Educating Against Uranium Mining
Welcome to the RACC resource page on Uranium mining. We hope you can find information here that encourages you to, once again, fight to protect and conserve the beautiful Chama Basin Watershed.
Uranium mining has reared its ugly head again in New Mexico and it is coming for the Chama Basin Watershed near Canjilon.
Thankfully our state and county officials have already spoken up, declaring they are against this project 100%. Source New Mexico reported on August 6, 2026 that our New Mexico delegation recently introduced the Chama Basin Watershed Protection Act which would prohibit uranium mining throughout the Chama Basin Watershed. Senator Angel Charley (D-Acoma) is calling for a moratorium on uranium mining in the entire state. Now it’s our turn to educate ourselves about the dangers of uranium mining and become a collective community force in opposition to this project. Use this page to mobilize in whatever way makes sense to you. Community response to the oil and gas threat in the Rio Chama Watershed worked! We appear to be on a fast track with this current threat so we encourage you stay updated on RACC’s Facebook feed available on the homepage of our website.
THE TIMELINE - how we are FIGHTING!
The Mining Act of 1872 gives people and companies access to resources on Federal Lands. They must be granted permits from the Forest Service – and in the case of Uranium Mining a second permit from the state Minerals and Mining Department (MMD). Environmental Impact Statements, scientific data studies must be conducted and public input given.
AS OF NOW! Gamma has requested a permit from the Forest Service but NOT BEEN GRANTED ONE. THEY ALSO MET WITH THE STATE (MMD) but have NOT yet requested a permit. Our hope? They abandon the project. Public outcry is crucial to stopping Gamma Resources!
Backstory: Historic uranium drill holes exist in the Carson National Forest. But in the 1970s PUBLIC OPPOSITION SHUT DOWN further uranium mining activity – County Commissioner Morales was a leader at that time to prevent further development.
Jan. – Feb. 2026: Rumors surface – The Canadian company, Gamma Resources Ltd. applied for “exploratory permit” for uranium mining development from the Forest Service for what they tell investors is the “Mesa Arc” project. Working from historical uranium data.
March: A report by Source NM hits the public.
April 9th: Members of the New Mexico Congressional Delegation jump into action – Senators Heinrich, Luján and Congresswoman Leger-Fernández send a letter of opposition to the Secretary of Agriculture, Chief of the Forest Service and Southwest Region Forester, USDA.
April 16th: A coalition of 14 local leaders, advocates and lawmakers supporting Luján’s push to protect the Chama Watershed and surrounding communities in Northern New Mexico is announced in a press release issued by Senator Luján’s office.
April 23rd: Rio Arriba County Commissioners, led by Commissioner Morales draft a Resolution opposing ANY uranium mining in the Carson National Forest. The Resolution 2026-0057 PASSES unanimously to an overflow community crowd with full support – at the county commission meeting in Tierra Amarilla.
May 5th: Senator Ben Ray-Luján holds a town hall meeting in Canjilon. Attended by over 100 – reps. from organizations, land grants, tribal and acequia members, businesses and a wide variety of citizens. Luján voiced his commitment to work with our other New Mexico D.C. Representatives to create a Draft Legislation to permanently withdraw the Chama watershed from mineral entry. He spoke directly to Gamma Resources stating – They are not welcome here!
April-May and ongoing: Our communities TAKE ACTION. Opposition emails and phone calls to elected officials, the Forest Service, the Mineral and Mining Department (MMD), op-ed letters to newspapers, and other grassroots actions begin.
Rio Arriba Concerned Citizens create a Uranium Mining info and Action page on their website and begin a sign and flyer campaign – passing out almost 100 lawn signs from Chama down to the Espanola valley.
May 27th: Ghost Ranch staff meet with RACC to begin creating their own onsite opposition campaign to inform visitors and workshop attendees.
May 28th: A Chama Basin Coalition met online hosted by Senator Lujan’s advisors and staff, with Senator Henrich and Congresswoman Leger-Fernández Reps. also in attendance. Discussion focused upon the Draft Legislation our NM Delegation will put before Congress and the Senate.
Many of the organization members who attended the County Commission and Canjilon meeting were in attendance, 30+ people. Rio Arriba Concerned Citizens and New Mexico Wild reps. attended.
June 2nd: Senator Ben Ray-Luján addressed the Chief of the Forest Service in a Senate Committee session – voicing the opposition our communities have AGAINST Gamma and the Mesa Arc project – putting our views and his skepticism of the corporation into public record.
June 5th: Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury speaks to Forest Service Leadership in a Congressional Committee asking them to protect New Mexico lands – specifically Land Grant and Tribal Lands. She names the Chama Basin as an area which should be protected.
June 5th: Garrett VeneKlasen, New Mexico Wild’s Northern Conservation Director, held a community presentation in Taos addressing the escalating uranium mining threats facing northern New Mexico’s public lands as well as the Roadless Rule under attack.
June 9: Gamma Resources Ltd. announces the receipt of $604 million from “Warrant Exercises”. Which entitles investors to one share for 3 years for the prices of 15 cents a share.
July 14th: RACC had a Zoom meeting with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition community outreach organizer Coery Torivio to offer assistance and information sources for the planned Chama Days Canjilon Lakes stewardship scheduled for early August.
July 18th: Santa Fe New Mexican article – Headline “Uranium Mining pitch near Canjilon has locals on edge as feds say application is still incomplete”. The article addresses community opposition and support by all members of the New Mexico delegation in Washington D.C. A notable quote from the article – “Gamma Resources Ltd. did not
respond to emailed questions… ”.
July 20th: Gamma Resources announces in a press release the issuance of 21,000,000 “LIFE” units of stock – an attempt to raise another $2.1 million dollars. Only available to Canadian investors.
July 23rd: Taos New article – Headline – “Taos joins efforts to protect watersheds from Uranium Mining” . The town of Taos passed a resolution in a regular meeting on July 14th – aligning with Rio Arriba County and the Upper Chama Soil and Water Conservation District.
Calling for a comprehensive review ahead of any drilling activity in the Chama Basin near Canjilon.
July 23rd: Rio Arriba County Commissioners adopt and sign Resolution 2027-0012 which declares “Opposition to the Development of Large-Scale Commercial Data Centers within Rio Arriba County” . It directs the County Manager to prepare appropriate amendments to the county’s comprehensive Plan and Land Use Regulations.
