Sanford Lab releases first water

Lead, S.D. – The Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake released water into Gold Run Creek today. It was the first water discharged from the former gold mine since June 2003, when the underground pumps were shut off and Homestake was closed.

The water was released south of Highway 85 between Pluma and downtown Lead, at the same discharge point used by Homestake Mining Co. when the gold mine was operating.

The discharge meets the water-quality standards of the permit issued by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The water is being run through filters at the Sanford Lab’s water treatment plant to remove suspended solids.

Water discharges in the coming days will be intermittent as technicians bring the water treatment plant and the pumping system online. Donovan Construction of Spearfish is the contractor working on the water treatment plant. Dynatec, the contractor reopening Homestake, is working on the pump system underground.

Homestake has been slowly filling since 2003. Over the past five years, water in Homestake has risen from the bottom of the mine, 8,000 feet underground, to 4,565 feet underground.

Last year the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority began re-opening Homestake as the Sanford Underground Lab. The National Science Foundation also has named Homestake the site of an even bigger national underground laboratory. Deep labs shield physics experiments from cosmic radiation, but geologists, biologists and other scientists also are planning experiments in the lab.

Homestake owner Barrick Gold Corp. donated the underground mine and surface property to the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority for use as a laboratory. The donation included Homestake’s water treatment plant, which the Sanford Lab is using.