Gold Deposits Map USA: 9 Official Map Sources Compared

There is no single official gold map of the United States. The nearest substitutes are a set of public databases and state survey maps: the USGS Mineral Resources Data System, the USGS layer of mine symbols called USMIN, the Alaska Resource Data File, and map products from the survey offices of Nevada, Colorado, California, Arizona and Montana. This guide compares nine of them by the job each one does, shows where US gold is actually mined by state, county and mine, explains how to read a mine symbol, and ends with a calculator that turns the ounces-per-ton grades printed on older US records into grams per tonne.

The US mined an estimated 160 metric tons of gold in 2025, about 5.1 million troy ounces, worth an estimated $17 billion. Nevada supplied about 64% and Alaska about 22% (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, February 2026). If you advise a license holder, an owner or an investor, the practical job is to pick the right layer, read its limits, check who controls the land, and only then spend money on the ground.

How much gold the US mines, and from what kind of mine

US mine output has fallen every year since 2021: 187 t in 2021, 173 t in 2022, 170 t in 2023, 163 t in 2024 and an estimated 160 t in 2025. The estimated 2025 value of $17 billion is 32% higher than in 2024 because the price rose, not because more gold was mined (USGS, 2026).

Chart

US gold mine production, 2021 to 2025

Metric tons per year; 2025 is a USGS estimate

USGS counts gold from more than 40 lode mines in 12 states, from several large placer mines in Alaska, and from numerous smaller placer mines, mostly in Alaska and the western states. A lode mine takes gold from hard rock, in veins or spread through the rock. A placer mine recovers loose gold from stream gravel. About 7% of US gold comes as a byproduct of base-metal ores, mainly copper, and the top 25 operations produce about 94% of the total. In practice, a handful of large mines carry the national total.

Which states mine the gold

Two states dominate. In 2022, the latest year with a state split in the Minerals Yearbook, Nevada produced 125,000 kg and Alaska 22,200 kg, which USGS puts at 73% and 13% of the national total. The remaining 14% came from Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah (USGS Minerals Yearbook, 2022 chapter, advance release of March 2026).

Chart

Share of US gold mine output by state

Percent of national output; 2022 reported, 2025 estimated (selected years, different USGS sources)

The 2025 estimates show a shift: Nevada about 64% and Alaska about 22%, leaving about 14% for everyone else. Kinross reports that higher-grade ore from its Manh Choh mine began feeding the Fort Knox mill in Alaska in the second half of 2024 (third-quarter 2025 report), which fits the timing, but USGS does not name a cause. The chart compares the two sources, so read it as a direction of change rather than an exact before-and-after.

Alaska’s total also includes placers. USGS lists about 150 placer operations in the state in 2022. Our own guide to gold deposits in Alaska covers that map in detail, and our state-by-state guide to US gold deposits covers the geology.

Where the biggest mines sit, by county

A state total hides how local gold is. The USGS yearbook lists the leading operations by county. In 2022 the three largest, Carlin Mines operations, Cortez and Turquoise Ridge, were all in Nevada, in Elko, Eureka, Lander and Humboldt counties. Betze-Post in Nevada came fourth, and then Fort Knox and Pogo, in Alaska’s Eastern Interior region. Several groupings on the list contain many pits: the Carlin Mines entry alone covers four open pit and four underground operations (USGS, 2022 chapter). Owners have changed since 2022, so confirm any company name in a current filing.

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Largest US gold operations, 2022

Metric tons of gold; state shown after each name

Outside Nevada and Alaska the producers are single mines, and one of them is not a gold mine at all. Bingham Canyon in Utah is a copper and molybdenum mine that produced 3,820 kg of gold as a byproduct in 2022.

The table shows selected operations outside Nevada and Alaska; the bar chart shows the eight largest. Source for both: USGS Minerals Yearbook, gold chapter for 2022, table 3 (kilograms converted to metric tons and rounded). The mines on that list made more than 98% of US gold in 2022.

We cover a connected topic in World Lithium Deposits Map: Top Countries and Key Mines.

9 official gold map sources compared

None of these is a single national gold map. Each covers one area, one era or one job. The table gives the quick comparison; the notes below it give the detail, with a “best for” line and the main limit.

1. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS)

Best for: a first look at mine and deposit records anywhere in the US, and abroad. MRDS holds reports on metallic and nonmetallic deposits with name, location, commodity, geology, production, reserves, resources and references. Records are graded A to E by how much they say, and the map search ranks results by that grade. You can download the flattened CSV (23 MB zipped) or a shapefile, or load it in a GIS through WMS and WFS web services (standard ways to stream map layers into GIS software).

Main limit: USGS stopped systematic updates in 2011 and says it is building a new database focused on the conterminous US. A mine opened or found after 2011 is unlikely to be there.

2. USGS USMIN mine and prospect features

Best for: finding old workings. USMIN holds symbols digitised from historical USGS topographic maps in the western part of the conterminous US: prospect pits, shafts and adits (horizontal tunnels), quarries, open pits, tailings piles (waste left after ore is processed) and gravel pits. Per-state KMZ files (compressed map files) open in Google Earth, for example California at 7.6 MB, Arizona at 2.5 MB and Colorado at 2.4 MB.

Main limit: a symbol shows a pit or a shaft, not what was dug out of it, and its position is only as good as the printed map.

3. USGS district and deposit-type references

Best for: understanding why gold sits where it does. USGS Professional Paper 610, Principal Gold-Producing Districts of the United States (1968, 283 pages), describes the older districts. Bulletin 1857, Geology and Resources of Gold in the United States (1988), has chapters on gold in metamorphic rocks, porphyry copper systems, placers, polymetallic veins, epithermal deposits and the Homestake mine in South Dakota.

Main limit: both predate every mine now operating, so use them for geology, not for current production.

4. Nevada Mineral Explorer and NBMG Map 149z

Best for: Nevada, where most US gold comes from. Nevada Mineral Explorer (layers listed here are from the item description on ArcGIS, not the live app) is a web map from the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology and the Nevada Division of Minerals. It stacks layers for land and mining claim status, geology, geophysics and geochemistry, historic production and resources, active and historic mines and prospects, and exploration files such as technical reports, plans of operation and BLM notices. You can export layers to spreadsheets or GIS formats, and no GIS license is needed.

The bureau also sells Map 149z, Gold and Silver Resources in Nevada (2006, 1:1,000,000), which marks known or inferred gold and silver resources and reserves found since 1930, with a GIS version listed at US$30 in October 2026. Main limit: the printed map is a 2006 snapshot.

5. Alaska Resource Data File (ARDF)

Best for: Alaska. The ARDF holds 7,448 records describing mines, prospects and mineral occurrences, written for each 1:250,000 USGS map sheet from published and industry reports. It comes as a 6.5 MB KML for Google Earth, a zipped shapefile and web map services. The MRDS page calls it the most coherent collection for Alaska.

Main limit: USGS describes each report as a progress report, and records cover all minerals, so filter for gold. See our Alaska gold map guide for the sites.

6. Colorado Geological Survey gold publications

Best for: Colorado gold districts. The survey’s RS-28, Gold Occurrences of Colorado, gives a database of occurrences, a location map and a geologic summary by deposit type, with a plate for gold districts and placers. Its metals page lists districts that once produced over about 1 million troy ounces each: Cripple Creek in Teller County, Central City in Gilpin, Telluride in San Miguel, Leadville in Lake, Sneffels in Ouray, Silverton in San Juan and Breckenridge in Summit. A second product, ON-007-08, maps historic metal mining districts with an online map and data download.

Main limit: RS-28 was first published in 1990 (the CGS page cites a 2011 copy), so its mine status is out of date.

7. California Geological Survey Map MM-009

Best for: historic gold mines in California. The Map of California Historic Gold Mines (Miscellaneous Map MM-009, 1998, scale 1:500,000) comes from the state survey. Main limit: it is a 1998 paper map at a coarse scale. For county detail see our guide to where California’s gold deposits are.

8. Arizona Geological Survey mining data

Best for: checking the paper trail on a named Arizona mine. The AZGS archive holds thousands of original, historic mine files, photographs and maps from the former Arizona Department of Mines and Mineral Resources, searchable through its mining information portal. Main limit: the page describes files, not a ready gold layer, so expect to read documents.

9. Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology AIM database

Best for: spotting old workings and hazards near a Montana target. The Abandoned-Inactive Mines database has over 8,000 records with latitude and longitude, ownership checked against 1:24,000 maps, screening results and water and soil sampling. It began with hard-rock mines and later added placers on or affecting BLM land. Main limit: it was built to find environmental and safety problems for the US Forest Service and BLM, so it is not a gold-grade map.

How we chose these maps

We picked maps and data sets that a government geological survey or land agency publishes, that a reader can open or download, and that say what they cover. Each page was opened in October 2026. We did not rank them, because the best one depends on the state you work in. State surveys in other gold states, such as Idaho and Utah, also publish maps; we left them out because we could not open and check their pages for this guide.

• Source type: federal or state survey, or a land agency.
• Access: a web map, a download or a web service we could confirm on the page.
• Gold relevance: gold-specific, or a general mine record set that can be filtered.
• Date: every product is dated in the list, because age is the main weakness of most of them.

How to read a mine symbol on a gold map

A dot on a map is a lead, not proof of gold. Five checks catch most mistakes.

• Record quality. MRDS grades records from A to E. A means more information on more aspects; D means a summary; E generally lacks references.
• Main commodity. A copper or silver-zinc symbol can hide a large gold producer. Bingham Canyon (copper and molybdenum) made 3,820 kg of gold in 2022, and the Greens Creek silver-zinc mine in Alaska made 1,500 kg.
• Map scale. ARDF text is written per 1:250,000 sheet, and USMIN comes from printed topographic maps. A coarse source cannot place a point precisely, so confirm with a current survey and a GPS in the field.
• Date. MRDS was frozen in 2011, RS-28 is from 1990 (CGS cites a 2011 copy), Map 149z from 2006 and MM-009 from 1998. Match the date to the mine’s life.
• Grouped operations. One name on the production list can stand for several pits and underground mines, so a single dot may mean a district.

Build your own gold map of one area in 6 steps

A consultant can build a useful working map of one area in a day with public layers. Treat it as a screening map: it ranks places to check, it does not measure an ore body.

Infographic

From question to checked map in 6 steps

1. 1FrameDraw the county, township or license polygon.
2. 2Load recordsAdd MRDS, USMIN and the state layer.
3. 3Add geologyRead the district and deposit-type references.
4. 4Add land statusPull BLM claim and land records.
5. 5Add satelliteLayer alteration and faults if needed.
6. 6CheckSample the best two or three places.

1. Frame the area. Draw the county, township or license polygon you care about and keep one coordinate system.
2. Load the records. Add the MRDS and USMIN web map services (WMS 1.3.0 and WFS 1.1.0) or per-state KMZ files to a GIS, plus the state layer for your state.
3. Add geology. Add the state geologic map and read the district references for the deposit type: Carlin-type (very fine gold disseminated in Nevada rocks), epithermal (formed from hot water near the surface), vein, placer or byproduct.
4. Add land status. Pull BLM claim and land records for the same area, and check protected land with the managing agency.
5. Add satellite layers if you need them. Sentinel-2 alteration and structure layers can rank places to visit; see the satellite section below.
6. Check on the ground. Walk, sample and assay the best two or three places before you spend on drilling.

Check who controls the ground before you rely on a map

A gold map says nothing about who may work the ground. The BLM’s Mineral and Land Records System (MLRS) replaced older systems such as LR2000 and Alaska’s ALIS, and covers mining claims, land tenure and other case types. Its public mining claims reports include a case action report, a claim name and number index, a customer information report and a geographic index report. Public reports carry Privacy Act redactions.

Nevada Mineral Explorer also carries land and mining claim status, which keeps claims on the same map as the geology. For fees, forms and deadlines see our guide to BLM mining claims. An unpatented claim gives rights to the minerals, not ownership of the land; the video below explains the difference and four checks to run before buying one.

