Established by the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, the National Mine Map Repository (NMMR) collects and maintains mine map information and images for the entire country. The oldest maps in the archive originate from the Appalachian Region, which date back to 1792!

As an extension of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), NMMR acquires maps through public outreach efforts directed at state and federal agencies as well as mining companies, engineering and consulting firms, surveying companies, universities, and private citizens.

Celebrating our new and improved database!

March Mapness Tournament

OSMRE and NMMR are happy to announce upgrades to its online mine map database, making searching through its extensive historic and contemporary mine map collection easier than ever. Learn more about the database upgrades by visiting the NMMR website.

To help celebrate this new and improved database, OSMRE presents the March Mapness Tournament. Maps will compete until one reigns supreme as the 2018 March Mapness Champion! Follow along on Facebook and Twitter (@osmre and @minemaps) and cast your vote using #MapMadness and #MarchMapness. May the best map win!

Having trouble seeing the image? Download the March Mapness Bracket PDF.

Our Mission and Responsibilities

The NMMR mission is to provide Federal agencies, State and local partners, private industry and private citizens with mine maps and mining related information. The archived maps have commonly been used to aid in environmental remediation, construction projects, actuarial analysis for mine subsidence insurance, resource extraction planning, mining disaster support, and historic preservation.

In order to achieve its mission, the NMMR obtains and preserves mine maps and mine map information from throughout the country. It serves as a clearinghouse for all closed or abandoned mine map data, including hard rock and coal, in the United States. The NMMR strives to increase public accessibility and use of its unique information by transforming its archive into digital, spatial-enabled media. Through its efforts, the program has cataloged over 170,000 digital mine maps into its archive, making it the largest collection of mine maps in the country.

In addition to scanning, a large component of NMMR operations is capturing and storing individual mine and map information so that it can be readily delivered to its clients. NNMR staff record pertinent information from the map, including coordinate location, company name, mine name, state, county, mine type, and coal bed name, into the NMMR database. This allows NMMR and other OSMRE employees to easily track down mine information using text or location based searches.

Mine Map Index System

Looking for a map? Search the Mine Map Index System. Maintained by the National Mine Map Repository (NMMR), the index system allows visitors to search the database listing of mine maps available from NMMR.

The NMMR internal database is also paired with two platforms that enable both public and private customers to search for mines. The NMMR Text Search page allows users to perform a text search for mines using a combination of various fields. The NMMR Web Map provides a spatial querying functionality to locate mines. These two search tools expand the capabilities of the NMMR by allowing anyone with access to the internet to find information on mines, and in turn aid in the mission of OSMRE to protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of mining by providing fast and easy access to data.