Published: August 6, 2021 |

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American Magnesium (AM) has completed the necessary steps that may bring a dolomite quarry mining operation to Luna County.

The New Mexico Bureau of Land Management, through the United States Department of the Interior, has provided its revised record of decision to approve the construction, operation, and reclamation of the mining project on public lands south of Deming as analyzed in the environmental assessment dated July 2020.

The ROD favored American Magnesium’s plan of operations on the project in the foothills of the Florida Mountains, that has been in the making since 2017.

“American Magnesium is extremely pleased with the BLM’s revised record of decision. From approval of the plan of operations through the entire NEPA reports. The process was thorough and professionally administered,” said Carol Ness Brewka, managing member for AM.

“We were also happy to have, in this document, BLM approval of the Reclamation Study and Financial Assurance Bond requirement that American Magnesium negotiated with the State of New Mexico,” added Brewka.

The Process

American Magnesium submitted a plan of operation back in March of 2017 to the BLM district office in Las Cruces. According to the BLM, that POO did not meet the plan requirements.

AM submitted a revised POO in July of 2017 and the BLM again rejected the POO, claiming it was deficient. A third revision was sent in February of 2018 and the BLM requested additional information regarding access, drilling, and pit design.

AM complied with the BLM’s request in August of 2018 and were notified in October of that year that they had complied, and the POO was complete.

The BLM indicated that the revisions from the four requests were used for the environmental assessment (EA).

The Plan

American Magnesium, an Elephant Butte-based company, proposes to develop a 40-acre site as a dolomite quarry mine on BLM-managed public land and estimates the mine would be operational for 20 years. The plan is to take a foothill down to the desert floor. There will be no pit.

The proposed quarry would excavate rocks rich in dolomite and transport them by truck 15 miles to a manufacturing plant in the Peru Mill Industrial Park north of town. Excavation will be done on a section of the foothills near the end of Mahoney Park Road.

“In doing the manufacturing here in Deming by taking the magnesium from the dolomite and allow so many people to be hired it would allow for growth,” Ness told the Headlight back in March. She estimates 335 new jobs would be created to start, and that number could grow to 500 jobs. “This would be huge for employment in Deming.”

One presentation made by AM indicated the 20-year operation could employ as many as 5,000 over time.

The project now has the approval of the BLM’s environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) in August of 2020.

AM Moving Forward

American Magnesium is waiting for the 30-day appeals period to expire before moving forward with the next phase of the proposed mining project.

According to Ness, the mining operation has the potential to be a billion-dollar facility that could become a leader in the North American magnesium market and produce 300,000 tons of magnesium metal a year — metal that is essential to the automotive and aircraft industries. Its biproduct (tailings) would produce millions of tons of Portland Cement.

Source: Deming Headlight

About American Magnesium
American Magnesium provides surface mining and rock quarry business. The Company focuses on construction of quarries and magnesium processing complexes.

To stop by American Magnesium’s website, CLICK HERE

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