A man holds a chunk of uranium near a reclaimed pit mine in Oljato, Utah, on the Navajo Reservation, where chunks of uranium lay scattered among the debris. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Mining and Minerals Division in New Mexico launched a uranium mine dashboard to keep the public up to date about current uranium mining data. (Associated Press file)

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A man holds a chunk of uranium near a reclaimed pit mine in Oljato, Utah, on the Navajo Reservation, where chunks of uranium lay scattered among the debris. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Mining and Minerals Division in New Mexico launched a uranium mine dashboard to keep the public up to date about current uranium mining data. (Associated Press file)

FARMINGTON – The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Mining and Minerals Division came out with a dashboard of abandoned uranium mines to provide the public with an interactive map and data about individual sites.

The dashboard provides data from a variety of sources, “making it easier for the public to find information about legacy uranium mining in New Mexico,” according to a news release from the natural resources department. The database, which was built by staff members at the division, includes mines that had uranium production, have been abandoned, are no longer maintained or are inactive.

A former uranium miner with lung problems, Leslie Begay, left, speaks with, at the time, U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-New Mexico, in a hallway outside a congressional field hearing in Albuquerque that highlighted the atomic age’s impact on Native American communities Oct. 7, 2019. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department launched a uranium mine dashboard to keep the public up to date about current uranium mining data. (Associated Press file)

Mary Hudetz/Associated Press

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A former uranium miner with lung problems, Leslie Begay, left, speaks with, at the time, U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-New Mexico, in a hallway outside a congressional field hearing in Albuquerque that highlighted the atomic age’s impact on Native American communities Oct. 7, 2019. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department launched a uranium mine dashboard to keep the public up to date about current uranium mining data. (Associated Press file)

Mary Hudetz/Associated Press

“Presenting the full scope of legacy mining in New Mexico is a monumental task, but the publication of the New Mexico Uranium Mines Dashboard provides a comprehensive picture of one area of New Mexico’s mining history,” said Mining and Minerals Division Director Jerry Schoeppner.

Among the thousands of mines featured on the dashboard across New Mexico are the Boyd and Hogback mines in San Juan County.

In 2010, the Mining and Minerals Division had an assessment done of the two mines.

The Boyd mine is 8 miles north of Kirtland and is accessible only by way of the Navajo Nation, with permission, and requires an escort for the last 4 miles to reach the mine. The earliest mention of mining shipments is 1955 when 73.8 tons of ore were shipped from the site, according to the report.

Sedimentary deposits of uranium occur within a section of bedding between the Fruitland Formation and the Kirtland Formation, the report said. The mine has three open pits, one pile, one disturbance area and two mine roads. The pits also showed blasting spots, where explosives were used to break the sandstone to retrieve the uranium.

The Hogback mining site was also used in the 1950s and is on the Navajo Nation tribal land, 10 miles northwest of Kirtland. An escort is also needed for this site. The mine has sandstone in varying sequences of “olive-gray, rust-brown and brownish-black to maroon beach-placer.”

At the site, there are four open pits, four piles and two disturbed areas. The Navajo Nation escort informed the assessors that the site is permitted for sheep grazing, “though evidence of this activity was not observed during the site assessment,” the report said.

There are thousands of abandoned mines and mining features across New Mexico. The uranium dashboard provides a look at the one type of mining. The dashboard can be found by visiting https://bit.ly/3vNbqei.

mmitchell@durangoherald.com