Mining company announces milestone in push to dig new uranium mine in NM
—Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The company seeking to build a new uranium mine near Mount Taylor announced a significant milestone this week, completing an operations plan that one environmental lawyer said indicates the company is serious about extracting the first load of uranium from the state in decades.
Laramide Resources, Inc. issued a notice Monday alerting the public it had submitted a complete Mining Operations and Reclamation Plan to the state regarding the Jara Mesa uranium mine project about 10 miles north of Grants. The state’s Mining and Minerals Division, which is reviewing the application, deemed the plan complete and is now beginning its technical review, according to state officials and the notice.
The 74-page plan is the culmination of years of data collection and marks a new phase of the project, according to Eric Jantz, legal director for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. What happens now could set the precedent for how the state handles new uranium mine applications under the current legal framework the state created in 1993, he said.
“This is a big deal in a number of senses,” Jantz told Source New Mexico on Thursday. “It’s going to be the first uranium mine in New Mexico — if it starts, and that’s a big if — in …probably 40 years. It would also be, irrespective of if it produces anything, the first new uranium mine license under the New Mexico Mining Act. So it could potentially set the tone for how state regulatory agencies deal with conventional mines going forward.”
According to the plan, the mine, once built, will produce 12 to 15 truckloads a day of uranium ore to be processed at an unspecified offsite mill. The operation could run in New Mexico for up to 20 years, the company says.
A spokesperson for Laramide did not respond to Source’s request for comment Thursday. The company’s notice says that the plan is available for inspection at the MMD office in Santa Fe or on its website, and says the public must submit written comments or requests for a public hearing within 30 days of the notice, which is Feb. 10.
Both the state and the federal government have to approve the mine through parallel permitting applications, though the federal government has signaled it intends to fast track approvals. Last year, federal officials added La Jara Mesa and other New Mexico uranium projects to a list of projects they hope to streamline permitting for.
Also, the Jara Mesa project is one of two long-pending uranium proposals that Cibola National Forest officials deemed “priority projects” early last year amid President Donald Trump’s push for domestic energy production.
In an interview last May, MMD program manager DJ Ennis told Source that the state has a “robust permitting process” that Laramide would have to navigate even if the federal government quickly issues its stamp of approval.
MMD officials, in a statement to Source on Thursday, confirmed that the division has deemed the plan “administratively complete,” which sets in motion a multi-agency review. Agencies involved include the New Mexico Environment Department, the State Engineer, the state Forestry Division and Historic Preservation Division.
The statement did not say how long such a review could take. Jantz estimated it could take a few months to a year or longer.
The state and federal Forest Service will also consult tribal governments, according to MMD, as part of the technical review.
The proposed site is near Mount Taylor, which is one of four mountains sacred to the Navajo people and other local pueblos. Tribes and pueblos in the early 2000s successfully convinced the state to designate the mountain and outlying areas a “traditional cultural property,” an effort to protect it from mining.
The Jara Mesa mine’s proximity to Mount Taylor is one reason anti-nuclear opponents have forcefully pushed back against the mine for more than a decade. They also cite the legacy of the uranium mining industry in New Mexico, which has left decades of radioactive and cancer-causing waste in its wake.
Jantz, who said he was still reading the plan Thursday, said he is keenly interested to see how the company intends to handle the “cultural integrity of the mountain,” as well as how it plans to transport any uranium for processing.
Jantz said the state regulations and the site’s cultural significance could prove important barriers in the way of the project, but the market could be the biggest one. Whether uranium prices rise high enough to make a new mine profitable is another major factor, he said, and the company will still need to determine how much uranium is available at its selected site.
“But it certainly signals that La Jara Mesa believes the market is going to support, at least the first phase of the project, which is confirming the resources,” he said.
Haaland unveils education policy plan, doubles down on universal pre-k
—Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Outdoor learning for K-12 kids, expanding trade pathways in middle schools, universal pre-k and bilingual education were top of the education platform announced Thursday by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland.
