South Dakota has 50,758 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and 1,128 records of mines listed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Quick Facts
- 50,758 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
- 6,818 active mining claims
- 43,940 closed mining claims
- 1,128 USGS records of mines in South Dakota.
- Gold , Silver , Uranium , Tin , and Beryllium mines located in South Dakota. See All
Top Counties
by Active mining claims
- Pennington (2,445 Active Claims)
- Lawrence (1,799 Active Claims)
- Custer (845 Active Claims)
- Butte (127 Active Claims)
- Fall River (122 Active Claims)
- Meade (32 Active Claims)
Top Counties
by Total Mines
- Custer (381 Total Mines)
- Lawrence (353 Total Mines)
- Pennington (155 Total Mines)
- Meade (97 Total Mines)
- Harding (88 Total Mines)
- Fall River (49 Total Mines)
- Perkins (4 Total Mines)
- Butte (1 Total Mines)
South Dakota Mine Locations
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© The Diggings™
Recently Updated Mining Claims
Most recently updated claims in South Dakota.
Mining Claims (BLM)
South Dakota has 50,758 mining claims on public land listed in The Diggings™. Of these claims, 13.43% are active while 86.57% are now closed. Pennington, Lawrence, and Custer are the most active counties in South Dakota.
Quick BLM Facts
- 50,758 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
- 6,818 records of active mining claims
- 43,940 records of closed mining claims
Active Mines By County
In South Dakota
| Active | Authorized Countiess |
|---|---|
| Pennington | 2445 |
| Lawrence | 1799 |
| Custer | 845 |
| Other | 1729 |
South Dakota Trends Overview
January 2021 vs. January 2020
January 2021
January 2020
Net
Change
Opened Claims
0
67
67
100%
Opened Acres
0
1,340
1,340
100%
Transfered Claims
0
6
6
100%
Transfered Acres
0
155
155.65
100%
Located Claims
0
67
67
100%
Located Acres
0
1,340
1,340
100%
Mining Trends
Historic Mining Records (USGS)
South Dakota has 1,128 identified mines listed in The Diggings™. The most commonly listed primary commodities in South Dakota mines are Gold , Silver , and Uranium . At the time these mines were surveyed, 151 mines in South Dakota were observed to have ore mineralization in an outcrop, shallow pit, or isolated drill hole—known as an occurance mine.1 South Dakota has 144 prospect mines.2 827 mines were in production at the time the data was entered into USGS records. Custer, Lawrence, and Pennington are the counties with the most mines.
Quick USGS Facts
- 1,128 records of mines in South Dakota.
- 144 records of prospects
- 151 records of mineral occurrences of observable ore mineralization.
- 6 records of mining plants
- 827 records of mineral producers
Mines By County
In South Dakota
| Total | Authorized Countiess |
|---|---|
| Custer | 381 |
| Lawrence | 353 |
| Pennington | 155 |
| Meade | 97 |
| Harding | 88 |
| Other | 54 |
1 Grade, tonnage, and extent of mineralization for such mines are unspecified.
2 Such mines have some degree of development such as surface trenching, adits, shafts, drill holes, geophysics, geochemistry, or geological mapping to estimate grade and tonnage.
Popular Public Lands & Regions
in South Dakota
Land TypeTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Black Hills National Forest
National Forests
41,406
4,312
37,094
91,253.92
847
97
123
1
626
Helena National Forest
National Forests
10
10
0
220
0
0
0
0
0
Black Elk Wilderness
Wilderness Areas
72
9
63
171.57
7
3
3
0
1
Custer National Forest
National Forests
337
0
337
0
63
30
12
0
21
Buffalo Gap National Grassland
National Forests
165
0
165
0
2
1
1
0
0
Jewel Cave National Monument
National Parks
48
0
48
0
0
0
0
0
0
Cheyenne River Reservation
Indian Lands
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Wind Cave National Park
National Parks
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Crow Creek Reservation
Indian Lands
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
Grand River National Grassland
National Forests
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
Top Mining Districts
in South Dakota
StateTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Rochford Mining District
South Dakota
622
604
18
12,053.54
53
4
9
0
40
Custer Mining District
South Dakota
336
325
11
7,461.25
124
15
10
0
99
Silver City Mining District
South Dakota
364
342
22
6,717.68
21
6
6
0
9
Lead Mining District
South Dakota
277
277
0
5,709.57
89
4
5
1
79
Galena Mining District
South Dakota
224
223
1
4,369.42
73
5
4
0
64
Redfern Mining District
South Dakota
176
172
4
3,615.60
18
1
1
0
16
Pactola Mining District
South Dakota
163
163
0
3,327.64
4
2
1
0
1
Ragged Top Mining District
South Dakota
102
101
1
2,086.66
19
0
2
0
17
Bald Mountain-Portland Mining District
South Dakota
99
99
0
2,045.33
61
0
3
1
57
Hill City Mining District
South Dakota
93
93
0
1,920.72
135
28
36
0
71
Top Owners
in South Dakota
CityStateCategoryInterest RelationshipTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive Acres
F3 Gold LLC
Minneapolis
Minnesota
Corporation
Claimant
2,007
1,978
29
39,763.12
Powertech Inc. (USA)
Edgemont
South Dakota
Corporation
Claimant
351
351
0
7,251.66
Mineral Mountain Resources Inc.
Vancouver
British Columbia
Corporation
Claimant
347
342
5
6,638.65
American Colloid Co.
Belle Fourche
South Dakota
Corporation
Claimant
207
127
80
6,204.4
Pete Lien & Sons Inc.
Rapid City
South Dakota
Corporation
Claimant
255
233
22
5,213.72
Popular Towns, Cities, Etc.
in South Dakota
CountyStateTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Rochford
Pennington
South Dakota
27,447
4,078
23,369
85,434.14
677
66
94
5
512
Silver City
Pennington
South Dakota
24,897
3,430
21,467
72,143.82
664
77
102
4
481
Nemo
Lawrence
South Dakota
20,888
3,309
17,579
68,211.53
609
69
94
4
442
Hill City
Pennington
South Dakota
26,294
3,020
23,274
64,172.42
531
78
93
0
360
Lead
Lawrence
South Dakota
22,697
3,024
19,673
62,951.22
471
37
40
5
389
Deadwood
Lawrence
South Dakota
22,128
2,985
19,143
62,074.88
468
37
38
6
387
Central City
Lawrence
South Dakota
22,299
2,825
19,474
58,984.04
468
36
40
5
387
Johnson Siding
Pennington
South Dakota
17,763
2,878
14,885
58,877.73
491
71
90
1
329
Tilford
Meade
South Dakota
15,467
2,808
12,659
57,555.02
256
21
26
3
206
Piedmont
Meade
South Dakota
14,335
2,594
11,741
53,416.05
346
41
58
1
246
Mining Claim News From The Diggings™
Learn more about the Bureau of Land Management, Public Land Survey System, and mining claims.
-
Understanding Claim Ownership
We receive lots of emails from people who find their name or a relative’s name on our site and want to know if this means they have some right to the land listed under that name.
-
Understanding BLM Administrative Areas
Whether it is filing a mine or researching one, the administering BLM office is going to be the definitive source.
-
Understanding Location Data
Mine handled by the Bureau of Land Management are not mapped by latitude and longitude, instead, these mines harken back to the Public Land Survey System.
-
Understanding Townships
A “township” can refer to two different things. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses.
