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<br />NEW HENDERSON MINE
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<br />Mining,
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<br />Environment
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<br />By DICK PROUTY Swedish ASEA manufacture, he former Idaho Springs forest
<br />Deo\'er Post Slaff Writer said. ranger,
<br />EMPIRE _ Can a herculean ,\1 the mill, where a moun. The H~nderson !ode \Vas dis.
<br />mining operation costlng $250 tain is being leveled for .the sitejC1lvered In ~.e mId 19605. The:
<br />mi1lion and laking eight years of a crusher and mIll, twoj' sc~~ of Immng more lhan ~OO
<br />just 10 begin production be tailings ponds and a water res',milllOn lOllS, ~f ore,. ~f havmg
<br />compatible with the Rocky ~r\'nir also are under construe-I. water for millmg. tailing pon1s
<br />Mountain environment? lIOn. for nearly 1,900 pounds of ,mIll
<br /><, th H nd P" r According to Bill Reno, Cli'l waste per lon, power hnes,
<br />..or e e erson rOJet 0 "hel d h . r k d;
<br />cr r-,'l I 'bd Com roax construction englOeer, I roo s, ousmg or wor ers an I
<br />hlmax , 0 > en~mb " p~~y tailings ponds will require other impacts on the environ-,
<br />t e answer seems 0 ~ ye~, aboul 130 acres of the 18,000 I ment generated studies on the
<br />The He~erson ~ro]ect IS al3cres or land Climax has ecological significance of the,
<br />plan to mme mol~bdenum o~e bought in the Williams Fork1de\'elopment.
<br />under 12,315 foot Red MoontaU\!drainage. Sian Dempsey, Climax attor.
<br />8 mIles west of here, about SOl The project isn't just Climax, ney, was active in conservation
<br />mUes west of Denv~r. It's also the product of the work Bnd as plans for Hender.
<br />The ore body, WIth about ~~ Thorne Ecological Foundation, son were outlined he sought a
<br />to, 5 pounds of molybdenum B 0 u Ide r . the Denver.based broader input on environ menial ,
<br />bemg extracted per ton of ore. Rock" ~Iountain Center on Jo;n. aspects from the fledgling Cola-I
<br />is larg~ enough ,to last~. orlvironmentlRO~tCOE), the U,S, rado~penS~~,C~mdl. , !
<br />more )'ears, Climax offICials Forest Service, Colorado Water ell m a x ofhclals mcludmg I
<br />say. [POllUtion Control Commission, Dr>mpst"Y, Don Stephens 3nd
<br />50 :mU.ION I'OL;:\DS the Colorado Open Space Coun- Bill Distler, then Henderson
<br />Annual production is to be 50 cll and others, Project director and now in
<br />million pounds of molybdenum, But it is Climax, a subsidiary charge of mining operations for
<br />The second of three Uender. of American :'.leta!s Climax, it, Urad and the Climax, Co]o"
<br />son shafts now is being pul New York City, that's paying
<br />down 3~IOO feet Int~ the .sam~ the bill, The en....ironmental Pictures on Page 84
<br />moontalO !rom wlllch Chmax saCeguards were undertaken
<br />Urad Mine is extracting ore. with "a great deal of apprehen-, ,
<br />Later a third shaft will be sunk, sion on both sides on how It mmes, met, .....Ith, Roger Hansen,
<br />To get the ore to the mUl, would work out:' said Jim now eXecuth'e d,U'eclor of ROM.
<br />}4,6 miles away, a to-mile-long Gilliland, a Colorado nalive who COE; Bob. Wem~r, of cose:
<br />tunnel is being bored belween;js director of environmental Dr, Beatrice ,WIllard, of ,the
<br />the mine, under the Continental I controls for Climax, Thorne, EcologIcal Foundatton,
<br />Divide to the upper reaches 0(1 How much the envlrorun{'ntal and With others ,~orked o~t
<br />the Williams Jo'ork River. considerations will cost hasn't what is known a~. An Expert.
<br />Harold Wright, Henderson:bec-n calculated. But irs plenty, m~n,t In Ecol,og)', ...
<br />mine manager, said that wtrenlacompany official said. , The, In:,portant Uu~g,
<br />full production gels under way The first environmental con. Distler saId" IS ~hat environ-
<br />_ target date is 19i5 - six trois were extensions of conser. mental considerations were al
<br />c<lmpletely automated electric, vation ml"asures worked out be-l pa~ of ~!enderson Crom the
<br />trains with 30 cars each will be tween the U.S. Forest Service begmltlng. .
<br />shuttling back and forth be- and Climax in the early t9605 The CO?~ratJ,"e attitude of I
<br />lween mine and mill, when the Urad mine was conservatlomS!s, surprised some <
<br />"They're completely automat~ reopened, rompany offiCials and ,vl~
<br />ed. there's no one in them at The Colorado Water Pollution \'ersa, ,Bul there were ~vllon-
<br />all," Wright said of the trains, Control Commission didn't even mrr.;3ltsts who weren t-and
<br />which are a low-profile narrow- exist then, but the Climax rep- aren t-happy aoo.ut ~nother
<br />gauge type, resentative, the late Ernie d eve! 0 p men t IOvading the
<br />Each train will have four, Jones, pioneered the CC{)logical m?~nlaln~, , "
<br />5O-Ion rated locomotives of the outlook .....ith Nell Edstrom, It can t be hidden, Hansen
<br />acknoWledged. "the landscape
<br />-1 is considerably disturbed, BUI
<br />the impact is definitely mini.
<br />mized, There's no question
<br />abouti!." _
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<br />"With all the constr~~tion,
<br />-an', tell noW .....hat Il sui.
<br />)"ou.. Ilk"
<br />tiITlately going to look e,
<br />Hansen said. , ' h
<br />"But the way it s gQlng, t e
<br />way it has gone and ~ intended
<br />10 go, Henderson will be ~n
<br />ecological model for industrIal
<br />development. I don't know of
<br />anyone In the country who ~as
<br />done the things Clima..'t as
<br />done," he said,
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<br />ORK ",lTII PEOPLE
<br />"We've been accused of doing
<br />a 'sell-oul,' of being a turncoat
<br />to the environment and all sorts
<br />of things:' Hansen, a l.aw)'er
<br />and planner, said. "but environ.
<br />mentalists have to accept re-
<br />sponsibility and to work with
<br />people in good faith,"
<br />The results of that faith are
<br />just beginning to show, For ex-
<br />,ample:
<br />: -Ute Creek, the WUliams
<br />,Fork River, West Fork of Clear
<br />I Creek and other streams are
<br />flowing clear and sparkling
<br />despite the enormity of the
<br />earthmoving and other work
<br />! being done near them,
<br />i -Clumps of trees at the
<br />mine, near the railroad and
<br />,power line rights of way were
<br />"left standing instead of being
<br />cut down, In one case a spruce.
<br />fir stand with trees more than
<br />300 years old still stands-a po-
<br />werline roule was changed in-
<br />stead of cutting the trees.
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