Annual Report 3 - New Mexico - Energy, Minerals and Natural ...

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MMD is very proud of the outreach efforts we have completed, including the 2008 launch of Online Mines, Mills
and Quarries (MMQ) at www.emnrd.state.nm.us/MMD/MRRS/MinesMillsQuarriesWebMap.htm. Historically,
MMQ was a printed directory of active mining, milling and smelting operations in the state, published every five
years. With Online MMQ, the mine information is now combined with interactive maps in a GIS application. Data
in this map are dynamically pulled from the Mine Registration database. The map features selectable layers with
population, transportation, hydrology, surface and mineral ownership and mining district data.
In May 2009, MMD launched the Abandoned Mine Land Program Construction Projects Map at
www.emnrd.state.nm.us/mmd/aml/maps/amlconstructionprojectsmap.htm. The interactive map provides details of
current and past AML construction projects.
PARTNERSHIPS: The drop in state revenue has led all agencies, including MMD, to find ways to save
money. Although not always possible, our goal is to ensure that those cost cutting measures do not impact services to
the public and the regulated community. Fortunately, MMD has been pursuing a strategy to increase the involvement
of private consulting firms, the appropriate federal government agencies and others over the past eight years, which
has allowed MMD to leverage resources applied to mine reclamation throughout the state.
One area of partnership involving MMD for several years is addressing the legacy of uranium mining. Beginning
in 2006, MMD held a number of meetings with Navajo and Hopi officials to provide and receive training on
radiological assessments and to coordinate efforts for uranium mine reclamation. Currently, MMD is working
with U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Navajo Nation Environmental Protection
Agency and New Mexico Environment Department in the development of new criteria to address the reclamation
of uranium exploration and mine sites. The criteria will include radiological standards that will be met at final
reclamation and surface reclamation techniques that will reduce the erosion rates at reclaimed mine uranium mines,
limiting the possibility of re-exposure of radiological materials.
Using a combination of federal and state funding, MMD recently completed a detailed physical inventory of 54
abandoned uranium mines that had no previous record of reclamation work, this allowing these sites to be prioritized
for reclamation. Mitigation strategies and preliminary designs for reclamation have been completed at the Poison
Canyon Complex for a series of seven abandoned uranium mines.
Another project completed in 2010 with a BLM grant is the Carbonate Hill Mine Safeguard Project. The Carbonate
Hill Project safeguarded 21 abandoned mine openings. The project included eight bat-compatible cupola, gates and
grate structures that allow bats and owls to continue to access their underground mine habitats while protecting
them from human disturbance.
The opportunity to leverage resources can also be seen in a project involving the San Juan Coal Mine. At the San
Juan Mine, the Piñon and Juniper pits are being reclaimed by filling the pits with coal combustion by-products
ENERGY, MINERALS AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT