Here is an updated mining claims map for the Black Hills. Claims that are new since our last map update in August are in light yellow. Most of these are the lithium mining claims south of Custer to Pringle. This updated number of mining claims now confirms a total of 228,000 acres of active mining claims in the Black Hills as of December 30, 2022. This is about 18% of the total Black Hills — almost one in every five acres in the Black Hills is under a mining claim.  That means 228,000 acres are sited for exploration and could potentially become large-scale mining operations that would threaten the water, the land, and human health.

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This is the same map as the one above but we have include those companies attached to those claims.

A company or person who has a mining claim and gets the necessary permits may explore for minerals and, if any are found, may mine on the claimed land under the 1872 Mining Law. This 150-year-old law dates from when Ulysses S. Grant was President and says that someone who mines on federally-controlled lands does not have to pay any royalties to the federal government. This outdated law allows water contamination across the western United States. We must protect our limited water from large-scale mining, which uses and contaminates large amounts of water.

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