▶ Explains why owning a gold claim is not owning the land, and four checks before you buy one (3:19). · 3:19

What a gold map cannot show: gold nobody has found yet

Maps record what people already found. USGS estimates that US gold resources total 33,000 t: 15,000 t in identified deposits and 18,000 t in undiscovered ones. Nearly one-quarter of the undiscovered gold is estimated to sit in porphyry copper deposits (large copper deposits where intrusive rock fed mineral-bearing fluids). Reserves, the part that can be mined at a profit today (resources are the wider total, including gold not yet proven economic), are listed at 3,000 t (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, 2026). The resource split comes from a 1998 assessment, USGS Circular 1178, so it is a long-standing estimate, not a fresh survey.

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US gold resources by stage of knowledge

Metric tons of gold in a 1998 USGS assessment

So a mine symbol cannot tell you three things: how much gold lies below the pit, whether it can be recovered at today’s price, and whether it can be permitted. A grade printed on an old record is a historic figure, not a current resource estimate.

Where satellite maps fit

Satellites do not see gold. They map clues around it: iron-oxide staining, clay and mica minerals, silica and faults. That makes them useful for ranking where to look, once you have read the survey records above. Our guide to reading a satellite gold map explains what the colours mean and where they mislead, and the video below shows the same ideas in four minutes.

Farmonaut screens a license or study-area polygon with satellite data and returns ranked exploration targets and georeferenced GIS files in 5 to 20 business days, depending on size and mineral. The results are targets for field checks, not a resource estimate. Read about our satellite-based mineral detection service or send a quote request.

▶ Shows what a satellite gold map displays and four rules for reading one (4:18). · 4:18

Convert a map grade to grams per tonne and ounces

Older US records and many state publications give grade in troy ounces per short ton (oz/ton). Modern reports use grams per tonne (g/t). NIST lists one troy ounce as 31.10348 g and one short ton as 907.1847 kg, so 1 oz/ton equals 34.2857 g/t. The calculator below converts a record’s grade, then shows contained ounces, recovered ounces and value at the price you type in.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official gold map of the USA?

No single one. USGS publishes MRDS and USMIN, and state surveys publish their own. MRDS has not been systematically updated since 2011, and each state product covers one state, so you need to combine two or three sources.

Which states have the most gold?

Nevada and Alaska. USGS estimates Nevada at about 64% of 2025 US production and Alaska at about 22%. In 2022, the USGS Minerals Yearbook put the split at 73% and 13%. The other 2022 producers were Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.

How many gold mines are in the US?

In 2025, USGS counted gold from more than 40 lode mines in 12 states, several large placer mines in Alaska and numerous small placer mines. The top 25 operations produce about 94% of US gold.

Is the USGS MRDS still updated?

Not systematically. USGS stopped regular updates in 2011 and is building a new database for the conterminous US. MRDS remains the best USGS collection for locations outside the US.

Can I download gold mine locations for Google Earth or GIS?

Yes. USMIN has per-state KMZ files, ARDF has a KML and a KMZ, and MRDS offers CSV and shapefile downloads. All three also offer WMS and WFS web services for a GIS.

How do I find out if gold ground is already claimed?

Use the BLM’s MLRS public mining claims reports, which include a geographic index report, and check any state layer such as Nevada Mineral Explorer. Public reports have Privacy Act redactions. Confirm the status with the BLM before you rely on it.

How much gold is left to find in the US?

USGS estimates 33,000 t of US gold resources, 15,000 t identified and 18,000 t undiscovered, from a 1998 assessment. Reserves, the economic part today, are listed at 3,000 t.

What is the difference between lode gold and placer gold on a map?

Lode gold is in hard rock, so it follows veins, faults and intrusions. Placer gold is loose in stream gravel, so it follows rivers and old channels. Alaska had about 150 placer operations in 2022, and most US output comes from lode mines.

Why does a copper mine show up as a gold producer?

Some copper ores contain gold that is recovered as a byproduct. About 7% of US gold comes this way, and Bingham Canyon in Utah made 3,820 kg of gold in 2022 from copper and molybdenum ore.

How accurate are locations on old mine maps?

It depends on the source scale. USMIN symbols come from printed topographic maps and ARDF text from 1:250,000 sheets, so positions are approximate. Confirm any target with a current survey and a GPS in the field.

Can satellite images show where gold is?

Not gold itself. They show alteration minerals, rust stains and faults that sit around many gold systems. Treat the result as a list of places to check on the ground.