It doesn’t take much for a century-old mine shaft to cave in around you. Or for the mercury, lead or arsenic leftovers to leech into the Silver State’s already strained groundwater supply. That’s why, ...

The ghosts of the Silver State’s mining roots aren’t just spooky — they’re a serious environmental hazard. About half a million abandoned mines lie untouched across America, polluting waterways and ...

These five former boomtowns invite you to step into the state’s mining history On the northern edge of the Mojave Desert sits the remnants of a former boomtown. There, visitors are greeted by the ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images There are about 500,000 abandoned mines in ...

While most of the abandoned mines in New Hampshire are not producing significant contamination, there are a few that have. (Courtesy of Trout Unlimited) With little attention in the media, except in a ...

Learning the protocol for “unanticipated discoveries” is a mandatory part of visitor training for the site where Lithium Americas, a mining company originally from Canada, plans to tear up the desert ...

It’s a brisk day in Johannesburg, a tiny mining town tucked among the Rand Mountains in the Mojave Desert. The landscape is vast and rugged, a mishmash of rock, dirt and creosote bushes, swaths of ...

There are about 500,000 abandoned mines in the United States, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and these long-forgotten facilities can pose a variety of risks to people unaware ...