RECLAMATION SUCCESS

Owned by Reynolds Metals Company, the 3-C Mine was awarded the 2000 Interstate Mining Compact Commission’s Reclamation Award in the Non-Coal Category. The Arkansas plant had originally been built at the start of World War II and was owned by the Federal Government. After the war, Reynolds purchased the plant and its surface and underground mines. The 3-C was a 21-acre mine that had been excavated to a depth of 80 feet.

When this mine was being opened, traditional mining methods did not include separating the topsoil from the other overburden. Therefore, Reynolds developed a system to create new topsoil once the mine spoils had been replaced in the pit and the final contour had been reached. The topsoil was developed by placing 18 inches of a by-product known as "brown mud." This material was a slurry by-product of the production of alumina, which is the first step in making aluminum metal from raw bauxite. The mud has a pH of 13, while the mine spoil was typically a pH of 3 to 4. Mixing these two materials created three feet of an almost neutral pH topsoil, which was essentially sterile. Reynolds developed a method using the abundant waste litter from the state’s large poultry industry to add the needed nutrients and organic material to the new topsoil.

Reynolds Metals 3-C during mining.

3-C mine after reclamation. The broad leaf vegetation is a crop of turnips provided as forage for the local wildlife.

The basic plans for the reclamation of the 3-C mine was for development of pasture lands and wildlife habitat. In the foreground of the "after" photograph, the broad leaf vegetation that can be seen are turnips that were planted to provide forage for the local wildlife. The entire Reynolds property which the 3-C mine is a part of has been annexed by the City of Bauxite and is under consideration as a possible location for a new Saline County Airport.