NM receives $3.8 million for abandoned mines

The Interior Department has awarded $3.8 million to the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to reclaim abandoned mines near Raton, Socorro, Deming, Lordsburg and Hillsboro.

[Concha Pena]

There's gold in them there mines. Gimmi some mo and I'll go look for it!

[CornDaddy]

Jez, just how much does a chain link fence and several signs cost anyway?

[Hal]

CornDaddy wrote:

Jez, just how much does a chain link fence and several signs cost anyway?

The article says to clean up environmental issues as well as close mine entrances, etc. I'm pretty sure they close the entrances by blasting them shut. It is a pretty low price tag for cleaning uranium and other wastes.

[CornDaddy]

Hal wrote:

<quoted text>
The article says to clean up environmental issues as well as close mine entrances, etc. I'm pretty sure they close the entrances by blasting them shut. It is a pretty low price tag for cleaning uranium and other wastes.

Just how much E waste could there possibly be on mines that are in many cases 90+ years old? Some perhaps but...

I wasn't aware they blasted them closed. The few I've seen while hunting had either not been touched or had a strong chain link fence covering the opening and signage.

Those that are exposed holes in the ground where one can fall in, they are a hazard.

[Idea]

How about using some of that money to give to the families of the miners who have died due to black lung. That would be a good way to spend the money.

[Hal]

CornDaddy wrote:

<quoted text>
Just how much E waste could there possibly be on mines that are in many cases 90+ years old? Some perhaps but...
I wasn't aware they blasted them closed. The few I've seen while hunting had either not been touched or had a strong chain link fence covering the opening and signage.
Those that are exposed holes in the ground where one can fall in, they are a hazard.

I think for the most part the environmental waste they are talking about is old leach fields, or stream beds that are clogged. Uranium waste can be hazardous for thousands of years and has to be dealt with separately. They used to just fence off old mine entrances, but now they seal them when they find them on public land.

[CornDaddy]

Hal wrote:

<quoted text> I think for the most part the environmental waste they are talking about is old leach fields, or stream beds that are clogged. Uranium waste can be hazardous for thousands of years and has to be dealt with separately. They used to just fence off old mine entrances, but now they seal them when they find them on public land.

Do we have that many uranium mines (or mines where it was a by-product) in NM where that is a problem? I doubt either of us have a clue on that so its not really a Q that begs an answer.

[bad john]

portals are to be cemented shut .at one old mine idiots kept cutting fence.mine was gassy and if you went 50 feet in you were going to die. methane and other natural gases have no smell so you just fall down and die. old slag piles from coal mines contain heavy metals that leech out as well.there is an outfit coming to Trinidad that has a machine that supposedly can turn mine waste into oil. maybe but i am not investing my money.

[Just me]

CornDaddy wrote:

<quoted text>
Do we have that many uranium mines (or mines where it was a by-product) in NM where that is a problem? I doubt either of us have a clue on that so its not really a Q that begs an answer.

Uranium mining was common in New Mexico, beginning in the 1920s. Specifically, the Grants area was an important uranium source.

But pollution and contamination can come from open pits, open shafts, and waste piles from any sort of mining - gold, coal, silver, copper, etc.