The health and safety of our employees is of paramount importance to us. Likewise, we place equal value on the sustainability of the Imperial Valley region and its environment. The Mesquite Mine is a long time member of the community, having begun initial operations in 1986 and recommenced mining operations in 2008. As such, we have strived to maintain the fine reputation inherited from previous operators, while forging new relationships with key decision makers and implementing a formal outreach effort with our community.
Community
Our goal is to maintain a quality and well-respected profile within the region, as part of the community collective, while conducting operations in a manner consistent with that positive reputation. We have carefully evaluated and affiliated our operation with well respected organizations in the Imperial Valley region. These bonds reinforce our outreach efforts to key decision makers, which have culminated in ongoing personalized property tours and one-on-one contacts.
Environment
Mesquite is committed to conducting our mining activities with a keen eye on environmental protection and by complying with the over 1,600 existing permit stipulations inherited from previous operators. We have undertaken several initiatives outlined below.
1. Energy & Climate Change
Mesquite has evaluated its energy consumption and identified areas for targeted improvement. We have also evaluated our greenhouse gas emissions as part of the strategy to proactively address this issue.
2. Air
Our operation is located in an arid region where fugitive dust is an ongoing challenge. We are continuing to investigate dust suppression technologies to supplement our routine roadway treatments. As part of our air quality permit, routine monitoring is conducted at four (4) air monitoring stations and our operation is well below the regulatory limits.
3. Reclamation & Closure
Mesquite is committed to concurrent reclamation. A mine plan change in late 2007 allows concurrent reclamation to be moved forward in the development timeline and we are currently resloping all rock dumps as they become inactive.
We have also successfully closed a large heap leach facility to the satisfaction of regulatory limits, thus insuring that future heap closure activities can be predicted and completed with a high degree of certainty.
Sustainability
Mesquite is situated with a municipal landfill to the south and a military gunnery range to the north. The municipal landfill was permitted by previous mine operators as a means of sustaining a viable business long after the mining operation had ceased. Continuing on this theme, Mesquite is undergoing preliminary evaluation regarding other viable post-mining land uses, including solar, wind & geothermal energy. This effort will continue in earnest as the mining operation matures.