July 24th: Source NM releases an article which corrected a prior report about a massive increase in uranium mining permit requests in 2026 in their July 23rd report. There is however, an uptick in permit requests in 2026. Nearly 2,000 claims have been filed, marking a steady increase since 2022, when a little more than 1,600 claims were filed.
August 6th: BREAKING NEWS! NM elected officials Senator Martin Heinrich, Senator Ben Ray Luján and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández in D.C. introduced the Chama Basin Watershed Protection Act created by Senator Luján. Senator Luján’s office releases a Press Release with links to the bill, the exclusion map and a list of NM leaders who support the
bill.
August 6th: An article dropped by Source NM also announcing the Chama Basic Watershed Protection Act introduced by the New Mexico delegation. A notable quote from Senator Heinrich, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – “Our Chama Basin Watershed Protection Act sends a clear message: Back off. ”
August 9th: The Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC), Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE), New Mexico Wild and the city of Chama host a Canjilon Lakes stewardship event. Following a lake clean-up by volunteer attendees, presentations were made on how a uranium mining project would not only negatively affect the area for
generations, but the Continental Divide Trail. RACC members attended and provided maps of the area affected, opposition signs and info flyers.
August 14th: Source NM reports – a Moratorium on Uranium Mining development in New Mexico was called for by State Sen. Angel Charley (D-Acoma) in a session with the legislative Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee. She sited Virginia’s uranium moratorium, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2020, as proof that states can legally
halt uranium production without “running afoul” of the federal government.
August 21st: RACC learns of a Gamma Resources Ltd. statement/ apology to the communities of northern New Mexico on its website. Stating they made a mistake by not introducing themselves to our communities. Attempting to put salve on the fact that their project is not welcomed. https://www.gammaresourcesltd.com/community-statement/
August 24th: A Source NM article surfaces during the Gamma “apology tour” reporting they will have more information coming in the next 30 days while they continue to move forward with the Mesa Arc project. Gamma deflects the obvious in both the statement above and article – declaring they are only “exploring” to confirm historical uranium data – as if our communities are to believe that a uranium mine would not soon follow. https://sourcenm.com/2026/08/24/canadian-uranium-firm-says-lack-of-outreach-in-northern-new-mexico-a-mistake-vows-future-candor
August 27th: The Rio Grande Sun publishes an article by Rio Arriba County Commissioner Alex Narnajo of Espanola – titled Protect the Water. He states – “Uranium mining and large commercial data centers could have substantial and lasting impacts on the health, welfare, water resources and quality of life of the people of Rio Arriba County”.
August 28th: New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich met with Rio Arriba ranchers, acequla parclantes and Land Grand heirs at the Forest Service Canjilon Ranger Station to speak out against uranium mining and to discuss the Mesa Arc Project.
September 4th: New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard issues an executive order prohibiting new uranium leasing on state trust lands and announces it at a press conference at the NM State Land Offices in Santa Fe. https://sourcenm.com/2026/09/04/new-mexico-land-commissioner-announces-uranium-mining-ban-on-state-trust-lands/
September 4th: The Albuquerque Journal also reports on the executive order prohibiting uranium leasing on state trust lands by the New Mexico Land Commissioner. https://www.abqjournal.com/business/new-mexico-bans-uranium-mining-on-state-lands-countering-trumps-push-for-expansion/3115723
Ongoing: The Rio Chama Reporter posts entire the Gamma Resources “Mesa Arc” project Plan of Operation document on their website to inform the public of the project specifics. https://www.riochamareporter.com/uraniumminingincarsonnationalforest
September 8th: RACC finalizes and prepares to send a detailed letter to the Gamma Resources Ltd. President, BOD and advisors outlining their opposition to the Mesa Arc uranium “exploration” project. RACC statements include … “to live here is to appreciate, love and honor nature and all that is “life”- to truly live. We see our land, a place on earth
with a healthy ecosystem and a shared cultural history of community, as thriving not only now, but for generations to come. Gamma Resources Ltd. is in direct opposition to “life” in this watershed.”
CHECK BACK for more UPDATES…
The Nuclear Build-out Explained
Energy without injury – Alex Garland 2016
Uranus, in Greek mythology, is the personification of the sky and the husband of Gaia (Earth). Somewhere along the way the earth’s minerals, like uranium, started to be named after the planets who were named after the gods.
New Mexico is now positioned to be a disenfranchised player of the current US administration’s accelerated drive to push the next generation of nuclear energy and uranium mining is key. Our rights as citizens to a healthy environment here in New Mexico are under threat and have been for some time. From mining uranium, uranium processing and waste disposal and the atomic bomb-building of the past, our state is in the mix and a crucial pathway of the new nuclear build-out that is beginning to arrive in a watershed near you.
Unfortunately, our beautiful state is on the more dangerous end of this current build-out.
Earthrise – NASA
In a highway service station
Over the month of June
Was a photograph of the earth
Taken coming back from the moon
And you couldn’t see a city
On that marbled bowling ball
Or a forest or a highway
Or me here least of all
You couldn’t see these cold water restrooms
Or this baggage overload
Westbound and rolling taking refuge in the road
lyric from Joni Mitchell, Refuge of the Roads 1978
The Apollo 8 astronauts, floating weightless in their metal capsule in the blackness of space, took a photo of our blue planet from a great remove. That iconic photo from 1968 elicited a humble but transient awe but in some ways that photo made us feel almost disconnected from the planet that sustains us – almost as if we could imagine ourselves not being a part of its beauty even while contradictorily it did inspire the beginnings of the environmental movement in our country.
We have a breathtaking, iconic landscape here in New Mexico. And within that awe-inspiring landscape, in our unique part of the blue planet, we have ancient cultures that have been here for nearly a thousand years and hold profound beliefs that the map of the night sky involves a sacred geography and a moral compass. In the Diné view, the stars are purposeful creations that govern time, law, and agriculture and serve as a blueprint for maintaining harmony or hózhó. With their feet planted on their ground in the American Southwest, the Diné look up to the roadmap of the stars and are able to easily fathom their place in the cosmos as they experience connection, not disconnection (Exploratorium, Navajo Knowledge of the Cosmos).
