Ames earned the 2006 AGC Build Arizona Award for this copper mine reclamation project, which was followed by subsequent, multiple contracts. The closure of the 50-year-old San Manuel Mine and plant sites was the largest open pit reclamation project of its kind ever undertaken in the state of Arizona.
Through ingenuity and massive earthwork activities, Ames crews met the significant challenge of improving aesthetics while achieving the correct slope posed by the 150-foot-high heap leach facility stretching over 250 acres. Multiple contracts included the regrading of tailings slopes, removal and replacement of sulfide waste rock, processing and placement of aggregates and riprap, installing a drainage and channel system, and cleaning, repairing and installing existing and new liner. The work scope also included regrading and recontouring the entire site, and planting for revegetation of the area for improved aesthetics.
