Ambrosia Lake Explained

Ambrosia Lake is a uranium mining district in McKinley and Cibola counties in New Mexico north of Grants that was heavily mined for uranium starting in the 1950s. It is in an anticlinal dome.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

History

Kerr-McGee first learned about rich uranium deposits in the area in 1955. It ran a free assay service and some prospectors had sent in samples that the company found to be high in uranium. Kerr-McGee sent an agent to buy the property. This agent instead double crossed the company and bought the site for himself. Various parties (including United Western Minerals Company of General Patrick Jay Hurley) rushed into the area to get sections of property. However Kerr-McGee wound up owning most of Ambrosia Lake.[8]

Kerr-McGee then allied with Anderson Development Corporation, and Pacific Uranium Mines to form the Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corporation. They built a mill there.[1] [4] [5] When Kerr-McGee Nuclear split into Quivira Mining and Sequoyah Fuels subsidiaries in 1983, Quivira got the Ambrosia Lake property. When Quivira was sold to Rio Algom in 1989, Rio got the mine and mill. Rio was later bought by Billiton which later became BHP.[1] [2] [3] [6] [7]

Cleanup

By 1982, approximately 111abbr=onNaNabbr=on of radioactive tailings were left from almost 25 years of uranium extraction. Wind and rain spread the material over an area of 230abbr=onNaNabbr=on. Between 1987 and 1995, the Department of Energy remediated the site, encasing 5200000abbr=onNaNabbr=on of contaminated material in a 91acres disposal cell.[9] While the DOE/UMTRA site is closed and inactive, the former Kermac mill (under BHP ownership) continues with reclamation activities towards final closure in 2021. [10] Other cleanups at mine and mill sites in the area fall under the EPA's jurisdiction. [11]

Notes

See also

35.419°N -107.821°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Uranium Mining Resources in New Mexico . Feb 2007 . 2009-10-03 . V. McLemore . SME Annual Meeting . 2009-09-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090920065255/http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/staff/mclemore/documents/07-111_18.pdf . dead .
  2. Web site: DECISION AND ORDER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY . 1997-03-13 . 2009-10-03 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20090902110605/http://www.oha.doe.gov/cases/nuclear/vea0007.htm . 2 September 2009 . dead .
  3. Web site: Finding of No Significant Impact Related to Amendment of Materials License No. SNM-928, Kerr-McGee Corporation, Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site, Crescent, Oklahoma . https://archive.today/20121213042134/http://www.epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/1999/August/Day-12/i20907.htm . dead . 2012-12-13 . 1999-08-02 . . 2009-10-03 .
  4. Encyclopedia: NUCLEAR POWER . 2009-10-02 . Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture . O'Dell, Larry . Oklahoma Historical Society / Oklahoma State University . https://web.archive.org/web/20100727213314/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/N/NU001.html . 2010-07-27 . dead .
  5. Web site: Shiprock Mill Site . 2005-10-09 . 2009-10-02 . Energy Information Administration . https://web.archive.org/web/20091016230005/http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/umtra/shiprock_title1.html . 16 October 2009 . dead .
  6. Web site: Billiton Trumps Noranda, Codelco on Rio Algom Bid . 2000-08-25 . 2009-10-03 . Business News Americas . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190533/http://www.bnamericas.com/news/mining/Billiton_Trumps_Noranda,_Codelco_on_Rio_Algom_Bid . 2016-03-03 . dead .
  7. Web site: BHP/Billiton merger complete . 2001-04-07 . 2009-10-03 . Ferret, Australia's Manufacturing and Industrial Directory . https://web.archive.org/web/20090527073511/http://www.ferret.com.au/n/BHP-Billiton-merger-complete-n710000 . 2009-05-27 . dead .
  8. https://books.google.com/books?id=E1P8SFsz_A4C&pg=PA79 Masters, Secret Riches, Chapter 6 - Ambrosia Lake
  9. Web site: Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico, Disposal Site Fact Sheet . . 2009-04-05 . 2009-11-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20091014165224/http://www.lm.doe.gov/Ambrosia/LTSM00009324.pdf. 14 October 2009 . live.
  10. Web site: NRC: Rio Algom - Ambrosia Lake. www.nrc.gov.
  11. Web site: Grants Mining District in New Mexico. REG 06. US EPA. 25 September 2014. US EPA.

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