These different views of the earth and its inhabitants and their relationship to the cosmos are striking and once we take in the fact that here in New Mexico today we are in the belly of the beast for oil and gas production and now the new nuclear build-out, which ultimately serves the expansion of artificial intelligence, the view gets even more complex.
Denial is not a policy – Mark Dixon
The reasons for the nuclear build-out are varied and some reasons are interestingly connected. In the last few years the stated US goal of energy independence became supersized with the advent of A.I. centers and their titanic need for water and power. While close-looped systems for water are being said by industry to be an aspirational standard for A.I. centers they still require millions of gallons of water to build and millions of gallons to start up. Most existing centers do not currently have close-looped systems in place.
There are already several new Westinghouse AP1000 modular nuclear reactors (SNRs) being planned for the US power grid and Trump has ordered the speeding up of licensing (The Week, Is the US launching a new age of nuclear power?). This goal could be ranked as the number one reason for the build-out. Meanwhile, the plan appears to be the use of gas powered plants to power these A.I. sites as nuclear reactors will take some time to come on line and have a history of cost over-runs and delays. Some sites are and will be using diesel powered backup generators (Wired, New Gas-Powered Data Centers Could Emit More Greenhouse Gases Than Entire Nations and Mother Jones, It Just Got Way Easier to Sue Fossil Fuel Companies Over Climate Change).
In Europe these new nuclear reactors are being characterized as some of the cleanest “global best practice” power grids in the world. Like in the oil and gas industry, “best practice” refers to generally accepted methods used by an industry to attain its goals. These methods are not regulated by any elected body and so have unreliable safeguards for people, water, air and the environment.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 7 in 10 Americans oppose local construction of A.I. data centers citing increases of the cost of electricity, water use and noise. Or they simply don’t like A.I. and the idea of being a future customer unwillingly subjected to a ubiquitous technology. A.I. experts are currently debating the percentage chance that A.I. will end the human race and when that will likely be achieved (Ezra Klein, The A.I.s Are Already Out of Control).
Locally the New Mexican Supreme Court recently paused Southern New Mexico’s hyper-scaled Project Jupiter’s permitting processes. Both orders came in response to environmental groups siting lack of due process regarding critical water use and air quality. Since April, Project Jupiter developers have pumped more than 103 million gallons of fresh water out of our desert (New Mexico Supreme Court pauses Project Jupiter permitting processes).
A more benign reason for an increased need for electricity in future-world will be to power electric vehicles which is a plus for keeping pollution and Co2 emissions out of our atmosphere.
According to the New York Times there is also the matter of grift when the nuclear build-out is considered.
“The Commerce and Energy Departments have been at the forefront of pushing Mr Trump’s nuclear agenda. Both are led by secretaries who have either direct ties to the industry or family ones.” (The New York Times, Trump Is Pushing Nuclear Energy. His Family and Supporters Could Benefit.)
The conflict of interest here is that federal financing is part of the funding mix for the nuclear build-out ($17.5 billion in low interest loans for the “renaissance”). That and private-public partnerships and private investment.
cradle to grave – The Noun Project
The cradle-to-grave story of the nuclear industry process starts with uranium mining. New Mexico has the second largest identified uranium ore reserves of any state after Wyoming. Historically, uranium mining expanded significantly in the 1950’s in the Grants Mineral Belt with active mining stopping in 1998. One major accident to do with a uranium tailings mill spill that happened at Church Rock on Navajo land in 1979 can be described as equivalent to the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster without the media coverage. There are now over 1,000 abandoned uranium mines in New Mexico, 500 of them on or near Dinè land. State funding has recently been designated to start a cleanup of only 4 of the mines as industry history of ownership and responsibility for all these abandoned mines is murky.
Our National Monuments in the region, like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante in Utah, are currently being dramatically reduced in order to make way for uranium and “critical mineral” mining interests. Public lands, in this case federal public lands, are being treated as resource warehouses, no longer lands of cultural or scientific interest (The Guardian, Trump dramatically cuts size of two national monuments held sacred by tribes).
One of the newly proposed uranium mines in the current resurgence is near Canjilon, which is within our beloved Rio Chama Watershed. Ironically, the shape of the Rio Chama Watershed when viewed on a map is sometimes referred to as a “cradle” and this makes for a devastating nomenclature when referencing uranium mining’s cradle-to-grave story.
Previously explored for uranium years ago, our geology beckons industry players, like Gamma Resources, the Canadian company with mining plans for the Rio Chama Watershed, as they see prospects for financial gain accelerating under the US government supported uranium build-out. Gamma recently issued an apology to the Chama Watershed community and state and local officials for their initial botched PR, but within that apology insisted that we should only be worried about “exploratory” drilling. The community is most definitely not buying it as it is beyond disingenuous to say exploration would not lead to drilling in a uranium rich area.
New Mexico has been building infrastructure around the nuclear industry for years with a history of nuclear bomb building at Los Alamos followed by above ground nuclear tests, a nuclear engineering program at UNM (Kairos Power), a history of major uranium deposits in our geology, a uranium enrichment services facility that is set to expand (Albuquerque Journal, Urenco to expand uranium enrichment plant in southeastern New Mexico), and last but not least, the only underground permanent nuclear waste facility in the entire country (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant WIPP). It appears we have all the bases covered and in an ultimately devastating way.
Nuclear energy is often referred to in a green-washing way as “clean, carbon-free electricity”. While that may be relatively true when a nuclear energy facility is up and operating without accidents, there is a very obvious need for more Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) which address the important cradle-to-grave cost of using uranium to fuel nuclear energy. LCAs are crucial in order to assess the cradle-to-grave environmental and health impacts of the nuclear industry. Safe mining of uranium and storage of nuclear waste have simply not been resolved! There are currently over 90,000 metric tons of nuclear waste being stored in temporary facilities in the US.
The ability of industry and government to draw back and see the whole dangerous picture of the industry is perilously missing and we are the ones to pay the price, potentially even here in our watershed.
solar panels – Bright Saver
What doesn’t seem to get much acknowledgment is that 100% renewable energy using solar and wind has very real potential if we want an energy option for the future that has a proven and livable cradle-to-grave story with our very survival in mind.
