Location
The JJ No. 1 Mine is located approximately 3.5 miles southeast of Cebolleta (also spelled Seboyeta in published documents), 2.25 miles east/northeast of Moquino, and 1 mile north of the Laguna Indian Reservation in Cibola County, New Mexico, within Township G46. The nearest town is Bibo, New Mexico.
Ownership and history
Sohio Western Mining Company (SWMC), which was acquired by Kennecott Energy Company and subsequently by Rio Tinto Closures, leased the JJ No. 1 Mine from the Cebolleta Land Grant and began the main hoist shaft construction in 1975. The mine was an underground, conventional room and pillar mine that intercepted groundwater. Pumping groundwater was required to develop the underground mining operation. SWMC extracted uranium ore between 1976 and 1981. SWMC remains the owner and manager of the mine. The uranium ore was sourced from the Jackpile Sandstone Member of the Upper Jurassic Morrison formation. Historical mine assessments identified five areas of potential economical ore deposits, two of which were mined at the JJ No.1 Mine. The mine was operated in conjunction with the L-Bar uranium mill, which was less than a mile away from the mine’s hoist shaft. Starting in 1981, SWMC put the mine on standby due to poor economics of uranium production, and it eventually closed in 1986. Dewatering of the underground workings ceased in early 1986 and the mine was allowed to flood. SWMC began initial reclamation in 1986. The land is now used as wildlife habitat and for cattle grazing. There are no structures or utilities on the mine site.
Reclamation & Regulatory Jurisdiction
Pursuant to the L-Bar Reclamation and Closure Plan dated October 1, 1986 (and modified February 1989), the initial JJ No. 1 Mine closure was conducted in tandem with the decommissioning and closure of the L-Bar Mill (see the L-Bar Mill site review for more information) The mine’s surface facilities, including a 90-foot headframe, 150-ton capacity enclosed ore bin, a double-drum ore hoist and service hoist, a building (that contained hoist facilities, offices, an employee change room, and air compressors), a standby diesel generator, water supply tanks and lines, and other service and support facilities were decommissioned, demolished, and salvaged in 1986/1987.The main hoist shaft was sealed with a concrete cap, steel vent shaft liners were capped with welded plates, and the disturbed surface areas around the main shaft and mine offices were graded and contoured and were revegetated by local volunteers. All waste rock in the vicinity of the headframe was transferred to the tailings area during reclamation.
NMED
The New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) began regulating the JJ No. 1 Mine in 2005 when SWMC approached NMED regarding permanent closure and entered the abatement planning process. In September 2009, SWMC submitted a Stage 1 Abatement Plan to define the nature and extent of groundwater contamination at the site and collect data necessary to select and design an effective groundwater abatement remedy. SWMC drilled, constructed, tested, and sampled multiple monitoring wells, collected water levels and groundwater samples from the 10 vent shafts, and conducted an inventory of water wells within a 1.25-mile radius of the mine site. SWMC submitted the documentation of the resulting data in the Stage 1 Abatement Final Site Investigation Report to NMED in July 2017. In October 2017, NMED approved SWMC’s Stage 1 Final Site Investigation for the JJ No. 1 Mine and required submittal of the Stage 2 Abatement Plan. The Stage 2 Abatement plan was submitted to NMED in June 2018 and a Request for Additional Information (RFAI) was sent to SWMC in August 2018. SWMC responded to the RFAI in March 2019. NMED approved the Stage 2 Abatement Plan in October 2023 and is currently reviewing the Stage 2 Abatement Report and reclamation activities under MMD. Current groundwater constituents above the New Mexico Administrative Code groundwater quality standards include fluoride, sulfate, total dissolved solids, uranium, and combined radium-226 and radium-228. SWMC conducts quarterly water level monitoring and semiannual water quality sampling across all five groundwater monitoring wells, which NMED has reviewed as part of ongoing monitoring.
Regulatory Tracks
- No discharge permits are registered with NMED.
- Under NMED, the JJ No. 1 Mine is regulated under an abatement plan, which addresses remediation of groundwater impacts, as well as long-term groundwater monitoring.
- Under the Mining and Minerals Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, JJ No. 1 Mine is regulated under a Mining Act permit, which addresses surface reclamation.
EMNRD-MMD
This site is at the end of the 12-year vegetation establishment period in 2023. Most recently, SWMC has submitted the final 2021 Revegetation Evaluation Report, the 2022 Revegetation Evaluation Report with associated variance letter, and the final workplan for erosion and mitigation work to be done on the site. Once the mitigation workplan has been implemented, the New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources (EMNRD) Mining and Minerals Division (MMD) will require one year to evaluate the work. If SMWC has implemented this erosion work in an acceptable matter, MMD will then allow the operator to apply for release of the site under the New Mexico Mining Act and Rules.
Timelines for the Completion of Cleanup Activities
The estimated timeline for completing the cleanup, per EMNRD-MMD, is two years. If the Stage 2 Abatement Plan is approved by NMED and Alternative Abatement Standards are granted by the Water Quality Control Commission, the water quality will be monitored for the foreseeable future, but no other abatement actions will be performed unless conditions change.
Coordination Between State and Federal Agencies
JJ No. 1 Mine is currently regulated by two New Mexico agencies: NMED and EMNRD-MMD. JJ No. 1 Mine is not regulated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission nor the U.S. Department of Energy.
Anticipated Funding Requirements
Funding for all site reclamation, abatement, remediation, and long-term monitoring actions regulated by NMED and EMNRD-MMD are covered by SWMC, the responsible party for the JJ No. 1 Mine.
There is no anticipated funding needed from the state or other entity for the JJ No. 1 Mine. SWMC is responsible for all costs associated with closure and abatement. Currently MMD holds $53.685.60 in Financial Assurance to cover revegetation costs until the mine site is released from the NM Mining Act.
Disclaimer
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.