A proposed mine near the Pecos Wilderness threatens sensitive lands and waters

In 2019, Comexico LLC, a Colorado subsidiary of Australian mining company New World Resources, applied for permission to begin exploratory mining operations in the Santa Fe National Forest.

Comexico is targeting an area a few miles south of the Pecos Wilderness, just to the west of the Pecos River, for this operation. The company plans to drill up to 30 holes—each between 500 and 4,000 feet deep—to determine whether the site is a viable option for a full-blown mine. Even the exploratory process could contaminate the Pecos River and other nearby streams, potentially damaging the health of fish, wildlife, and humans living in the area.

New Mexico Wild is proud to work alongside local community members and business owners, acequia and land grant owners, tribes, elected officials, sportsmen and women, and other nonprofit organizations to prevent the Tererro Mine from ever becoming a reality.

Environmental Assessment

In the summer of 2020, New Mexico Wild learned that the Santa Fe National Forest will require an environmental assessment for Comexico's proposal. The decision comes after significant public input - including over 2,600 comments submitted by New Mexico Wild's members and supporters - calling on the Forest to require a more in-depth review of the project. Comexico attempted to convince Forest managers that a categorical exclusion from environmental reviews was sufficient based on a scant review conducted by the company's own paid contractor.

America's Most Endangered Rivers

On April 13, 2021, national nonprofit organization American Rivers released its annual Most Endangered Rivers report and listed the Pecos River as one of the nation's most endangered due to the threats posed by Comexico's exploratory drilling proposal. The report calls on the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division to deny Comexico's exploratory mining application and highlights the local communities that would be negatively affected by yet another mining operation in the Pecos Valley.

From 1926-1929, the Pecos Mine and El Molino Mill operated in essentially the same area in which Comexico plans to begin exploratory drilling. The Pecos Mine was not closed down responsibly, leading to the contamination of soils, 5-10 acres of wetlands, Willow Creek and the Pecos River. The effects of the mine, however, were felt long after its operations ceased. In 1991, spring runoff caused a massive fish kill—more than 90,000 trout died at the Lisboa Springs Fish Hatchery alone.

The damage caused by the 1991 runoff has been limiting the number of visitors to the region ever since. For Pecos, a community reliant on outdoor tourism, the economic impacts of the disaster have been devastating.

What's worse, the cleanup of the Pecos Mine spill is still underway - more than 90 years after the mine ceased operations!