Uranium mining in New Mexico
Encyclopedia
Uranium mining in New Mexico, a state of the United States, was a significant industry from the early 1950s until the early 1980s. Although New Mexico
has the second largest identified uranium
ore reserves of any state in the US (after Wyoming
), no uranium ore has been mined in New Mexico since 1998.
production in New Mexico
was a minor amount of autunite
and torbernite
mined circa 1920 from former silver mines in the White Signal district, about 15 miles (24.1 km) southwest of Silver City
in Grant County
.
was a significant uranium producer since the discovery of uranium by Navajo
sheepherder Paddy Martinez
in 1950. Uranium in New Mexico is almost all in the Grants mineral belt, along the south margin of the San Juan Basin
in McKinley and Cibola
counties, in the northwest part of the state. Stretching northwest to southeast, the mineral belt contains the Chuska
, Gallup
, Ambrosia Lake
, and Laguna
uranium mining districts. Most of the uranium ore is contained in the Jackpile, Poison Canyon, and Westwater Canyon sandstone members of the Morrison Formation
, and in the Todilto limestone, all of Jurassic
age.
Several different companies moved into the region in the 1950s, particularly oil companies. They included Anaconda Company, Phillips Petroleum Company, Rio de Oro Uranium Mines, Inc, Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corporation (a cooperative of Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Anderson Development Corporation, and Pacific Uranium Mines, Inc), Homestake Mining Company
, Sabre-Pinion Corporation, United Western Minerals Company (of General Patrick Jay Hurley), J H Whitney and Company, White Weld & Co.
, San Jacinto Petroleum Corporation, Lisbon Uranium Corporation, and Superior Oil Company
.
continued to recover uranium dissolved in water from its flooded underground mine workings at Ambrosia Lake
until 2002. No uranium mining is taking place, even though the state has second-largest known uranium ore reserves in the U.S.
General Atomics
subsidiary Rio Grande Resources is currently evaluating its Mt. Taylor Mine for development by in-situ leaching. Uranium is present in coffinite
in the Westwater Canyon member of the Morrison Formation
at 3,000 feet (900 m) below ground surface. The mine, which operated as an underground uranium mine from 1986 to 1989, has a remaining resource
estimated by its owner at more than 45 thousand tonnes of uranium oxide.http://www.ga.com/riogrande.php
Strathmore Minerals Corp. is currently applying for permits to mine their Church Rock and Roca Honda properties in the Grants Mineral Belt.http://www.strathmoreminerals.com/s/RocaHonda.asp Neutron Energy and URI also reportedly plan to start uranium mining in the Grants belt.http://www.gallupindependent.com/2007/october/103107kh_jmpstrturnmmng.html
gas in poorly ventilated underground mines. The effect was particularly pronounced among Navajo
miners, because the incidence of lung cancer is normally low among Navajos. The Navajo tribe
, whose reservation contains much of the known ore deposits, declared a moratorium on uranium mining in 2005.
In May 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would join the Navajo Nation EPA in cleaning up radioactive contamination near the Church Rock mine.http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/89745a330d4ef8b9852572a000651fe1/eb6de5c6b316e996852572ce0071a707!OpenDocument
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
has the second largest identified uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
ore reserves of any state in the US (after Wyoming
Uranium mining in Wyoming
Uranium mining in Wyoming, a state of the United States was formerly a much larger industry than it is today. Wyoming once had many operating uranium mines, and still has the largest known uranium ore reserves of any state in the U.S. The Wyoming uranium mining industry was hard-hit in the 1980s...
), no uranium ore has been mined in New Mexico since 1998.