New nuclear power plants, including the new modular Small Nuclear Reactors (SNR), could take a decade to come on line in the midst of the new surging energy need of A.I. in the build-out. That is a decade of no muscular investment or subsidies by the US government in a wind/solar solution to course-correct the effects of climate change, as well as all the energy and technical advancement in solar and wind lost from that entire decade. It is also a decade of gas fired plants and diesel backup generators, and all their earth atmosphere polluting greenhouse gas emissions, being used to power Artificial Intelligence (Forbes, Nuclear Vs Renewables: Which Energy Source Wins The Zero-Carbon Race?).
It has also been uncovered that US data centers can offer up toxic waste water pollution (The Guardian, US data centers face further backlash over wastewater pollution).
The benefits of choosing a 100% renewable path over a nuclear path are myriad. The obvious first is that the mineral uranium is not a renewable resource (Mining Technology, Uranium: A Finite Resource?). According to experts, uranium resources could be exhausted as early as 2070. And it currently has the problem of being difficult and expensive, as well as not necessarily cost effective, to recycle. Like oil and gas and minerals in general, it is geographically located on our planet and could become the reason for wars in the future as we fight over finite resources. International fighting over oil and gas resources is something we have experienced in our lifetime. Fighting over the mineral uranium which is now primarily used as fuel for nuclear reactors may be in our future.
While the more benign minerals used in solar panels are all mined, new practices are coming on line to minimize environmental degradation (Breakthrough Institute, Updating Mining Footprints and Raw Material Needs for Clean Energy). The recycling of solar panels and wind turbines is much more straight forward and new technologies are coming on line as we upgrade and replace existing solar and wind infrastructure (Clean Energy Council website).
Wind and solar power generation come from the earth’s above ground environment and are truly renewable.
Fracking for oil and gas and In-situ mining to retrieve uranium is fraught with well documented environmental degradation problems let alone threats to human health and the health of planet earth. From a history of uranium mining and nuclear accidents to documented fracking waste and oil and gas pollution it has become obvious that these industries are the enemy of our very future. These older technologies that have now been around long enough to be proven harmful, rely on the injection of chemicals into geologic formations in the case of in-situ mining and fracking.
An intelligent future with survival of human beings mind, may very well lie in the simple receptivity of the energy the earth and sun offer. That approach has proven to be far less expensive in the end on a lot of different levels (Santa Fe New Mexican, What’s behind Project Jupiter’s energy agenda?).
It is beyond misfortune that our current US administration is literally hell-bent on shutting down solar and wind projects that have already been approved and funded (Mother Jones, The United States Sacrificed $35 Billion in Clean Energy Projects Last Year).
But despite this disheartening action, solar and wind industries are growing apace (IRENA, Renewable Capacity Statistics 2026 and Albuquerque Journal, Bernalillo County approves 1.2 B incentives for West Side solar project).
By reading Rebecca Solnit’s new book, The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change, we can begin to fathom how the current way of guaranteeing an energy future for ourselves is beginning to be dismantled before our very eyes and something better continues to rise up to take its place.
“We in the 2020’s live in a world that would be unbelievable and maybe inconceivable to people sixty or seventy years earlier. We inhabit and inherit a world that has changed bit by bit, in ways so vast and varied, in so many spheres of everyday life, that the transformation has hardly been described. The ideas that have taken root in the last three-quarters of a century have borne fruit – as laws, rights, beliefs, roles, possibilities that did not exist before – and they add up to changes so profound that they amount to the end of a civilization and the beginning of another with different values and beliefs. We often speak as though we are here to toil, endlessly planting and cultivating seeds and seedlings, but we have also feasted on harvests from what was sown and tended by those who came before. Ideas have power, and while those who support them often dismiss that power, those who fear them recognize they can change the world.”
–Rebecca Solnit, The Beginning Comes after the End
The idea that we can live healthy and productive lives in a truly sustainable future is an idea that can no longer be set aside or left unsupported. As Rio Chama water protectors, we are currently fighting against uranium mining in our watershed, backed by the knowledge that there is a better, more
sustainable way to be here on this blue planet and in our beautiful and culturally rich state.
The poet Mary Oliver believed that “Attention is the beginning of devotion.”
Industry has arrived in our watershed with the goal of making money from mining uranium. Our goal, as watershed residents is to pay due attention and protect the watershed we love and depend on for life.
By caring enough to take a stand we are leading the way toward our very future and planting fierce and beautiful seeds in our wake.
Local editorials in response to mining threat
- The commenting is done: BLM still can protect Chaco
Matt Barnes
August 1, 2026 - New Mexico faces new uranium mining proposals amid nuclear industry push
Leona Morgan
June 7, 2026 - Uranium mining: Is there a future?
Luke Danielson
May 16, 2026 - The battle to save public lands is in full swing
Sante Fe New Mexican Editorial
May 16, 2026 - Environmental justice still matters for New Mexico communities
Ava Curtis, Eduardo Arguello and Rachel Conn
May 9, 2026 - Say ‘No’ to uranium exploration
Yolanda Jaramillo
April 23, 2026 - Speak up against proposed uranium mine
Barbara Turner
April 17, 2026 - URGENT — Our land, our water, our community needs you RIGHT NOW
Monica Ann Varn
April 1, 2026
Why are companies suddenly interested in renewed uranium mining?
Frontier Group: Renewed Interest in Uranium Mining Threatens Waterways and Wildlife
Published January 20th, 2025
Uranium has applications in industry and medicine, for nuclear weapons manufacturing, and as a fuel source for nuclear power. While the U.S. was a major producer of enriched uranium throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the nation has not produced enriched uranium domestically since 2013. In the decade since, U.S. uranium supply has depended on imports from Russia and Europe. However, following the invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. banned the import of Russian uranium.
To replace the loss of Russian uranium imports – and to meet rising electricity demand – the Biden administration embraced efforts to strengthen U.S. nuclear supply chains, providing more than $3.4 billion to support domestic uranium enrichment capabilities through the Inflation Reduction Act and FY24 spending bill.
After decades of flat or falling growth rates, electricity demand in the U.S. has begun to surge in the last few years. Electricity consumption is projected to grow 24-29% by 2035, and much of that demand is anticipated to come from new energy-intensive computing practices at U.S. data centers such as artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency mining.
