LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — At Solo Mountain in the Apex Industrial Park, crews blast limestone from hillsides and transform it into the gravel and cement that build streets, warehouses and infrastructure throughout Southern Nevada.
“It all stays right here in North Vegas, in the City of Las Vegas, City of Henderson, Clark County. None of it goes outside of Clark County,” said Weston Adams, who operates the mining site.
The limestone operation serves multiple purposes at the more-than-1,000-acre Apex site. Adams, a lifelong Nevadan whose father worked as a carpenter and contractor in Clark County, bought the property for just over $2.6 million.
Mining operation supports circular business model
“So I come by it naturally and just love what I do. I love building things. I love to drive by projects and say, ‘Hey, my team and I had a hand in building that,’” Adams said.
The business model works in stages. Adams’ team first mines the limestone through a process that involves drilling, placing dynamite and blasting the mountain. The chunks of rock are then loaded, crushed and ground multiple times.
“You would drill down. You would put dynamite into that mountain. You would blow it. You would take the chunks of that rock. You would load it up. You would crush it and grind it a number of times,” Adams said.
Western States Contracting, Adams’ own company, uses the mined material on construction projects. Once the rock is removed, the leveled land becomes building-ready pads for industrial facilities.
“And, you know, it’s dirty work, and I love every minute of it,” Adams said.
Flattening ground for new manufacturing buildings
Grading and flattening a site takes three to four years before construction can begin. The limestone at Solo Mountain is dense and hard, making it valuable for construction projects.
Adams expects to work at Apex for the next 20 years. About 30 miners currently work the site, while roughly 700 people are planning to be employed at Apex once it’s complete.
Environmental review process
Each mining site undergoes environmental review before operations begin. Teams survey the land, study wildlife and measure potential environmental impact.
“And so we make sure we dot the I’s, cross the T’s and go through, you know, every bit of accreditation to make sure these projects are effective and that they aren’t hurting anything that has to do with the environment,” Adams said.
John Hiatt, chair of Friends of Nevada Wilderness said limestone mining has caused problems elsewhere in Nevada, but called Apex a different case because it is small, has no known environmental issues and sits far from neighborhoods in an undeveloped area.
“The obstacle has been that big hunk of limestone there, which prevented development. So by taking that and mining it, if you will, and turning it into gravel, that is probably one of the least harmful ways to acquire gravel for development that I know of,” Hiatt said.
City partnership supports development
The City of North Las Vegas has partnered with Apex since 2016, offering streamlined processes for companies that bring jobs and investment.
“Well, we like to say we work at the speed of business here in the city of North Las Vegas. So our permitting processes are a little bit faster. We can speed things up,” Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown said.
City officials said the mayor views Apex as more than an industrial park, calling it a long-term economic engine that could redefine the region and serve as a blueprint for western development.
Once fully built, Apex is expected to support more than 73,000 jobs and attract about $7 billion in investment, with new tax revenue helping fund services and the local economy.
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