RECLAMATION SUCCESS

The Black Mesa/Kayenta Mine complex is located in the northeastern corner of Arizona, approximately 125 miles from Flagstaff. The operation has received the Office of Surface Mining’s 25^th Anniversary Director’s Award for Cultural, Historical, and Archaeological Preservation.  The complex employs American Indians representing 90% of the workforce, and additionally supports indirect employment in restaurants, hotels and other American Indian employment industries. The operations cover nearly 63,000 acres of Hopi and Navajo Tribal lands. The operations serve generating stations in Nevada and Arizona, and provide low-cost electricity for more than 3.5 million southwest families. 

Operated by Peabody Western Coal Company, the Kayenta Mine has a long history of archaeological research. Information from Navajo and Hopi traditional medicine men, herbalists, and Black Mesa residents identified special plants. Local seed was collected and planted. Since the project began more than 234,000 cultural plant seedlings have been planted on nearly 170 acres. In 1966 newly passed federal antiquity laws dictated that, before mining, a thorough investigation had to be made and detailed reports filed. When the Black Mesa Archaeological Project was initiated, no one realized it would become one of the largest, longest-running archaeological projects in North America.