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Abandoned mine lands consulting

Agencies, trusts, and tribes rely on us to transform idle sites into opportunities.

Abandoned mine sites may have once yielded jobs and valuable natural resources, but now they can pose risks to local communities and the environment. Without responsible closure and reclamation, these sites can pollute water supplies, create risks for accidents and injuries, and otherwise make the lands where they sit unusable and dangerous.

Agencies, trusts, and tribes know that it’s a challenge to limit long-term liability and reduce human health and ecological risks at these sites. But with the right partner, abandoned mine lands can lead to economic growth and environmental benefit. Successfully reclaimed lands often provide space for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation, as well as improved habitat for wildlife.

Drawing on our mining reclamation expertise, we develop practical, effective, and environmentally resilient solutions. First, we understand clients’ needs within the confines of applicable regulations, and then we provide executable and approvable designs. Often, we can execute those in shorter-than-typical timeframes given our trusted relationships with regulators and knowledge of their processes.

Clients also rely on us to design closure plans that maximize benefits. Drawing on geomorphic design, our solutions can be installed and maintained at minimal cost. We also work to recover asset values from processing residuals and scrap materials, take advantage of federal and state waste rules applicable to the mining industry (such as the Bevill Amendment), and minimize off‐site transportation and disposal costs.

Talk to our market experts

Dustin Wasley
Dustin Wasley

Market Leader, Mining

Houck-Kevin
Kevin Houck

Senior Technical Expert, Civil Engineering

Headshot of male, Pierre LeMieux
Pierre LeMieux

Senior Technical Expert, Environmental Scientist

Market highlights

  • Checkmark Closure designs, including waste removal and grading
  • Checkmark Construction oversight
  • Checkmark Engineering evaluations and alternatives analysis
  • Checkmark Federal and state funding and permitting 
  • Checkmark Repository design
  • Checkmark Site characterization and geochemistry
  • Checkmark Stream and river restoration and stabilization
  • Checkmark Turnkey design-build construction

Bringing big-picture thinking to every project phase

With decades of experience on abandoned mine sites, our full-service, technically skilled team understands the relevant regulatory needs and outside stakeholder concerns. We successfully manage every aspect of an abandoned mine project — from site investigation and characterization through closure design, construction, and monitoring.

We have worked for and collaborated with private clients, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, state agencies, trusts, tribes, and nonprofits. We understand how these stakeholders’ concerns fit together at different project stages, and we have the in-house capabilities to advise on any and all of them.

Our services include:

Our project teams listen to your concerns, clarify needs, and deliver solutions that fit.

See us at work

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Contact us for abandoned mine lands consulting