The Bureau of Land Management has issued a lease allowing more than 9 million tons of coal to be mined in western New Mexico. The 640-acre lease was issued to Peabody Natural Resources Company on Tuesday.
The decision was made after the BLM determined there would be no significant environmental impacts from the mining the land, sold to Peabody in August. The company paid $2.3 million dollars for the lease, covering land adjacent to its El Segundo Mine in McKinley County.
The mine employs about 340 workers and produces about 8 million tons of coal each year for utility customers in New Mexico and eastern Arizona. Royalty payments from the coal production will be shared by New Mexico and the federal government.
