Wharf Resources Gold Mine

The Wharf Mine, owned by Coeur Mining, headquartered in Chicago, ILL, is the only active large-scale gold/silver mine in the Black Hills. The Wharf gold mine is an open pit, heap leach operation located in the northern Black Hills of western South Dakota, approximately four miles southwest of the city of Lead, South Dakota. The property consists of several areas of adjoining gold mineralization, which have been mined as a series of open pits since 1980s. Coeur Mining purchased it in early 2015.

UPDATE (1/15/26):

Coeur Mining celebrated the New Year by filing a new Exploration Notice of Intent (EXNI) to expand gold exploration at the Wharf Mine near Lead.  South Dakota law does not require a company to apply for a permit in order to drill for gold.  Instead, the company just lets the state know that it intends to explore.  There is no opportunity for public input.

The planned new exploration drilling could include over 1900 new holes to a depth of up to 10,000 feet below ground.  That’s drilling to 1.9 miles underground!  The drilling would be 2,000 feet (.4 miles) deeper than the old Homestake Mine in Lead. The drilling could lead to a large expansion to their already huge gold/silver mine.

See attached documents for a map of the proposed new exploration area and the EXNI paperwork, which includes a list of the company’s state violations of mining laws.

New Wharf EXNI South DakotaDownload
WharfEXNI468MapDownload
State board gives blessing to Black Hills gold mine expansion
State board considering expansion of Black Hills gold mine

TAKE A DRIVE WITH US TO SEE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT A LARGE-SCALE MINE DOES TO THE LANDSCAPE — IT’S PRETTY UGLY! 

Images below: Use the slider in the images below to see the comparison between what the Wharf Gold Mine looked like in 1985 to what it looked like in 2020.

HERE IS A QUIET BIRD’S EYE VIEW VIDEO.

This Bird’s Eye view of the Massive Wharf Gold Mine shows the destruction that large-scale mining causes to the landscape. This mine uses cyanide to process minerals (gold/silver). Video Source: Coeur Wharf.

Image below shows one of the most recent Cyanide spill reported to the SD DANR Dept.

South Dakota’s DANR toxic spills map can be found by clicking HERE.

The Wharf Gold Mine, a stone throw north of Terry Peak Ski Lodge and west of Lead, SD. Credit: Black Hills Pioneer.