Blue Mountain Minerals Limestone Mining Central and Northern California
Agricultural Farming Tuolumne County California

Columbia Elementary School: When reconstructing their school campus in 2005, Columbia Elementary School was facing a tough situation. They were in the process of building a new two-classroom wing in order to move children out of the portable buildings. Some portables were within a restricted zone of the Columbia airport flight zone.

During the excavation process, the contractor tried to pry numerous large boulders out of the ground, but they would not be budged. The engineers say the boulders must be removed, but the removal would constitute unplanned work and therefore unbudgeted costs. The contractor, Donniker Construction, estimates the additional charges for the rock removal to cost approximately $52,000. That amount of money is more than the equivalent of one fulltime teacher's yearly salary. Donniker just doesn't have the large heavy equipment needed for the job, and would have to bring in from elsewhere a huge excavator to break up the boulders.

Up stepped Blue Mountain Minerals, whose business is breaking rocks, and is located just a few miles from the school. The company offered the use of their equipment, a Caterpillar 235C excavator, with an Allied 785 rock hammer, along with an operator, to try to get the job done. Blue Mountain Minerals donated the labor, and Columbia Elementary School paid for the transportation costs to and from the rock quarry (approximately 4 miles round trip).

"We feel it is our responsibility to contribute to the local community, especially in this trying time of budget crunches," said Carey Haughy, president of Blue Mountain Minerals. "We are grateful to have the opportunity to be a helpful neighbor."

Not only did Blue Mountain Minerals help the school with the rock breaking, but the company donated a portion of the funds from the sale of their aggregate rock materials (road base, sand, fill) to Columbia Elementary School. The donated monies have been earmarked for several purposes, such as purchasing library books and new musical instruments. (The previous budget for library books was zero).

Ms. Haughy said, "If there are any funds leftover, after the purchase of the library books and musical instruments, I would like to see that additional money used to startup a Columbia School Foundation. I hope other business leaders in the Columbia community may want to get on board in helping the school also."