Keying in on this potential nuclear renaissance and a boost in federal support, mining companies are racing to provide fuel for new nuclear reactors and soon-to-be reopened nuclear plants like Three Mile Island – the site of the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history. This fuel is destined to add to the highly radioactive waste currently being stored at 70 sites in 35 states.
UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy & The Environment: Monograph Series – Project 2025: Implications for Climate and the Environment
This Monograph reviews President Trump’s Executive Order 15146, which reflects policies set forth in Project 2025 by declaring a “National Energy Emergency” and directing the heads of various federal agencies and departments to “identify and exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to them, as well as all other lawful authorities they may possess, to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting,
production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”
The Executive Order (“EO”) is designed to promote domestic fossil fuel production and undermine renewable energy production. This Monograph evaluates possible legal challenges to the emergency declaration itself and to actions related to, and carrying out, the declaration.
On April 23, 2025, just as this Monograph was nearing completion, the United States Department of Interior (“DOI”) announced three separate, but related actions taken in response to the Executive Order, invoking emergency authorities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). DOI’s three actions were “designed to expedite the review and approval, if appropriate,” of the kinds of energy projects mentioned in the EO.
The Monograph has been augmented to include analysis addressing the lawfulness of all three of these DOI actions. We conclude that they are not lawful.
How can uranium move through a watershed?
Our watersheds are always on the move. What happens in one part of the watershed has profound and broadcast effects on the watershed as a whole due to the movement of water through a drainage basin from the mountains to a specific river, ocean or body of water. Documented contamination from uranium mining can travel by water and by wind.
“Because uranium is carried by water in solution-like dissolved salt or sugar-it is easily transported far from its original source. Uranium also can be present as a solid-attached to clays and mineral coatings on sand and silt. Sand and silt particles carrying uranium can be suspended in moving water and transported during floods. Radioactivity in sediment may also be transported in floods”
A 1994 USGS study created during a more environmentally aware administration and prepared in cooperation with the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation takes you through evidence of how uranium mining disasters can travel far from their source within a watershed like the Chama Basin Watershed.
And of local concern for El Rito Watershed residents is the Purdue University study of the El Rito Watershed which proves that there is an inter-basin connection between the Canjilon Watershed and the El Rito Watershed. The study suggests that the El Rito creek would be ephemeral if not for the water that feeds it from its neighboring Canjilon Watershed. Could uranium pollution from Canjilon mining move into the El Rito Watershed? We need to keep asking that question and demand that it is considered in any decision making around the Mesa Arc project.
June 8, 2026
The Board of Directors and the general membership of the El Rito Canyon Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association (MDWCA) state their strong opposition to any uranium mining exploration in the Carson National Forest as proposed by Gamma Resources and other mining interests.
The El Rito Canyon MDWCA is a small water association established in 1967 and now providing over 100 families with drinking water. It is part of the Chama River watershed and its aquifer is linked to that of Canjilon where Gamma Resources wants to mine.
Given the devastating contaminations of previous uranium mining in New Mexico, we demand that full Environmental Impact Statements be conducted with rigorous scientific methodology to insure the continued health of our communities, water and lands.
We further demand that ALL communities and citizens of Northern New Mexico be granted vigorous input and that their interests and protection have priority over foreign corporations seeking to exploit the lands and resources of Northern New Mexico for private gain.
Most sincerely,
The Board of Directors of El Rito Canyon MDWCA on behalf of its Membership
Uranium Mining Methods and Effects upon the Environment
Reported in-situ mining issues and monitoring failures
ISL and ISR defined – in-situ leaching (ISL) – also called in-situ recovery (ISR), or solution mining – the uranium-bearing ore is not removed from its geological deposit, but a leaching liquid is injected through wells into the ore deposit, and the uranium-bearing liquid is pumped to the surface from other wells. In-situ leaching gains importance for the exploitation of low-grade ore deposits, for its low production cost.
Documented examples of in-situ uranium mining spills and contaminations.
General ISL Process & Pipeline Spills: Across prominent ISR mining hubs in Wyoming and Texas, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) routinely documents surface spills resulting from pipeline ruptures (carrying pregnant lixiviant) and wellhead manifold leaks. These accidental surface releases spike sulfate and heavy metal levels in local soils and shallow aquifers before remediation. https://www.wise-uranium.org/uisl.html
Smith Ranch–Highland (Wyoming, USA): Regulated in situ recovery operations have experienced documented groundwater excursions where mining fluids (injected dissolved Uranium U(VI)) migrate beyond the intended ore zone. Historical enforcement actions have also cited the site for spills and regulatory non-compliance. https://www.wise-uranium.org/umopussr.html
Crow Butte (Nebraska, USA): While not a sudden acute accident, extended in situ decommissioning and restoration efforts have documented the failure to reach baseline groundwater restoration targets. Decades of pumping have struggled to reduce uranium and arsenic concentrations in designated mine units to pre-mining levels, highlighting the long-term subsurface environmental impact of ISR. https://www.wise-uranium.org/udusail.html
Kazakhstan Wellfield & Aquifer Alterations: The Syr Darya River basin—a region with heavy ISL uranium mining activity—has documented cases of severe radionuclide pollution of surface waters. Studies link mining zones to elevated gross alpha and beta activity in adjacent hydrological networks and downstream areas. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/13/7/366
Regulation and monitoring failures of in-situ uranium mining.
“Environmental pollution from ISL: inevitable”. The primary problem with ISL regulation: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledges that, although ISL permits require complete restoration of groundwater conditions after mining operations, some of the “baseline parameters” have proved to be unachievable by mining companies.
While the uranium mining industry insists that ISL mining methods are environmentally safe, numerous fines and violations by regulatory agencies have shown just how problematic ISL operations can be.
The increase in ISL environmental violations in recent years has led many states to relax environmental standards rather than impose stricter regulations against the mining companies.
Of the 8 currently operating ISL operations in the United States, only one has not had any reported environmental violations (Alta Mesa, Texas). Most ISL projects have had numerous spills, contaminated underground aquifers, and have failed to reclaim non-operating on site wells.
