BLM Rip Van Winkle Mine Site

The Rip van Winkle Mine Site sits on the west side of Lone Mountain, in the Independence Mountains.  It is 25 miles northwest of Elko, Nevada.    

It is adjacent to Coon Creek, an ephemeral creek that runs into Maggie Creek.  Maggie Creek is part of the habitat of the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout.    

The Rip van Winkle mine was active from the late 1800’s until 1944, but was most active after the mid-1930’s.  It was the second-largest producer of lead and zinc in Nevada.  Mining activities and milling led to a large tailings deposit (material left over after the valuable fraction of ore is extracted) along Coon Creek. 

Approximately 82,200 cubic yards of tailings and waste rock were found near the mill and in tailings ponds.  The main contaminant of concern at the site was lead.  In addition, the tailings and waste rock dumps generated acid mine drainage.  During precipitation events, when these rocks and tailings materials came in contact with water, the runoff water would become acidic and mobilize additional heavy metals into the water.  This reduced the pH of the stream water in Coon Creek and negatively impacted downstream Maggie Creek as well.

In December of 2003, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removed the entire mill superstructure, equipment, tanks, and waste concrete.   

From 2006 to 2010, BLM used $285,000 from the Department of the Interior’s Central Hazardous Materials Fund (CHF) to excavate and consolidate the contents of four tailings ponds, three of which were adjacent to Coon Creek, and address the remaining physical hazards.  The remediation prevented metals, contaminated sediment, and acid drainage from impacting Coon Creek and Maggie Creek.

CHF funds are Congressionally appropriated funds, provided to the Department of the Interior and managed by the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance (OEPC), for the cleanup of environmental contamination on public lands pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).

In 2011, the Bureau of Land Management received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and used it to remove mill concentrates from the mill site and add them to the tailings repository.  Potential acid-generating rock was also pulled away from the creek and replaced with clean, native soil.  Coon Creek was rerouted to divert water around the tailings area.  

By completing these activities, BLM, through funding assistance from DOI’s Central Hazardous Materials Fund, successfully secured an abandoned mine site from human health and environmental impacts and preserved native fish habitat.  Also, all construction funding was channeled into the local economy, thus providing jobs and resources in the impacted area.