LEADVILLE, Colo. (AP) — Rust-colored piles of mine waste and sun-bleached wooden derricks loom above the historic Colorado mountain town of Leadville — a...
LEADVILLE , Colo. — Rust-colored piles of mine waste and sun-bleached wooden derricks loom above the historic Colorado mountain town of Leadville — a legacy of gold and silver mines Enter a fledgling company called CJK Milling that wants to “remine” some of the waste piles to squeeze more gold from ore discarded decades ago when it was less valuable. The waste would be trucked to a nearby mill, crushed to powder and bathed in cyanide to extract trace amounts of precious metals.
Leadville – home to about 2,600 people and the National Mining Museum -- bills itself as America's highest city at 10,119 feet above sea level. That distinction helped the city forge a new identity as a mecca for extreme athletes. Endurance race courses loop through nearby hillsides where millions of tons of discarded mine waste leached lead, arsenic, zinc and other toxic metals into waterways.
Stirring up old mine waste could reverse decades of cleanup, Luna-Leal said, again fouling water and threatening the welfare of residents including Latinos, many living in mobile homes on the town's outskirts. The magnitude of mining waste globally is staggering, with tens of thousands of tailings piles containing 245 billon tons , researchers say. And waste generation is increasing as companies build larger mines with lower grades of ore, resulting in a greater ratio of waste to product, according to the nonprofit World Mine Tailings Failures.
Overseeing Leadville’s water supply is Parkville Water District Manager Greg Teter, who views CJK Milling as potential solution to water quality problems. EPA lacks authority over CJKs proposed work, but a spokesperson said it had “potential to improve site conditions” by supplementing cleanup work already being done. Moving the mine waste would eliminate sources of runoff and could reduce the amount of polluted water to treat, said EPA spokesperson Richard Mylott.
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