Monitoring: The proposed rule would require ISR operators to monitor ground water for 30 years improves chances of detecting whether lixiviant escapes the polluted aquifer in to nearby underground sources of drinking water. These chemical escapes, called excursions, can mobilize other pollutants like arsenic and lead to migrate toward other aquifers.
Unfortunately, EPA also proposes allowing ISL companies to perform computer models instead of continuous monitoring. Computer simulations are no substitute for monitoring. https://earthworks.org/issues/in_situ_leach_uranium_mining/
New Mexico Geological Society: The Environmental Legacy of Uranium Mining and Milling in New Mexico
Bruce Thomson, 2021
Between 1951 and 1989, the Grants mining district of northwestern New Mexico produced more uranium than any other district in the United States. Almost 250 mines were located in New Mexico, consisting of both open pit and underground mines. Open pit mines, especially the large Jackpile–Paguate Mine on the eastern flank of Mt. Taylor, left a large area of open pits and exposed strata that remains largely unremediated. The Jackpile–Paguate Mine is now a Superfund site. Underground mines had a large impact on regional aquifers, but groundwater levels have largely recovered after closure.
EPA: Radioactive Waste from Uranium Mining and Milling
Uranium eventually decays to radium. Radium decays to release a radioactive gas
called radon. Open pit uranium milling and in situ mining sites do not pose a significant radon risk to the public or to miners; the radon disperses into the atmosphere. In the past, the waste rock produced by underground and open pit mining was piled up outside the mine. This practice has caused problems, including on Navajo lands where more than half of the small, abandoned uranium mines from the middle of the 20th century and their wastes remain. Wind can blow radioactive dust from the wastes into populated areas and the wastes can contaminate surface water used for drinking. Some sites also have considerable groundwater contamination.
Uranium mining methods:
- Mining: When uranium is near the surface, miners dig the rock out of open pits. Open pit mining strips away the topsoil and rock that lie above the uranium ore. When uranium is found deep underground, miners must dig underground mines to reach it. The rock is then removed through underground tunnels.
- In situ leaching: “In situ” is Latin for “in place.” In situ leaching ISL), or in situ recovery (ISR), is the process of pumping chemicals into groundwater to dissolve uranium in porous rocks (typically sandstones). When uranium is located in an area saturated by groundwater, at relatively greater depths and generally lower concentrations than for conventional mines, in situ leaching may be used. After the chemicals are put into the ground, the liquid containing uranium is pumped to the surface through a network of wells and then processed to recover the uranium. This has become the most commonly used uranium extraction method in the United States in recent decades, especially in Texas and Wyoming.
National Laboratory of Medicine / National Center for Biotechnology Information: Potential Environmental Effects of Uranium Mining, Processing, and Reclamation
Uranium mining, processing, and reclamation (in Virginia) have the potential to affect surface water quality and quantity groundwater quality and quantity, soils, air quality, and biota.
Tailings disposal sites represent significant potential sources of contamination for thousands of years, and the long-term risks remain poorly defined. (Defined: The solid radioactive wastes that are left over from the milling processes are called tailings and the liquid wastes are called raffinates. Mill tailings and raffinates are stored in specially designed ponds called impoundments. The tailings remain radioactive and contain hazardous chemicals from the recovery process. Source: EPA)
Significant potential environmental risks are associated with extreme natural events and failures in management practices. Extreme natural events (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, intense rainfall events, drought) have the potential to lead to the release of contaminants if facilities are not designed and constructed to withstand such events or fail to perform as designed.
Surface Water Effects
Disturbances of the land surface associated with uranium mining (in Virginia) would be expected to have significant effects on both on-site and downstream surface water conditions. These disturbances affect both surface water quantity and quality. Many of these effects are similar to those encountered in other types of mining, although there are some unique risks posed by uranium mining and processing due to the presence of radioactive substances, and co-occurring chemicals such as heavy metals.
Historical Uranium Project Data
The Rum Jungle uranium and copper mining project in Northern Territory, Australia, operated from 1954 to 1971, is an example of a mining operation that occurred with virtually no concern for environmental impacts. During early years of operation, mine tailings at this site were discharged onto a flat, low-lying area adjacent to the processing facility; about 0.26 million gallons per day (1 million L/day) of liquid tailings wastes were discharged to a nearby river, and the solid tailings proved highly erodible during wet-season rain events.
A rehabilitation program from 1982 to 1986 aimed at reducing metal loads to surface waters included backfilling open cuts with tailing wastes, recontouring waste rock dumps, constructing engineered soil covers to limit infiltration and AMD production, and rehabilitating the former processing facility and ore stockpile areas. More than two decades following closure, a field campaign in the 1992-1993 wet season showed that concentrations of arsenic, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, uranium, and zinc still greatly exceeded water quality standards at a river monitoring station located 3.5 mi (5.6 km) downstream of the site.
Gamma Resources, Ltd & Uranium
Source: Gamma Resources, Ltd, Vancouver Canada
In March 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14156 formally designating uranium as a U.S. critical mineral. This legal shift empowers federal agencies under the Defense Production Act to fast-track permitting, direct federal procurement, and prioritize uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication infrastructure across the country. A follow-on executive package on May 23 accelerated regulatory reform across the nuclear fuel cycle—including licensing of advanced reactors (Gen III/IV), small modular reactors (SMRs), microreactors, and establishing a goal of 400 GW of nuclear capacity by 2050—creating a supportive policy ecosystem for domestic uranium producers and enabling secure HALEU supply chains for next-generation reactors.
Meanwhile, the uranium market is facing a historic supply–demand imbalance. At the same time, nuclear energy is increasingly viewed as a reliable, carbon free backbone for both energy security and climate goals, with Western governments doubling down on nuclear deployment and investing in domestic fuel chains, SMRs, and advanced reactor technologies. These tailwinds explain why the Company feels strategically positioned in uranium, eager to help to supply a market poised for structural growth and supported by strong public policy frameworks.
Link to Canjilon “Mesa Arc” Project
Adverse Health Effects for Communities from Uranium Mine Exposure
NPR: Nuclear power push ramps up uranium mill — and tribal health concerns
On a hot April day, Malcolm Lehi maneuvered his Jeep Wrangler over a rough dirt road. He drove past junipers and sagebrush in search of Entrance Spring on land long connected to his tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute.
