The Three Kids Mine is a defunct

open-pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

mine in

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

, United States which operated from 1917 to 1961, primarily supplying the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

with manganese during the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s. The now-abandoned mine—located near

Nevada State Route 564 State Route 564 (SR 564) is an east–west highway in Clark County, Nevada, in the southeast portion of the Las Vegas Valley. The route travels through the city of Henderson, traveling from the junction of Interstate 215 (I-215) and I-1 ...

just south of the

Lake Las Vegas Lake Las Vegas is a reservoir in Henderson, Nevada with a developed area around it. The area is sometimes referred to as the ''Lake Las Vegas Resort''. It is being developed by 5 companies including Lake at Las Vegas Joint Venture LLC. The a ...

neighborhood—popularly stands used as a location for

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

art. On July 9, 2014, the Three Kids Mine Remediation and Reclamation Act (H.R. 697) was passed, which would lead to the cleanup of the former mine site and capping of the pit, starting in 2024. Construction of a residential development consisting 3,000 homes as well as a park is slated to begin at the site in 2025.

History

Operations

In 1917, three men—B.R. Jefferson, B. Edwards, and J. Marrs—discovered a

deposit with a high concentration of 20% to 40%. Coinciding with

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

open-pit mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially ...

operations began at the mine the same year, supplying the

with manganese for military equipment such as steel combat helmets. As the war ended in 1918, demand for manganese decreased significantly and the mine remained almost dormant for two decades until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

reignited the demand for the component. A mill for processing manganese at the site of the mine was constructed in 1942 to help meet the demand for the ore. However, the decline in war activity in the following years once again resulted in limited activity from the mine and the mill was closed in 1944. Mass-production from the mine restarted in 1951 when the on-site mill was remodeled and reopened. Production of manganese at the site continued for a decade until the pits were exhausted and the Three Kids Mine subsequently closed permanently in 1961. The remaining

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and manganese reserves were sold over the following years and parcels of land from the property were sold and redeveloped in the 1980s.

Reclamation and redevelopment of the mine

On February 13, 2013, Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) introduced the Three Kids Mine Remediation and Reclamation Act (H.R. 697), which would direct the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation ...

to convey 948 specified acres of federal land at the Three Kids Mine site to the Henderson Redevelopment Agency of Henderson, Nevada for

environmental remediation Environmental remediation is the cleanup of hazardous substances dealing with the removal, treatment and containment of pollution or contaminants from Natural environment, environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment. Remediation may be ...

and

mine reclamation Mine reclamation is the process of modifying land that has been mined to restore it to an ecologically functional or economically usable state. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is complete, the planning of mine recl ...

. The bill was passed by the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

on July 22, 2013. The bill was received by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and was passed by

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a propo ...

on July 9, 2014. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

signed the bill into law on July 25, 2014. On November 21, 2023, the Henderson City Council voted 4–0 to approve the proposal for

Pulte Homes PulteGroup, Inc. is an American residential home-construction company based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. As of 2023, the company is the third-largest home-construction company in the United States based on the number of homes closed. In t ...

to build 3,000 homes on the mine site with a park capping the pits. The site's soil, which was contaminated with the residues of manganese as well as

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

, and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

identified in a 2007 environmental site assessment, would be used to fill the pits, with a liner trapping the impacted soil and unimpacted native soil topping the liner. Cleanup of the site, which involves removing the contaminating

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

and tailings, began in May 2024 and is slated to continue to 2026, while construction of the residential development above the unimpacted areas at the former mine site is planned to start by the end of 2025.

Graffiti

The thickener pits of the mill at the abandoned Three Kids Mine site remain painted with

, the most notable artwork being the ''Wheel of Misfortune''. Created in 2012 by an artist known by the alias Aware of the collective

Indecline Indecline, stylized as INDECLINE, is an American art collective. Members have said that the collective was formed in 2001 and is decentralized, with "dozens" of members in affiliated groups in several US states and a few foreign countries, and ...

—who breached security over the span of three days to complete the artwork, the

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

resembles a prize wheel reminiscent of one from the game show ''Wheel of Fortune'', with "prizes" listed on the wheel including "$000", "Lose a Home", "Lose a Job", and "Lose All Hope". The mural was cleaned and resprayed in 2023.

In popular culture

A pit at the Three Kids Mine was used for filming in 1988 science-fiction film

Cherry 2000 ''Cherry 2000'' is a 1988 American science fiction action film directed by Steve De Jarnatt and starring David Andrews, Melanie Griffith, Tim Thomerson and Pamela Gidley. It was produced by Edward R. Pressman and Caldecot Chubb. The screen ...

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Henderson, Nevada 1917 establishments in Nevada 1961 disestablishments in Nevada Mines in Nevada