Cloud Peak Energy’s Cordero Rojo Mine, located near Gillette, Wyoming, has received the 2015 State of Wyoming Reclamation Award from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Land Quality Division for the successful restoration of the Belle Fourche River.
The award was presented at the Wyoming Mining Association’s Annual Safety and Reclamation Banquet in Cody, Wyoming, on June 19, 2015.
Through design and reconstruction, the Cordero Rojo Mine relocated a portion of the Belle Fourche River and reclaimed the stream channel to provide approximately the same conditions as premining.
The reclaimed stream channel is stable from erosion with abundant grass cover, and the aquatic life has been established with macro invertebrates and invertebrates.