The cool, mossy spring lies just across the highway from White Mesa Mill, the nation’s only remaining conventional uranium mill, which produces yellowcake for nuclear power fuel.
For decades, the mill has sparked debate over whether radioactive contamination threatens human health by getting into the water and the air. Concerns run especially deep in the White Mesa Ute Community, where Lehi and about 200 members of his tribe live some 5 miles south of the facility.
National Laboratory of Medicine/National Center for Biotechnology Information: Potential Human Health Effects of Uranium Mining, Processing, and Reclamation
These health risks typically are most relevant to individuals occupationally exposed in this industry but certain exposures and their associated risks can extend via environmental pathways to the general population.
Internal exposure to radioactive materials during uranium mining and processing can take place through inhalation, ingestion, or through a cut in the skin. External radiation exposure can also present a health risk.
CDC/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: ToxFAQS
- Exposure to high levels of natural or depleted uranium can cause kidney disease.
- Natural and depleted uranium that exist in the dust in the air settle onto water, land, and plants. Uranium deposited on land can be reincorporated into soil, washed into surface water, or stick to plant roots. Uranium in air, surface water, or groundwater can be transported large distances.
- People may be exposed to higher levels of uranium if they live near uranium mining, processing, and manufacturing facilities. People may also be exposed if they live near areas where depleted uranium weapons are used.
- Most of the uranium you breathe or ingest is not absorbed and leaves the body in the feces. Absorbed uranium is deposited throughout the body. The highest levels are found in the bones, liver, and kidneys; 66% of the uranium in the body is found in your bones. It can remain in the bones for a long time; the half-life of uranium in bones is 70-200 days. Most of the uranium that is not in bones leaves the body in the urine in 1-2 weeks.
- Natural uranium and depleted uranium have the identical chemical effect on your body. Kidney damage has been seen in humans and animals after inhaling or ingesting uranium compounds.
- Studies in animals have shown that inhalation exposure to insoluble uranium compounds can result in lung damage.
- Exposure of animals to high levels of uranium during pregnancy, which caused toxicity in the mothers, has induced early deaths and birth defects in the young. There are some studies that suggest that exposure to depleted uranium increased the frequency of birth defects, but the studies are deficient to allow valid conclusions.
Native American Budget and Policy Institute
To date, research has identified connections between exposure to uranium mining operations and many kinds of cancers, especially lung cancer. A USPHS study from 1991 to 2005 found that 25% of the deaths in 4,137 former uranium miners were attributed to lung cancer, with Native American miners experiencing three times the expected rate.(10)
Uranium mining has also been linked to pulmonary fibrosis, hypertension, birth defects, cardiovascular diseases, silicosis, emphysema, kidney failure, Down syndrome, miscarriage, learning disabilities.
Further research has also increasingly shown connections to inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes, an illness with a high prevalence in Native American communities but whose association with extractive industry is rarely highlighted. (article footnotes 15, 19, 20, 17)
Uranium Mining and the Colonial Exploitation of Indigenous Lands
Anti-uranium advocates wrest control of public hearing on proposed mine near Navajo Nation
August 10, 202, Source NM
GALLUP — A recent hearing meant to inform the public about a new uranium mine proposal near Church Rock instead exposed wounds around the legacy of mining’s impacts on Navajo communities, as well as fresh concerns about whether technology that promises to safely extract the mineral is as clean as the industry claims.
Laramide Resources, a Canadian mining company, and its subsidiary NuFuels, Inc., held a public hearing Thursday at a casino near Gallup as it seeks a permit from the New Mexico Environment Department to discharge.
But Navajo anti-mining advocates, as well as those who still remember the cascading consequences from the 1979 Church Rock mine spill, shouted out repeatedly during the company’s presentation. They expressed frustration that NuFuels would pursue a uranium mine in an area still contending with the biggest uranium spill in the nation’s history, as well as numerous other public health and environmental harms from decades of uranium mining.
Uranium mine effects upon New Mexico Tribal Communities
The Church Rock, New Mexico Uranium Mill Spill
In 1968, the United Nuclear Corporation initiated mining operations in the largest
underground uranium mine in the United States. Located in Church Rock, New Mexico, in the Navajo Native American Reservation, the Church Rock Mill produced more than two million pounds of uranium oxide per year. Waste from the mining process was disposed of in three lined lagoons fortified by a man-made dam built on geologically unsound land—of which both the United Nuclear Corporation and state and federal agencies were aware. On July 16th 1979, the dam breached and 1100 tons of uranium waste and 94 million gallons of radioactive water seeped into the Puerco River. Scientists estimate that the amount of radiation released in the Church Rock uranium mill spill was larger than the amount released at Three Mile Island, just four months prior. Surrounding residents of the mill, almost entirely Navajos, relied on the Puerco River as a watering source for livestock. They have since suffered severe health problems due to substantial increases in radioactivity found in the water, soil, and air. Despite several selective investigations and cleanup efforts by the US Environmental Protection Agency, ramifications of the spill remain evident in the Navajo Nation today.
Wikipedia link for a deep dive into the Church Rock Uranium spill of 1979. (has a good map)
The Homestake Mining Uranium open-pit project devastating communities near Grants and Milan
High Country News- The “death map” tells the story of decades of sickness in the small northwest New Mexico communities of Murray Acres and Broadview Acres.
… residents believe is the cause of their sickness: 22.2 million tons of uranium waste left over from milling ore to supply power plants and nuclear bombs.
Beginning in 1958, a uranium mill owned by Homestake Mining Company of California processed and refined ore mined nearby. The waste it left behind leaked uranium and selenium into groundwater and released the cancer-causing gas radon into the air. State and federal regulators knew the mill was polluting groundwater almost immediately after it started operating, but years passed before they informed residents and demanded fixes.
Property records reveal the company had, by the end of 2021, purchased 574 parcels covering 14,425 acres around the mill site. This April, Homestake staff indicated they had 123 properties left to buy. One resident said the area was quickly becoming a “ghost town.”
Even after the community is gone, more than 15,000 people who live nearby, many of them Indigenous, will continue to rely on water threatened by Homestake’s pollution.
