Location
The former Bokum Mill site is located in the Marquez sub-district of the Grants Mining district, approximately 41 miles northwest of Albuquerque.
Ownership and History
In 1977 Bokum Resources Corporation announced it had undertaken planning for a uranium processing mill at a Marquez, New Mexico, property. The state of New Mexico assumed regulatory responsibility for uranium mills within its borders in 1974, which meant Bokum Resources’ Marquez Mill (or Bokum Mill) was originally regulated by the state. In 1981, prior to any operations at the site beginning, ten creditors of Bokum Resources filed a petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking a reorganization of the company. In 1982, the District Court of New Mexico upheld a case—In Re Bokum Resources Corp., 26 B.R. 615 (D.N.M. 1982)— placing Bokum Resources into involuntary bankruptcy due to having more than three creditors with unpaid debts.
In 1986, the state of New Mexico returned regulatory responsibility for uranium mills to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). All New Mexico mill licensing records then transferred to the NRC’s Uranium Recovery Field Office in Colorado and were made public in 1998. The New Mexico documents were part of about 20,000 Title I and Title II records that previously were not publicly available. Records for the Bokum Mill remain largely inaccessible since most of the historical documents are on microfiche. Microfiche collections are at the NRC Public Document Room in Rockville, Maryland, and at some former NRC Local Public Document Rooms. A list of the docketed materials for Bokum Resources is available through the NRC’s website.
The Bokum Mill construction began with the expectation that uranium ore from nearby mines would be milled. However, as the price of uranium declined in the early 1980s, mining ceased and the mill was never put into operation. Construction of the mine and mill was never completed, and neither facility was ever operated. Bokum Resources later dismantled the site.
The NRC terminated its source material license following multiple site inspections in 1988 and confirmed that uranium ore was never processed or produced at Bokum Mill.
Reclamation and Regulatory Jurisdiction
Not Applicable
Timeline for Completion of Cleanup Activities
Not applicable
Coordination Between State and Federal Agencies
Not applicable
Anticipated Funding Requirements
Not applicable
Disclaimer
This Bokum Mill site review is based on court and NRC records. As noted above, this is because the State of New Mexico transferred relevant records to NRC and is no longer in possession of the documents. Site reviews in this report provide the reader with a general history and status of permitted mines and mills. For brevity, they may not provide all relevant details or agency actions related to each site.