White Signal district
The first uraniumUranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
production in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
was a minor amount of autunite
Autunite
Autunite with formula: Ca22·10-12H2O is a yellow - greenish fluorescent mineral with a hardness of 2 - 2½. Autunite crystallizes in the tetragonal system and often occurs as tabular square crystals. Due to the moderate uranium content of 48.27% it is radioactive and also used as uranium ore...
and torbernite
Torbernite
The chemical formula of torbenite is similar to that of autunite in which a Cu2+ cation replaces a Ca2+. The number of water hydration molecules can vary between 12 and 8, giving rise to the variety of metatorbernite when torbernite spontaneously dehydrates...
mined circa 1920 from former silver mines in the White Signal district, about 15 miles (24.1 km) southwest of Silver City
Silver City, New Mexico
Silver City is a town in Grant County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 10,545. It is the county seat of Grant County. The city is the home of Western New Mexico University.-History:...
in Grant County
Grant County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*84.9% White*0.9% Black*1.4% Native American*0.4% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.8% Two or more races*9.8% Other races*48.3% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
.
Grants mineral belt
New MexicoNew Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
was a significant uranium producer since the discovery of uranium by Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
sheepherder Paddy Martinez
Paddy Martinez
Patricio "Paddy" Martinez , American prospector and shepherd, discovered uranium at Haystack Mountain, near Grants, New Mexico in 1950. This was the first discovery in the Grants Uranium District, and led to a uranium boom that lasted almost 30 years.Martinez's discovery, on Santa Fe Railroad land,...
in 1950. Uranium in New Mexico is almost all in the Grants mineral belt, along the south margin of the San Juan Basin
San Juan Basin
The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin in the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States; its main portion covers around , encompassing much of northwestern New Mexico, southwest Colorado, and parts of Arizona and Utah....
in McKinley and Cibola
Cibola County, New Mexico
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*41.8% White*1.0% Black*41.0% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.1% Two or more races*12.5% Other races*36.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
counties, in the northwest part of the state. Stretching northwest to southeast, the mineral belt contains the Chuska
Chuska mountains
The Chuska Mountains are an elongate range on the Colorado Plateau and within the Navajo Nation. The range is about 80 by 15 km , and it trends north-northwest and is crossed by the state line between Arizona and New Mexico. The highlands are a dissected plateau, with an average elevation of...
, Gallup
Gallup, New Mexico
- Demographics :As of the census of 2000, there were 20,209 people, 6,810 households, and 4,869 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,513.7 people per square mile...
, Ambrosia Lake
Ambrosia Lake
Ambrosia Lake is a sandy area near Grants, New Mexico that was heavily mined for uranium starting in the 1950s. It is in an anticlinal dome.-History:...
, and Laguna
Laguna, New Mexico
Laguna is a census-designated place in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 423 at the 2000 census. Located west of Albuquerque, Laguna is a former Indian Pueblo village...
uranium mining districts. Most of the uranium ore is contained in the Jackpile, Poison Canyon, and Westwater Canyon sandstone members of the Morrison Formation
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...
, and in the Todilto limestone, all of Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
age.
Several different companies moved into the region in the 1950s, particularly oil companies. They included Anaconda Company, Phillips Petroleum Company, Rio de Oro Uranium Mines, Inc, Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corporation (a cooperative of Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Anderson Development Corporation, and Pacific Uranium Mines, Inc), Homestake Mining Company
Homestake Mining Company
The Homestake Mining Company was one of the largest gold mining businesses in the United States from the 19th century through the beginning of the 21st...
, Sabre-Pinion Corporation, United Western Minerals Company (of General Patrick Jay Hurley), J H Whitney and Company, White Weld & Co.
White Weld & Co.
White Weld & Co. was a Boston-based investment bank, historically managed by Boston Brahmins until its sale to Merrill Lynch in 1978. The Weld family name can be traced back to the founding of Massachusetts in the 1630s.-History:...
, San Jacinto Petroleum Corporation, Lisbon Uranium Corporation, and Superior Oil Company
Superior Oil Company
Superior Oil Company was an independent American oil company that is now part of ExxonMobil. Superior Oil was founded in 1921 in Coalinga, California by William Myron Keck, also founder of the W. M. Keck Foundation....
.
