Sinkhole risk in Mineral County, NV: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 7%
At or near the surface: 7%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 274 of Mineral County's 3,751 square miles on soluble rock, 274 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 4,475 residents (1 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 614 map points about 2.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Mineral County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 416 miles east. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Mono County, CA 48 mi southwest · 2% at surface
Lyon County, NV 55 mi northwest · 9% at surface
Esmeralda County, NV 66 mi southeast · 15% at surface
Douglas County, NV 70 mi northwest · 13% at surface
Churchill County, NV 71 mi north · 6% at surface
Alpine County, CA 75 mi west · 0% at surface

What Mineral County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (sandstone), Late Eocene to Late Miocene in age, covering about 4% of the county. Next is the Limestone, minor amounts of dolomite, shale, and sandstone; locally thick conglomerate units at 3%.

Against the rest of Nevada

Mineral County ranks 12 of 17 in Nevada for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 65% of US counties on that measure.