New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

Coal mining in New Mexico began in 1803, but it was not until the early 1880’s with the development of railroads that large scale coal mining began in Gallup and Monero. The railroads and smelters in the Southwest were major markets for New Mexico coal and kept underground mines throughout the San Juan Basin open until after World War II. Many coal mines closed in the 1950’s when railroads changed to diesel and natural gas became the primary home heating fuel. A few coal mines continued to provide fuel to local markets until the early 1970’s when more stringent regulations caused most of the small coal operations in New Mexico closed.

Passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) in 1977 introduced new regulations and a fee on active mines supporting the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. To evaluate areas in need of reclamation, New Mexico state agencies conducted a survey of the abandoned mine lands (AML) created by past coal mining. Geologists at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology participated in this project, locating mine adits in the field, collecting coal mine maps and historical data, and assessing needed remediation. One hundred years of coal mining in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico (Nickelson, 1989) is a compilation of this work for northwest New Mexico.

The San Juan Basin is one of the largest coal areas in New Mexico with 19 recognized coal fields. This area is the focus of our investigation, partially funded by the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation. Nickelson’s publication, the original AML study notes, and maps are the basis of our mine digital database. Production data, geologic references, photographs and maps from NMBG digital archives were related to mines within the database. Local museums, individuals, city and county agencies were contacted to acquire additional data, principally mine maps. Newly acquired mine maps were scanned and georeferenced into the ArcMap project. Point locations for the mines, where available, were projected into ArcMap along with geologic, topographic, and ownership layers.

Depending on the location, many of these old underground mines are within city limits and underlie housing tracts, schools, and shopping centers. Other abandoned mines are near major highways and may impact future development. Existing and future urban growth above these underground coal mines creates numerous environmental and public safety issues. Areas between Farmington and Shiprock along US Highway 64 and the city of Gallup are examples where future development may be impacted by abandoned underground mines. Subsidence and coal fires in underground mines are issues to consider. Determining accurate locations of mine openings, shafts, and extent of workings is crucial to enable regulatory agencies, developers and concerned citizens to address specific safety and environmental concerns.

References:

1. Nickelson, H. B., 1988, One hundred years of coal mining in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, New Mexico Bureau Mines Mineral Resources, Bulletin, v. 111, pp. 1-226.