Taking care of the environment is ingrained in the hearts and minds of our employees. 

During the summer of 2021, Arizona had a wildfire that burned through 73,000 hectares, followed by intense rainstorms that caused flash floods over the scarred land. The US Forest Service wanted to ensure that contaminated runoff water wouldn’t be released into Pinto  Creek, harming the waterway and recreation values. 

Our Pinto Valley team wanted to do their part. They quickly assembled a team for a soil stabilization project on an area identified by the US Forest Service. Over two days, they rebuilt an access road, taking care to keep water channels open, and trucked in loads of straw wattles – like thick ropes of straw – to slow the runoff and prevent further erosion. Then, on their day off, 13 volunteers pitched in to place and secure the wattles.  

Pinto Valley’s Senior Mine Coordinator Dave Grove, a third-generation miner, was one of the volunteers. He explained how it felt to work hand in hand with the US Forest Service to protect the local environment. “People may not realize that historically mines around here didn’t take such good care of the land,” he said. “So you can make yourself proud as a miner when you see yourself as a steward of the environment. People here like to go out in the hills for recreation. It was a big sense of accomplishment to protect that and to see the US Forest Service so pleased with how we did the job.”