Current activity
Active uranium mining stopped in New Mexico in 1998, although Rio AlgomRio Algom
Rio Algom was a mining corporation that was purchased by Billiton in 2000. - Uranium :It operated many uranium mines and mills in the Elliot Lake region of Ontario, Canada, including the Lacnor Mine, Nordic Mine, Panel Mine, Pronto Mine, Quirke Mine, Milliken Mine, Stanleigh Mine, and the...
continued to recover uranium dissolved in water from its flooded underground mine workings at Ambrosia Lake
Ambrosia Lake
Ambrosia Lake is a sandy area near Grants, New Mexico that was heavily mined for uranium starting in the 1950s. It is in an anticlinal dome.-History:...
until 2002. No uranium mining is taking place, even though the state has second-largest known uranium ore reserves in the U.S.
General Atomics
General Atomics
General Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. General Atomics’ research into fission and fusion matured into competencies in related technologies, allowing the company to expand into other fields of research...
subsidiary Rio Grande Resources is currently evaluating its Mt. Taylor Mine for development by in-situ leaching. Uranium is present in coffinite
Coffinite
Coffinite is a uranium-bearing silicate mineral with formula: U1-x4x.It occurs as black incrustations, dark to pale-brown in thin section. It has a grayish black streak. It has a brittle to conchoidal fracture. The hardness of coffinite is between 5 and 6.It was first described in 1954 for an...
in the Westwater Canyon member of the Morrison Formation
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish...
at 3,000 feet (900 m) below ground surface. The mine, which operated as an underground uranium mine from 1986 to 1989, has a remaining resource
Mineral resource classification
Mineral resource classification is the classification of mineral deposits based on their geologic certainty and economic value.Mineral deposits can be classified as:...
estimated by its owner at more than 45 thousand tonnes of uranium oxide.http://www.ga.com/riogrande.php
Strathmore Minerals Corp. is currently applying for permits to mine their Church Rock and Roca Honda properties in the Grants Mineral Belt.http://www.strathmoreminerals.com/s/RocaHonda.asp Neutron Energy and URI also reportedly plan to start uranium mining in the Grants belt.http://www.gallupindependent.com/2007/october/103107kh_jmpstrturnmmng.html
Health and environmental issues
New Mexico uranium miners from the 1940s and 1950s have had abnormally high rates of lung cancer, from radonRadon
Radon is a chemical element with symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, occurring naturally as the decay product of uranium or thorium. Its most stable isotope, 222Rn, has a half-life of 3.8 days...
gas in poorly ventilated underground mines. The effect was particularly pronounced among Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
miners, because the incidence of lung cancer is normally low among Navajos. The Navajo tribe
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
, whose reservation contains much of the known ore deposits, declared a moratorium on uranium mining in 2005.
In May 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would join the Navajo Nation EPA in cleaning up radioactive contamination near the Church Rock mine.http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/89745a330d4ef8b9852572a000651fe1/eb6de5c6b316e996852572ce0071a707!OpenDocument
See also
- Uranium mining in the United StatesUranium mining in the United StatesUranium mining in the United States is the extraction of uranium-bearing ore from the earth. While uranium is used primarily for nuclear power, uranium mining had its roots in the production of uranium-bearing ore in 1898 with the mining of carnotite-bearing sandstones of the Colorado Plateau in...
- The Navajo People and Uranium MiningThe Navajo People and Uranium MiningThe Navajo People and Uranium Mining is a non-fiction book edited by Doug Brugge, Timothy Benally, and Esther Yazzie-Lewis; it uses oral histories to tell the stories of Navajo Nation miners and families in the uranium mining industry. The foreword is written by Stewart L. Udall, former U.S. House...
- Anaconda, New MexicoAnaconda, New MexicoAnaconda was a small mining community in Valencia County, New Mexico. The town came into existence in the early 1950s when the Anaconda Copper Company of Butte, Montana opened up a uranium ore processing plant northwest of Grants, near the Jackpile Mine , the world's largest open-pit uranium mine...