Haaland, a former U.S. congresswoman and U.S. The Secretary of the Interior made the announcement of her platform from a classroom in Albuquerque’s Highlands Highschool, the last of the 13 public schools she attended in childhood, due to constant moves by her military family.
“Every step in a child’s education should open doors for them, from pre-k to grade school to whatever they decide to do after. Our kids can’t do that alone though, they need stability at home and their educators should feel supported to do the jobs they need to do,” Haaland said.
When asked, Haaland said if elected, she would continue to support free universal child care, a policy announced by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is term-limited from seeking office again.
Haaland acknowledged that lawmakers and the executive disagree on how to pay for the program but said if she’s sworn in: “I’ll be happy to see where it is and I’ll take it from there.”
Supporters included the New Mexico American Federated Teachers Union leadership, teachers, and the Democratic chairs of both education committees in the Legislature.
Picaris Pueblo Gov. Craig Quanchello praised the plan for “investing in Native schools and children to meet their unique needs,” in a speech endorsing Haaland.
“I’m honored to stand before an amazing person and support her. Education is strongest when it reflects who our children are and the communities that raise them,” he said.
Las Cruces activist arrested after coming to county meeting in disguise – Algernon D’Ammassa, Albuquerque Journal
A local activist who is suing Doña Ana County over its approval of financing for the data center known as Project Jupiter was removed from the county building in handcuffs during a county commissioners' meeting Tuesday.
Derrick Pacheco, 42, was arrested minutes after he appeared in a disguise consisting of wayfarer-style sunglasses, a cap and a fake mustache. Security guards flanked him immediately as he held his mobile phone up to film a spectacle with himself at the center.
Pacheco was banned from the building after a confrontation with a county official last week that led to Pacheco also being barred from board meetings.
“An individual under an active trespass notice (delivered via both email and certified mail) entered the chambers,” the county said in a statement about Tuesday's incident. “Security requested that the individual leave in accordance with the notice; however, he refused.”
Pacheco was arrested by sheriff’s deputies and booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, resisting or obstructing law enforcement and criminal trespass. On Wednesday, he pleaded not guilty to the charges in county magistrate court and was released on an unsecured bond ahead of a pretrial hearing set for March.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Pacheco was not represented by an attorney.
TRESSPASS NOTICE
Pacheco maintains he was battered during a brief dispute while commissioners were conducting a work session on Jan. 6.
During the meeting, Pacheco roamed the center aisle, recording video on his mobile phone and approaching the dais.
In a 20-second clip Pacheco posted to social media, Assistant County Manager Stephen Lopez could be seen whispering to Pacheco, “Excuse me, you need to please step back into the audience area.” Pacheco replied, “Sorry,” and appeared to move toward a seat that Lopez said was reserved for reporters.
“I’m media,” Pacheco whispered. “No, you’re not,” Lopez answered. As Pacheco continued to argue the point, Lopez covered the camera lens with his hand. The video then cut to a wide shot of the room from a corner regularly designated as a staging area for television crews at the back of the chambers.
“Mr. Lopez touched my phone, hitting the power button and interfering with my right to film an open meeting in progress,” Pacheco told the Journal prior to Tuesday’s meeting. “He also touched both (of my) hands and arms as he tried to take my phone away and actually briefly fully possessed my phone, to my best recollection.”
Pacheco said he filed a police report over the incident.
On Friday, the county issued a written trespass notice forbidding his presence anywhere on the county government center campus, except by scheduling an appointment to conduct official government business such as corporate filings, voting or paying taxes.
The letter, signed by County Manager Scott Andrews and provided to the Journal, alleges that Pacheco engaged in numerous incidents since September, including disruptions at public meetings, following individuals out of the meeting hall while filming them and refusing to be seated or record from designated areas.
Pacheco has been a vocal opponent of public financing for the data center, which began construction in Santa Teresa in September after the commissioners approved industrial revenue bonds and state-funded tax incentives to support the project. In October, Pacheco filed a civil administrative appeal in state district court seeking a review of the commissioners’ action.
The county is seeking dismissal of the petition. The case is pending.
