My question was “what mines currently permitted on federal land are owned by US corporations?” It was kind of a test because I wanted to see if Chat GPT understood permitting and the 1872 Mining Act.
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There isn’t a single clean, public list of “all currently permitted mines on federal land owned by U.S. corporations.” That’s not because it’s secret—it’s because the U.S. doesn’t track or publish mining data that way. Federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service oversee hundreds of individual plans, notices, and leases, but ownership, permitting status, and land tenure are fragmented across systems.
That said, you can identify major active or permitted mines on federal land and who owns them. Below is a grounded snapshot of prominent examples—focusing on U.S.-based corporations or companies with major U.S. ownership stakes (some are joint ventures with foreign firms).
Major active/permitted mines on federal land (examples)
Gold (primarily Nevada – largely on BLM land)
These are among the clearest examples because Nevada gold mining heavily overlaps federal land.
- Cortez Gold Mine
- Owners: Barrick Gold (operator) & Newmont Corporation
- Status: Active large-scale open pit + underground
- Notes: Part of a huge federal-land mining district
- Carlin Trend operations (includes Goldstrike, Gold Quarry, etc.)
- Owners: Barrick + Newmont (via Nevada Gold Mines JV)
- Status: Active, multiple mines and processing facilities
- One of the largest gold-producing complexes in the world
- Goldstrike Mine
- Owner: Barrick Gold
- Status: Long-running active mine on federal land
- Turquoise Ridge Mine
- Owners: Barrick + Newmont
- Status: Active underground mine (federal land)
- Phoenix Mine
- Owners: Barrick + Newmont
- Status: Active
👉 These Nevada operations are part of Nevada Gold Mines, which includes 10 underground and 12 surface mines on largely federal land.
Other metals (U.S.-linked companies on federal land)
- Bald Mountain Mine
- Owner: Kinross Gold
- Status: Active open-pit mine (BLM land)
- Rochester Mine
- Owner: Coeur Mining
- Status: Active (notably U.S.-based company)
- Round Mountain Mine
- Owner: Kinross Gold
- Status: Active
- Robinson Mine
- Owner: KGHM (foreign-controlled)
- Status: Active
Coal (federal leasing system – mostly U.S. companies)
Coal is different: mines operate under federal leases with royalties rather than mining claims.
Examples (Wyoming Powder River Basin, largely federal land):
- North Antelope Rochelle Mine
- Owner: Peabody Energy
- Black Thunder Mine
- Owner: Arch Resources
Coal mining on federal land accounts for a large share of U.S. production and is dominated by U.S.-based firms.
Uranium (recent restart example)
- Pinyon Plain Mine (near Grand Canyon)
- Owner: Energy Fuels
- Status: Recently active under existing federal claims (controversial location)
- Notable as a modern example of a U.S.-owned company mining federal land
Key reality check (important context)
- There were ~500+ approved hardrock mining operations on federal land since 2000, with hundreds active at any time.
- As of ~2023, Interior reported ~500 active plans of operation plus hundreds of smaller notices.
- Ownership is mixed:
- Many mines are run by foreign-headquartered firms (Barrick, Kinross, etc.)
- Even “U.S.” mines are often joint ventures
- The U.S. system (Mining Law of 1872) allows both individuals and corporations to hold claims on federal land.
Bottom line
- There is no authoritative public list of “currently permitted mines on federal land owned by U.S. corporations.”
- But in practice:
- The largest active federal-land mines are concentrated in Nevada (gold) and Wyoming (coal)
- A subset are owned or co-owned by U.S. companies, especially:
- Newmont Corporation
- Coeur Mining
- Peabody Energy
- Energy Fuels
If you want, I can build a more exhaustive dataset (e.g., all BLM “plans of operation” tied to corporate ownership and flag which are U.S.-controlled vs foreign). That’s doable, but it requires stitching together multiple federal datasets.