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

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In 2008, Chevron Mining Inc., terminated coal mining operations at the McKinley Mine. The McKinley Mine is
located northwest of Gallup and was New Mexico’s first large-scale surface coal strip mine. The mine produced
approximately 175 million tons of coal since operations began in 1962. The mine operated under MMD jurisdiction
on private, state and allotment lands, and under OSM jurisdiction within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation.
Approximately 5,600 acres of land were disturbed and reclaimed on the portions of the mine regulated by
MMD. Post-mining land use of the mine site is grazing and wildlife habitat. The company was recognized for
the development and implementation of a state-of-the-art post-mining geomorphic topography creating superior
landscape stability and vegetative diversity.
Over this past decade, MMD has worked extensively with Phelps Dodge, Inc., initially, followed by Freeport-
McMoRan Copper and Gold, Inc., (formally, Phelps Dodge, Inc.) on reclamation of two of the state’s largest mines,
the Tyrone and Chino copper mines. Although both are currently active mines, their large sizes allow reclamation to
occur concurrently. During this timeframe, approximately 2,000 acres have been reclaimed; requiring four million
cubic yards of material to be regraded and over 13 million cubic yards of cover material to be put in place. This has
allowed MMD to reduce the bonding liability for these mines by over $80 million.
In 2010, MMD and Samcon, Inc., finished the multiple-year Sugarite Gob Reclamation Project in Sugarite Canyon
State Park, located near Raton in Colfax County. Coal mining had impacted 22 acres in the park and, in several
places the waste reaches the Chicorica Creek in the canyon floor. Slopes on the rapidly eroding gob piles were
extremely steep and gullied. MMD’s objectives for the Sugarite gob reclamation were three-fold: to improve water
quality in Chicorica Creek; to preserve historic mining structures and reclaim the gob piles in-place; and to improve
park visitor safety.
Samcon installed erosion and sedimentation control structures, amended the poor soils and planted seedlings for
revegetation. This was a Herculean effort due to the great volume of waste material, difficult access and the historic
landscape value. The coal waste piles have been reclaimed in place, with minimal regrading. This required that almost
all of the work be done by hand. The workers carried not only all the straw bales, but all the amendment materials
and seedlings. The total weight of materials carried in by hand was over 250 tons.
Over 65,000 native seedlings, provided by New Mexico State Forestry, were planted at Sugarite. A decade after initial
reclamation construction began, the stage has been set for continued increases in vegetative cover. Trees and shrubs
that were just a few inches high when planted are now visible from a distance on the gob piles. Prior to the start
of reclamation work, areas of the creek were clogged with fine, black sediment deposits. Today the creek bottom is
largely free of black deposits and a cobble bottom predominates. Increased vegetation has made the gob slopes safer
for the park visitors who walk on them.
Occasionally, mitigation of mine hazards through reclamation can occur at large operations as well. Molycorp, Inc.,
won a 2005 award for mitigation work on its Goathill North Rockpile. The massive rockpile, located at the Questa
molybdenum mine in Taos County, contains more than 3 million cubic yards of rock placed there from 1964 to 1974.
The foundation of the pile started slumping in the 1970s and, in 2003, it was identified as having the potential to
ENERGY, MINERALS AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT