New Mexico company seeking to open basalt mine draws fire some residents

An Albuquerque company's plan to mine basalt near the villages of Cerrillos and Madrid is drawing fire from some residents. Rockology and development company Buena Vista Estates recently applied to rezone and mine a 50-acre parcel of land on a mesa near the villages, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. Buena Vista Estates owns more than 5,000 acres, which are for sale, on the mesa. But for residents in the nearby villages, who can see La Bajada's historic dark escarpment from the south, the plan is just the latest battlefront in ongoing skirmishes to stop mining in the area. "It is an utterly destructive use of the land," said Diane Senior, who lives in an off-grid, solar-powered home with a view of the entire mesa...more