Colorado is home to an estimated 23,000 abandoned mines located on both public and private lands. Many of these mines and the tailings left behind have a negative impact on the environment and especially the local water drainages as they were often built in areas with year-round flowing water, or in areas with spring runoff events. Whether it was a product of the times, or simply the "make or break" philosophy of the miners in the late 1800’s in Colorado, clean up wasn’t exactly high on their priority list. As a result, hard minerals that are often concentrated in tailing piles can dump harmful waste into the watersheds below. Ultimately, that waste will make it all the way into the waters we all love to fish.
For the past few years, Anglers All has partnered with Trout Unlimited as one of our conservation partners. This partnership among others make up our pledge to 1% For The Planet. TU has a team who works to identify problematic mine areas, create plans, gather funding and improve these sites. We believe we are all after the same goal: cold clean water to fish and enjoy now and for years to come. While this project impacts just one of thousands of mines, every little bit counts.
Last December, we kicked off a Colorado Gives Day Fundraiser with the goal to raise money specifically for this and one more TU mine reclamation project. With all of your contributions, we were able to raise $20,000! The first Trout Unlimited project to receive funding was the Duval Mine Cleanup. Earlier this week, Chris, Jimmy and Blake from Anglers All visited to site and talked with Lauren, Whitney and David of TU about the area and the cleanup progress.
The Duval Mine Site sits hidden in the hills above Jamestown CO. Duval was an active gold mining site from the late 1890’s to the early 1900’s. As with most of these sites it sat abandoned and forgotten for nearly 100 years. During that century, Duval's tailings and ground water seepage continued to make its way downstream towards the South Fork of the St. Vrain Creek, miles below. The Duval Mine also sits on the edge of land that makes up the Balarat Outdoor Education Center, an 800 acre outdoor education classroom for Denver Public School students. For over 50 years kids from Denver have been visiting this property and learning about the environment, conservation, and Colorado’s deep history. In 2021 Balarat hosted 10,000 Denver 5th Graders!
When Lauren, of TU’s Mine Reclamation Team, put this project together, she focused specifically on protecting the St Vrain drainage from the harmful impacts of Duval's mine tailings. With the help of organizations like the St Vrain Chapter of CTU, Boulder County, the EPA, local water boards on both sides of the drainage and donors like yourselves, Lauren and her team was able to start work on this project this year.
The first step in this project was to build a stable and protected drainage chute for the seeping ground water coming directly from the mine shaft opening. This was achieved by excavating the original wash, lining it and filling the space with naturally filtering soil materials as well as natural rock from the area. While not actively treating the water, this system helps the water “drop” a lot of its hard minerals as it moves downstream.
For the second step, the team worked to stabilize the tailings pile to minimize the washing of harmful deposits into the drainage during normal rain and runoff events. Large natural boulders were placed at the bottom of the pile between it and the creek to help prevent degradation of the hillside. Soil screens were used within those boulders, coupled with a special natural spray applied to the loose pile to “lock” it together.
Next, the team moved the drainage channel 6-8 feet away from the hillside holding the mine and tailings. A new channel was cut, and the water was diverted using existing rock and vegetation. Ultimately, keeping the flowing water away from washing into the tailing pile is the most efficient way to keep those hard harmful minerals out of the drainage.
And finally, the team re-plants and re-seeds native vegetation. Within a few short years, it will look as it has for decades, only keeping more of those harmful minerals on the hillside and out of the water below. Plus, knowing the kids of Denver Public Schools visiting the Balarat Center have a cleaner, safer way to experience the history of Colorado mining, is pretty cool too.
We will continue to work with the amazing people at Trout Unlimited on these mine clean up projects because they align with our ongoing mission of conservation and protecting cold clean water for everyone. Thank you to TU, David, Lauren and Whitney for giving us a tour of the mine, and to you, our Anglers All family and friends, who’s donations helped put this into action. Look out for another way to donate to these projects come November!
