Mining Museum Gala

  • Vice President of the New Mexico Mining Museum Board of Directors Terry Fletcher presented Jon Indall with a plaque to honor his work in the mining industry. Diego Lopez - CC
    Vice President of the New Mexico Mining Museum Board of Directors Terry Fletcher presented Jon Indall with a plaque to honor his work in the mining industry. Diego Lopez - CC
  • Executive Director Benda Curtright of the New Mexico Mining Museum presented Homestake Mining Company with an award to honor their service as a great community partner, the award was received by Homestake Mining’s JoAnne Martinez. Diego Lopez - CC
    Executive Director Benda Curtright of the New Mexico Mining Museum presented Homestake Mining Company with an award to honor their service as a great community partner, the award was received by Homestake Mining’s JoAnne Martinez. Diego Lopez - CC

Wind and stormy weather were not going to deter the New Mexico Mining Museum from hosting their annual Hard Hats and Boots Gala on June 11. Special guest speaker Jon Indall, environmental lawyer, spoke to those in attendance about the future of mining. Executive Director of the museum, Brenda Curtright, had the forethought to secure a peaked tent and block two sides, using the caboose on Santa Fe to block a small portion of the third side.

With plenty of room to walk around and socialize, the annual event went off without a hitch. Dinner was served by Tena’s Catering, the meal featured tasty ribs, mashed potatoes with bacon, beans, pasta salad and a bread roll.

The meal was served by the Grants High School Junior Class, with class sponsors Mark Lowther and Kori Bassett working to manage the students who were fundraising for tips so they could pay for a nice prom in the 2022-2023 school year.

Mining in New Mexico

Indall spoke to attendees of the Hard Hats and Boots Gala to talk about mining in New Mexico and Cibola County.

Indall said that mining in America has seen a troubled several years, and that he expects that trend to continue. Indall explained that congress is debating whether to make mining a “lend-lease” business, where the land is only being leased by mining companies and that a plan for reclamation must be in place before the mine begins to close. Indall said that this is a system great for the land that is being mined, but makes mining companies less attracted to the property. Indall said that the debate in congress is similar to a law passed in New Mexico, which demanded similar preparation from the companies, New Mexico has not had a single new mine application since the law was passed.

Not all news was bad, however, Indall explained that uranium mining is being discussed, and plans are being put into place which may reinvigorate the needs of uranium. Indall discussed renewable energy, and the role that uranium can play in clean burning fuels, over the costly and less-effective wind turbines and solar panels.

Honoring Mining by Giving it a Future

For the first time, the mining museum will be offering scholarships to Cibola County students. To help pay for the scholarship funds, several items were up for bid in a silent auction-style system.

The scholarships will be available for Cibola County students who are entering a STEM field in college. Mining is heavily influenced by STEM – an acronym standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math – without scientists, technicians, engineers, and mathematicians, the work of mining would be much more difficult. To honor these fields that mean so much to mining, the New Mexico Mining Museum raised $2,729.91 for two scholarships that will further the education of Cibola’s students.

One scholarship will be for Grants High School, and the other will be for Laguna-Acoma High School.