In 1977 Asarco began to divest itself of company owned houses and community infrastructure. Asarco shut all mining operations at its Buchans Unit in 1982 with only 12 workers remaining on the property, down from 550 in 1978. Mining resumed briefly in 1983 and 1984 at the MacLean extension and at Oriental Mine where some ore was mined from two pits near Oriental Mine shaft. All mining production ceased in September 1984. 17.5 million tons were mined and processed over the 55-year history of mining at Buchans. ASARCO also closed its remaining barite recovery operation, which had operated seasonally in the early 1980s.