Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
their employees. Additional purchases by both Roca Honda and its employees would also occur
outside of the ROI and are not represented here.
The Roca Honda Mine would directly employ approximately 220–250 people during the
operation phase (table 63), including mine workers and G&A workers as well as maintenance
personnel. Workers in the ROI would experience a roughly $190 million increase in salaries and
wages (including benefits).
These workers would represent new purchasing power that would support additional jobs and
payroll at local retail and service establishments in the area, most of which would occur in the
ROI. Service industries (retail), unlike basic industries, consist of business firms that serve local
markets. Through this spending, Roca Honda Mine would indirectly support almost 1,000
indirect and induced jobs.
Table 63. Economic impacts of Roca Honda Mine operation in Cibola and McKinley
Counties
Impact Type Employment* Salaries and Wages** Economic Activity
Direct Effect 220–253 $160,565,612 $498,709,856
Indirect Effect 140 $6,644,009 $29,366,608
Induced Effect 791 $22,700,866 $78,963,010
Total Effect 1,151–1,184 $189,910,487 $607,039,473
* Annual average full and part-time jobs
**Total payroll costs (including benefits)
Taxes and Revenues
New Mexico imposes a severance tax, conservation tax, and resource excise tax on uranium
production. In addition, renewed uranium operations would generate State tax revenue through
direct, indirect, and induced economic activity. These taxes include personal income tax,
corporate income tax, and gross receipts tax.
The total tax impacts from operation of the mine would be $44.5 million. Approximately $35.7
million in IBS would result from operation of the mine. The severance tax (an IBS) would
represent about $3.2 million. Property income, the dividends and corporate profits tax paid by
corporations, would represent about $4.7 million. The Federal excise tax would be $1,988,374.
Reclamation
The 2-year reclamation phase would begin 2 years after completion of the mine operation.
Theoretically, this phase would occur between 2032 and 2033. However, IMPLAN data is not
available past 2030. As such, the estimated impacts from this phase may be overstated. Removing
surface facilities, plugging mine shafts, recontouring the disturbance area, replacing stockpile
soil, and establishing vegetation for grazing would support 30 direct PTE jobs and 45 total jobs
(table 64). Unlike the development and operation phases, due to the nonspecialized workers
needed for reclamation, nearly 100 percent of jobs should be filled by the local labor force.
Almost $7 million in economic activity would result from this phase.
294 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest