Urad Mine Site, Colorado

The nearby and currently active Henderson mine opened in 1976, expanding deeper into an underground ore body that had been mined for decades before that. The old mining area, referred to as the Urad mine site, closed in 1974, after 48 million pounds of molybdenum was produced by companies that were absorbed into Climax Molybdenum. Since then, Urad has become one of the largest mine reclamation and remediation projects in the state, addressing groundwater and other contamination issues. A wastewater treatment plant operates next to the primary mine portal.