Nenana Claims Copper 0 Arizona Rowley Mine Copper, Lead 0 Arkansas Kimbrough Mine 0 California Red Gap Gold 0 Colorado Mount Robinson Deposit Potassium, Aluminum 0 Connecticut Middletown Lead-Silver Mine Silver, Lead 0 Florida Quincy Fla. Clay 0 Georgia Brunswick Deposit Titanium, Zirconium 0 Hawaii Maui Ferruginous Bauxites Aluminum 0 Idaho Boulder Creek Molybdenum, Copper 0 Illinois Hicks Dome Rare - Earth, Thorium Prospects Fluorine-Fluorite, REE, Thorium 0 Kansas Coffee West 0 Kentucky Grimes 0 Louisiana Hackberry West Mine Halite 0 Maine Catheart Mtn. Molybdenum, Rhenium 0 Maryland Monroe Prospect 0 Massachusetts Jagger Mine Iron 0 Michigan Elm River Mine Copper 0 Minnesota Spruce Road Deposit Copper, Nickel, Platinum, Palladium 0 Mississippi Tatum Dome Occurrence Zinc, Lead, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Salt, Limestone, Ultra Pure, Sulfur 0 Missouri Slater Mine Copper 0 Montana Hy Grade Placer 0 Nevada Three Prospects Tungsten 0 New Hampshire Milan Mine 0 New Jersey Chimney Rock Mine Copper 0 New Mexico Romero 0 New York Plattsburg Chromium 0 North Carolina Boy Scout Molybdenum 0 North Dakota North Dunseith Spring Deposit 0 Ohio Lower Kittanning Under Clay 0 Oklahoma Van Vacter-1 Copper 0 Oregon Woodcock Mountain Nickel, Cobalt, Chromium, Iron 0 Pennsylvania Lancaster County Iridium, Lead, Copper, Platinum, Gold, Silver 0 Puerto Rico Cerro La Tiza Kaolin 0 South Carolina Love Mine-#1 Gold 0 South Dakota Forrest City Mine Gold, Silver 0 Tennessee Oak Grove Deposit Titanium, Metal, Zirconium, REE, Thorium, Kyanite 0 Texas Mabel Mine Uranium 0 Utah Big Chief Deposit Potassium, Aluminum 0 Vermont Troy Talc Mine Talc-Soapstone 0 Virginia Snowflake Fluorite Prospect Fluorine-Fluorite, Calcium 0 Washington Glacier Peak Molybdenum, Copper 0 West Virginia Mary Holyman Prospect 0 Wisconsin Camp Five Deposit Molybdenum 0 Wyoming Pioneer, Pink Marble No. 1 and No. 2 Group 0 Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa Upper Mississippi Valley Zn - Pb Dist. Mines Zinc 1750 Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico Salt Wash Deposits Selenium, Vanadium, Molybdenum, Uranium 1900 District of Columbia Unnamed Old Gravel Pit Near Ft. Lincoln Cemetery Sand and Gravel, Construction 1901 Idaho, Montana Jack Waite Mine Silver, Lead, Zinc 1918 Utah, Arizona Chinle Deposits Molybdenum, Uranium, Copper, Vanadium 1948 Indiana National Gypsum Co. Shoals Mine Gypsum-Anhydrite 1955 Delaware Edgemoor Plant Ti Titanium, Pigment 1956