Another article regarding the Homestake Mining Uranium project
Searchlight New Mexico – “Over time, the uranium tailings decayed into radon gas; meanwhile, radioactive contaminants seeped into four of the region’s aquifers.
Residents compiled a list of neighbors who died of cancer — they called it the Death Map. In 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicted that the probability of developing cancer was notably higher for residents who lived closest to the mill, especially if they drank the water.”
“In the intervening decades, Homestake attempted to hold its remaining contamination at bay rather than offer a long-term solution. That changed in 2020, when the company declared that a full cleanup of the groundwater was not feasible and instead embarked on a mass buyout and demolition of homes inside the rural subdivisions and beyond.
Homestake’s goal, ultimately, is to hand over 6,100 acres of land — almost twice the size of nearby Milan — to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of a special federal program that takes over shuttered nuclear outfits when industry walks away. The deadline is 2035. And if this site is anything like the majority of the DOE’s other sites, the land will be rendered inaccessible to the public, with the company’s guarantee that toxins will stay inside the massive contamination zone boundary for a thousand years.”
Union of Concerned Scientists – U.S. Uranium Mining Legacy Still Harms Navajo Nation
May 6th, 2025. Nuclear colonialism refers to the systematic exploitation of Indigenous lands and the Diné (what the Navajo people call themselves) by the US nuclear weapons program for the purposes of nuclear testing, uranium mining, waste disposal, and dosing humans with radiation without their consent.
The Navajo Nation has historically been disproportionately burdened by the US nuclear weapons program, especially uranium mining. During more than four decades of domestic uranium production, nearly 30 million tons of uranium ore were mined on the Navajo Nation. Although the US government knew the risks of radiation to humans, many Navajo miners were still sent into mines with poor ventilation and safety regulations skirted.
Environmental Law Institute – An Ongoing Battle: Fighting the Impacts of Uranium Mining in Southwestern Indigenous Communities
June 24, 2020. Indigenous communities in the Southwestern United States have been battling the impacts of uranium mining since the early 1940s. The geology of the Colorado Plateau was found to be rich in the radioactive mineral and drew mining to the area. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sought uranium to develop nuclear weapons during the Cold War, which fueled the interest of mining companies that opened uranium mines and mills on and around indigenous land. This was the start of an environmental justice issue spanning generations and continuing to impact indigenous communities today.
Indigenous communities were not told about the health risks uranium and radiation posed even though scientists and government officials knew of its hazards at the time.
Take Action!
Have you already reached out to the places listed below? It cannot hurt to write again with updated comments from our uranium website page. If it’s your second time, you might want to keep comments short and mention this is a second time reaching out. Whenever you write or call to voice you opposition to Uranium Mining Development, please be respectful with your comments.
Providing snippets of information or data helps bolster our cause (cite resources if you can) and make for a strong argument. And of course, personal comments and experiences are very powerful to include (Example: Please keep Gamma Resources and uranium mining out of MY Watershed). If you can only write one sentence saying you OPPOSE uranium mining – great – it all counts.
Key points to cut and paste into an opposition email:
- Demand full Environmental Impact Statements – analysis to be conducted with proper scientific methodology to PROVE how allowing a uranium development project would NOT harm the health of our communities, water and land.
- Demand all county officials, tribal communities, acequia associations, agricultural and ranching groups – ALL Communities and Northern New Mexico citizens potentially affected – be granted vigorous input.
Action Update
In a meeting in Canjilon on May 5th, Senator Luján advised us all to
CC: any emails we send out to his office, and include Senator Henrich,
Congresswoman Fernández and Governor Lujan-Grisham, all. So that our comments can be counted and put into public record.
If you are on a device that doesn’t allow you to CC – then maybe include in your comment email that you are sending copies to your D.C. reps. If you cannot email, a phone message is another way to voice opposition, and even an old-fashioned fax.
If you have not seen the document, our NM Representatives below presented a letter of opposition for proposed uranium mining development by Gamma Resources to the USFS (US Forest Service).
Senator Ben Ray Luján
https://www.lujan.senate.gov/contact/contact-form/
Santa Fe office – 505-230-7040, Fax: 833-702-2621
Senator Martin Henrich
https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/contact/write-martin
Santa Fe office – (505) 988-6647, Fax: (505) 992-8435
Congresswoman Teresa Isabel Leger Fernández
https://fernandez.house.gov/contact/
Santa Fe office – (505) 428-4680
NM Governor Lujan Grisham
https://www.governor.state.nm.us/contact-the-governor/
Santa Fe office – Phone: (505) 476-2200
The Process for Gamma Resources
THE FIRST STEP Gamma Resources had to follow was to file a permit request (notice of intent) to the Carson National Forest for Uranium Mining Exploration which happened in February 2026 – (as reported by KUNM on March 25, 2026).
To email the Carson National Forest members involved with the Gamma Resources Permit: mailroom_r3_carson@usda.gov
Another email option: zachary.behrens@usda.gov Zach is the Public Affairs Officer at the Carson National Forest and forwards emails from both places to the leadership involved. Email is the most effective method, but Zach can also be reached by phone: 575-758-6303.
Subject – “Gamma Resources Uranium Mining Development Opposition”
Request the Forest Service complete a full, extensive, complete scientifically based and backed Environmental Impact Statement and to follow all procedural practices.
SECOND STEP – An additional part of the process for Gamma Resources Ltd. to move forward is to receive an approved permit from the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) – the Mining and Minerals Division (MMD). (Reported as of May 6th 2026 they have not filed for a permit from MMD).
The Director of the Mining & Minerals Division (MMD). EMNRD and its Cabinet Secretary are appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham, so could potentially be guided by her to either approve or deny a permit request by Gamma Resources, Ltd. We need to let decision makers at the overarching department (EMNRD) and the division directly involved (MMD) that we OPPOSE them granting a permit to proceed with uranium exploration next steps to Gamma Resources Ltd.
RACC spoke with the EMNRD and were informed that some people are not currently in the job posts listed online. Please send emails to both EMNRD and MMD.
Address emails to “The Current Secretary of EMNRD” https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/
And “Current Director and Deputy Director of Mining and Mineral Division (MMD)” https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/mmd/
EMNRD Public Affairs Officer – Sydney Hill handles media inquiries, 505-629-2900