Pacheco has involved himself in numerous local causes in recent years and has frequently filmed conversations and arguments with public officials and published them on YouTube or Vimeo.
REMOVAL AND ARREST
On Tuesday, Pacheco stood in line to offer public comment when uniformed security surrounded him. Chairman Manuel Sanchez, presiding at the commissioners’ first meeting of 2026, called for a recess as Sheriff Kim Stewart personally spoke to him, presented him with what appeared to be a hard copy of the trespass notice and contended with him for several minutes.
Derrick Pacheco, in dark glasses and a false mustache, argues with a security guard asking him to leave during a Doña Ana County Commission meeting in Las Cruces on Tuesday.
Algernon D'Ammassa/Journal
Pacheco refused to accept the document and demanded it be read to him before proceeding to shout about Martin Luther King Jr. and Renee Good, the woman shot to death in Minneapolis last week by an ICE officer. At that point, officers marched him out of the chambers.
After his removal, several citizens offering public comments in opposition to Project Jupiter objected to Pacheco’s removal on First Amendment grounds. One resident, identifying herself as Esperanza, said, “I don’t necessarily agree with all the tactics that Derrick Pacheco takes, but as far as I’ve seen in these meetings, he’s filming, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
Report says New Mexico faces ‘looming groundwater crisis’ from climate change, overuse – Danielle Prokopp, Source New Mexico
Even as water advocates praised lawmakers’ record funding proposals for aquifer mapping and other water priorities in the upcoming 2026 legislative session, a report urged the Roundhouse to do more to protect the state’s declining groundwater.
The New Mexico Groundwater Alliance, made up of water policy experts from around the state, released the 80-page report Wednesday. Groundwater accounts for more than half of New Mexico’s total supplies and about 80% of the state’s drinking water. The report builds on previous findings that the already arid state faces a shrinking supply, estimated to be 25% to 30% by 2050, from hotter temperatures and continued pumping.
“New Mexico is at the front lines of climate change impacts, which threatens water resource availability,” the report stated. “Groundwater management is paramount to the resilience of water supplies, communities, and economies for generations to come.”
In the last several decades, the fastest-dropping groundwater levels include important agricultural and residential basins: the Ogallala aquifer near Clovis and Portales; the Mimbres Basin near Deming; Estancia Basin in east-central New Mexico; the Albuquerque Basin; and the Placitas and East Mountains areas.
In order to address the threat of a “looming groundwater crisis,” the report requests that lawmakers and the state government map aquifers; better monitor pumping; develop technical assistance for local management; and ensure groundwater is included and understood in regional planning efforts. The report also includes for consideration groundwater management policies from around the state and neighboring Western states.
The policies don’t require New Mexico “to reinvent the wheel,” coauthor Aron Balok, superintendent of the Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District, said in a statement. “Many of our local communities already have the experience, knowledge and determination needed to protect our groundwater,” Balok said. “The state should look to these communities and figure out how to replicate what we know is already working.”
Already, lawmakers have proposed record funding for water priorities, including more than $22 million to map the state’s aquifers, more than double 2025’s funding of just over $7 million.
“Policymakers understand that we need sound science, data and modeling to better manage our groundwater resources and we’re ready to supply it,” said Stacy Timmons, associate director of Hydrogeology Programs at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, in a statement. “Building on the initial funding provided by the Legislature last session, we’re prepared to execute a long-term strategy that will close our water data gaps and modernize our antiquated systems using 21st century technology.”
Additionally, the Legislature proposed $15 million for the River Stewardship Program for the environment department for rivers, streams and wetlands projects; and $15.5 million for the Strategic Water Reserve after changes to the program in 2025 to allow additional uses for banking water in New Mexico rivers.
Water getting this much funding and attention at the Roundhouse is “rare but welcome,” Tricia Snyder, the rivers and water director for New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, told Source NM in a call.
“We’re seeing the water crisis with the naked eye,” she said, referring to the summer drying of Rio Grande and continued snow drought. “There’s challenges there that we have never experienced before, it’s becoming self-evident that we really have to figure out solutions because it only gets harder from here.”