cement mine and plant

In order to have plants for the reclamation of the mined areas, once mining is completed, Mitsubishi Cement acquires seeds from private sources, and has them planted and grown, to use eventually for re-vegetation of the mined areas. Topsoil is stored prior to mining and all plant species that are threatened or endangered are removed and kept in a nursery for future re-planting. By adding the additional acquired plants, grown by Mitsubishi, they are increasing the number and quality of the threatened plants in the desert area, thereby being a very good steward of the land they are temporarily using to produce cement.

In the above photo, students of the Lucerne Valley High School gain practical experience in hortaculture, by growing and maintaining plants, provided by Mitsubishi Cemetnt. The school benefits, the students benefit, the land benefits and Mitsubishi benefits from this joint cooperative effort.

A Indian Paintbrush flower, which will be re-planted on the reclaimed mined land, once mining is completed.

In addition to the above, Mitsubishi Cement uses state of the art dust collectors to minimize dust problems from their operations, they use enclosed buildings (like the domed buildings) to alleviate the dust from their operations, they dispose of tires that the community would have to otherwise spend a lot of money to dispose of in landfill dumps, and they burn biosolid materials in their kiln, to reduce the expense and size of local landfills. The biosolids have a additional benefit, where they decrease the NO_xemissions from the kiln.

From a financial side, over 200 people are employed in good, well paying jobs in this desert community, who provide paying customers for the local businesses, and pay taxes to the local government. So mining, when done correctly, is a very good neighbor, and a member of the community where it exists, contributes to the preservation of habitat and species, while extracting the minerals that we need to enjoy the quality of life that we have come to expect, at a price that we can afford.

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