Rockhounding in Phelps County, MO: 127 USGS Mineral Sites (2026)

Check access before you go. Most sites listed here are old mines, quarries or prospects, and many are on private land or active mining claims. Get the landowner's permission, check the rules of the agency that manages any public land, and never enter mine workings. Locations are approximate.

Sketch map

Past ProducerProducerProspectOccurrenceStatus unknown

66 paw pins; nearby sites are grouped into one pin. Hover or tap a pin for the site name. 1 site(s) with USGS coordinates outside the outline are not pinned. County outline: US Census Bureau cartographic boundary file (2023). Locations approximate.

Woof’s favorite find

Decamp Mine

We picked it because its USGS record mentions 1 gem or collectible mineral (Quartz) and 2 of our card minerals overall. No other named site here scores as high on both counts. USGS lists it as past producer for Iron. Minerals mentioned: Quartz, Copper. Approx. location 37.884, -91.605. USGS record.

Ask first: a USGS record doesn’t mean you can visit. Find out who owns the land and get permission before collecting.

Field cards: what kind of sites?

Past Producer

Produced ore or material at some point in the past.

Prospect

Explored or test-dug, with no recorded production.

Occurrence

The mineral was noted here, without development.

Unknown

Status not recorded.

Producer

Was producing when the record was made.

Status terms come from USGS MRDS records.

Mineral cards

Copper
Mohs 2.5–3. Native copper is soft and turns green as it weathers. Mindat
4 sites
Pyrite
Mohs 6–6.5. Brassy “fool’s gold,” often cubic. Mindat
3 sites
Quartz
Mohs 7. Six-sided points; smoky quartz is NH’s state gem. Mindat
1 site

Counts are sites whose USGS record mentions the mineral or commodity. Hardness from Mindat.

Minerals recorded here

Limonite 15Hematite 10Marcasite 2Pyrite 2Ocher 1Copper 1

Commodities

Iron 118Lead 6Copper 1Flagstone 1Aluminum 1Calcium 1

Sites (first 40)

Site	Commodity	Minerals recorded	Status	Approx. location
Stimson Mine	Iron	Copper, Limonite	Past Producer	37.848, -91.574
Hyer Mine	Iron	Hematite	Past Producer	37.811, -91.657
Burns Mine	Iron	Hematite	Past Producer	37.797, -91.575
Lenox Mine	Iron	Hematite	Past Producer	37.885, -91.644
Clinton Mine	Iron	Hematite	Past Producer	37.805, -91.563
South Mountain Mine	Iron	Hematite	Past Producer	37.998, -91.553
Santee and Clark Mine	Iron	Hematite, Limonite	Past Producer	37.964, -91.593
Williford Mine	Iron	Hematite, Limonite	Occurrence	37.881, -91.538
Kelly Mine No. 2	Iron	Hematite, Limonite, Pyrite	Past Producer	37.919, -91.809
Buckland Mine	Iron	Hematite, Marcasite	Past Producer	37.911, -91.835
Moselle No. 10	Iron	Hematite, Pyrite	Past Producer	37.834, -91.828
Little Piney Bank No. 2	Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.861, -91.882
Little Piney Bank No. 1	Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.866, -91.880
Agricultural College Land	Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.934, -91.970
Winkler Mine	Iron	Limonite	Past Producer	37.836, -91.555
Ozark Branch Bank	Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.928, -91.926
Kelly Mine No. 3	Copper, Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.868, -91.628
Clark Mine	Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.829, -91.560
Beaver Creek Mine	Iron	Limonite	Past Producer	37.880, -91.815
Strahan Land	Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.987, -91.868
Strawhun Bank	Iron	Limonite	Occurrence	37.960, -91.888
Decamp Mine	Iron	Limonite, Marcasite	Past Producer	37.884, -91.605
See Bank	Iron	Ocher	Past Producer	37.794, -91.754
African Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.822, -91.572
Cooper Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.928, -91.611
Hudgeons Mine	Iron	—	Occurrence	37.890, -91.856
Kelly Mine No. 1	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.839, -91.848
Meramec Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.958, -91.539
Moselle Mine No. 9	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.979, -91.603
James Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.978, -91.604
Ozark Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.787, -91.913
Thornton-Dowling Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.972, -91.586
Brady Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.805, -91.580
Lamb Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.802, -91.557
Moselle Mine No. 1	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.807, -91.774
Reed Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.890, -91.633
Smith Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.807, -91.578
Taylor's Rolla Mine	Iron	—	Past Producer	37.926, -91.798
Browns Prospect	Iron	—	Prospect	37.841, -91.962
Gottscall	Iron	—	Occurrence	37.944, -91.941

Fossil collections

The Paleobiology Database lists 14 fossil collection records in Phelps County. These are research records, not public dig sites.

Nearby counties

Dent County · Crawford County · Maries County · Pulaski County · Gasconade County

Missouri mineral guides

Back to all Missouri counties.

Is It Legal to Collect Rocks on Public Land? BLM, Forest Service and National Park Rules

How we built this page: we counted named sites in the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) for this area, left out sand, gravel, crushed stone, clay pits and unnamed sites, grouped them by Census county, and linked every site to its USGS record. We did not visit these sites, and MRDS does not tell you who owns the land or whether collecting is allowed.

Source: USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS). USGS ceased systematic updates to MRDS around 2011, so status and details may be out of date. Each site links to its USGS record.

Updated October 2026

Rockhounding in Phelps County, Missouri