Historic Mining Sites
CLEVELAND MILL located on FOREST ROUTE 804, North of Silver City - Site ID NMD981155930
The Cleveland Mill superfund site was an abandoned lead, zinc, and copper mining and milling operation. Mill tailings and mine waste rock were discarded in several sites on the property during mining and processing activities.
In the early 1980s, local residents became concerned about acid run off draining from the tailings into Little Walnut Creek and causing a red discoloration of creek water. These citizens raised their concerns about the site to the New Mexico Environment Department. By 1989, the site was listed on the National Priorities List. Remediation of the site began in 1997 and the final clean up was completed in 1999. The site was removed from the National Priorities List in 2002 after a five year review. The report for this review is available online as a PFD document at the following location: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/fiveyear/f2007060001807.pdf
COPPER LEACH OPERATION located 10 MILES SW OF SILVER CITY, NM - Site ID NMD986684249
The copper leach operation is a site that underwent exploration, intermittent mining, leach testing, and iron precipitated copper production in the 1960s and 1970s. Purchased by Phelps Dodge (now Freeport-McMoRan) in 1990, the site has been on standby status under the NM Mining Act since 2004. Freeport-McMoRan is completing in-place reclamation of the existing leach stockpile and precipitation plant as a requirement of standby status approval. This remediation will be completed this year, Copper Leach, a heap leach facility associated with the Little Rock Mine, which is now part of the Tyrone Mine complex, is being re-graded, covered and reseeded in place. Given the recent rise in global copper prices, FMI is now proposing to develop and operate the Little Rock Mine and has submitted a revised closure/closeout plan for clean-up and reclamation of the site once mining ceases. For more information on how FMI intends to reclaim this area, go here.
EAST CAMP MILL located 38 MILES NW OF SILVER CITY, NM - Site ID NM0001408244
This is the site also referred to as the East Camp Mine. It is located on patented land surrounded by Bureau of Land Management Land. The historic operations at this site produced gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. This site consists of several building and mill foundations, several mine shafts, a tailings pile, and two impoundments containing tailings.
A preliminary assessment conducted by the New Mexico Department of Environmental Quality started in 1996 and was completed in 1998. We are researching this site further and will post another response when more information is available.
WHITEWATER & HANOVER CREEKS located 10 MILES EAST OF SILVER CITY - Site ID NMD986682763
Hanover and Whitewater Creeks run from the Fierro/Cobre Mine area down past highway 180 near Hurley. These creeks are impacted by contamination from historic mining. This site was originally on the CERCLA National Priory List and was investigated by CERCLA for Superfund listing in the 1990s. However, the state took over this site as part of the Administrative Order On Consent (AOC), a CERCLA- style investigation and remediation that has continued for the last 14 years. Hanover and Whitewater Creeks comprise one of several Investigation Units including the town of Hurley that encompasses about 55 square miles of historic mining waste associated with Chino Mine. As part of the AOC, interim cleanup of "tin can" copper precipitation enterprises along Whitewater Creek has already been completed. Additionally, an Ecological Risk Assessment has been revised and an Environmental Risk Assessment is pending. Once completed, a pre-Feasibility Study and Remedial Action Criteria will be written for the site, possibly by the end of 2010. These studies will document the levels of contamination and possible remediation actions. Since its establishment, GRIP has been an active member of the Community Work Group, the citizens’ advisory group involved in the AOC process. GRIP continues to provide public input to the process to ensure that these sites are cleaned up to levels that protect public health and the environment.
HEARST MILL SILVER AVE & 22ND STREET - Site ID NM0000037408
The Hearst Mill was a historic mining operation processing ore from local mines. The site was remediated in 1994 as an emergency cleanup conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. GRIP is currently working to acquire follow up documents from the EPA on the effectiveness of this clean-up.
Update: Read the Hearst Tailings Site Assessment and Removal Report.
PINOS ALTOS MINING DISTRICT
Read the Pinos Altos Mining District Site Characterization report.
SAN VICENTE CREEK TAILINGS located 1/2 MI. SW OF SILVER CITY ON W.BANK - Site ID NMD980879415
The San Vicente Creek Tailings located just south of town on the west bank of San Vicente Creek sit on the site of the former Silver City Reduction Works, a historic smelter in operation from the 1880s through the 1940s. The San Vicente Creek Tailings were brought to the site circa World War II to be reprocessed by the Silver City Reduction Works. However, this plan never came to fruition. Now 70 years later, the tailings still remain. During intense rainfall, tailings have drained into the creek carrying contamination into this perennial stream that is home to native fish and other wildlife. Local residents, land owners and concerned citizens are worried that this site could pose a risk to human and environmental health. The site has also become an obstacle to economic redevelopment of the area as part of Silver City’s River Walk project. In 1985, the New Mexico Environment Department tested the composition of the tailings. These tests revealed that the tailings contain elevated levels of lead, zinc, copper, cyanide, and arsenic. In order to prevent further contamination of San Vicente Creek, the U.S. EPA built berms to contain the tailings. Eventually, these berms were breached allowing the tailings to drain into the creek. In 2008, the EPA returned to construct ditches and new berms to redirect storm runoff away from the tailings and the creek.
The New Mexico Environment Department released a Site Inspection Reassessment (SIR) for the San Vicente Creek Tailings in 2011. This report has the most recent documentation on contamination to soils, sediment and ground water near the tailings.
In February 2010, the Gila Resources Information Project received an AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA member to work with the Town of Silver City, New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau, the Grant County Trails Group and other stakeholders on the cooperative remediation of legacy mine sites in the Silver City Watershed, including the San Vicente Creek tailings. As part of this effort, GRIP has organized a citizens’ environmental monitoring group called the Silver City Watershed Keepers. This group of volunteers monitors the environmental quality of the Silver City watershed, screening for environmental contaminants, such as those from the San Vicente Creek Tailings, and records other baseline environmental data. This information will be used to track environmental quality of the watershed over time and apply for grant funding for the clean-up and restoration of legacy mines sites such as the San Vicente tailings.
New Mexico Legacy Mines
Click here to read more about the history of New Mexico Mines.
For more information or to get involved with the Silver City Watershed Keepers, contact Dan Hintz at GRIP at 538-8078 or dan@gilaresources.info |
