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<br /> 4 III IIII IIIIIIIIIIII
<br /> CONVERSION OF A TAIL1NtT itvix"- C TO A FRESHWATER
<br /> RESERVOIR,THE EAGLE PARK RESERVOIR PROJECT, CLIMAX MINE,
<br /> COLORADO'
<br /> by
<br /> B.R.Romig,J.L.Cupp,and R.C.Ford
<br /> Abstract. The Climax Molybdenum Mine, located near Leadville, Colorado, is the site of a
<br /> lengthy mining history spanning more than 80 years. In the 1960's, extraction of molybdenum
<br /> from oxide ore located adjacent to the massive molybdenite sulfide deposit resulted in the
<br /> construction of an earthen core dam to impound fine-grained oxide tailing in the Eagle River
<br /> Valley. Through recognized value of water storage and reclamation opportunities, a tailing
<br /> removal project was initiated in 1993 to convert the impoundment facilities to a post-mining
<br /> beneficial land use of developed water resources. An evaluation of the effect residual materials
<br /> and lake dynamics would have on in-stream water quality was performed. Eagle Park
<br /> Reservoir stands as a model for future reclamation efforts that involve water delivery to highly
<br /> sensitive receiving waters. This paper provides a case study on project development, the
<br /> evolution of water quality assessment, and the regulatory framework that contributed to this
<br /> project's success.
<br /> Additional Key Words: water rights,
<br /> Introduction (Figure 1), is the largest identified molybdenite orebody in
<br /> the world. The first processing of molybdenite from Bartlett
<br /> This paper describes a tailing removal project that Mountain occurred in 1918. Climax has since led research
<br /> occurred between 1993 ad 1996 at the Climax Mine, Climax, and development of molybdenum use in day-to-day products
<br /> Colorado that was designed to obtain a post-mining beneficial and applications.
<br /> land use of developed water resources in the Eagle River
<br /> Valley. Conversion of the Oxide Pond into the freshwater The location of the Climax Mine is unique in that
<br /> Eagle Park Reservoir was accomplished through the the facilities straddle the Divide and encompass the
<br /> cooperative effort between Climax and the Eagle Valley headwaters of three drainages: Tenmile Creek, draining north
<br /> Consortium. The Consortium, a group of water users and ski to Lake Dillon and the headwaters of the Blue River, the
<br /> industry interests in the Eagle Valley, supported development Eagle River draining to the Colorado River through the
<br /> of the project for upstream replenishment of water depletions central portion of the Upper Colorado River Basin, and the
<br /> during low flow periods. Discussed in this paper are the Arkansas River, flowing south then east to the Mississippi
<br /> removal of tailings from the tailing pond, employment of River. The mine receives approximately 63 cm of
<br /> pollution prevention from upstream mine process water precipitation annually,75 percent of which is snow. Average
<br /> sources, water quality assessment and review, and %nnual snowfall at the site is 6.9 m. Major activities at the
<br /> reclamation of the 25 ha water body. site currently include water treatment and water management
<br /> for a multitude of downstream water uses.
<br /> Back rg ound
<br /> Climax developed a system of water delivery to
<br /> The Climax Mine,located at the Continental Divide support consumptive water use in the processing of
<br /> (elevation 3450 m)on Fremont Pass in central Colorado molybdenite. Today the system serves as an extremely
<br /> flexible water delivery and trans-basin conveyance network
<br /> that serves both future molybdenum processing and the
<br /> Paper presented at the 1999 Natiomal Meetiong of the management of water allocations in three major Colorado
<br /> American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation, drainages.
<br /> Scottsdale, Arizona, August 13-19, 1999. Paper previously
<br /> presented to the National Meeting of the Society for Mining, The Oxide Process
<br /> Metallurgy, and Exploration, Denver, Colorado, March 1-3,
<br /> 1999 In 1961, the Climax Molybdenum Company
<br /> explored potential molybdenum extraction techniques from an
<br /> Bryce R. Romig is the Environmental Coordinator and Jay ore zone containing oxide molybdenum(ilsemannite;M0308
<br /> L. Cupp is Site Manager for the Climax Molybdenum nH2O) that surrounded the central molybdenite orebody.
<br /> Company, Climax Mine, Climax, CO, 80429. R. Craig Ford Recognizing that molybdenum could be extracted from this
<br /> is Technical Manager,Environmental Affairs,Cyprus Climax mineralized source, Climax embarked on processing of the
<br /> Metals Company,Tempe,AZ 85282. oxide ore. The process consisted of a complex treatment of
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