Current Activity
There are currently no producing uranium mines in Arizona. Denison Mines plans to begin mining its Arizona One mine in 2007. The deposit is in a breccia pipe on the Colorado Plateau of northern Arizona. In March 2011, the State of Arizona issued air and water permits to Denison which would allow uranium mining to resume at three locations north of the Grand Canyon, subject to federal approval.
In July 2009 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a two-year ban on new mining on federal land in an area of approximately 1 million acres (4,000 km2) surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Although the ban is on all mining, the main effect is on exploration and development of breccia-pipe uranium deposits. Those claims on which commercial mineral deposits have already been discovered are exempt from the ban. During the two-year ban the Department of the Interior will study a proposed 20-year ban on new mining in the area.
In January 2012, secretary Ken Salazar approved a 20-year ban on mining around the Grand Canyon. This decision preserves about “1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, an area known to be rich in high-grade uranium ore reserves” and has generated a number of different responses
Read more about this topic: Uranium Mining In Arizona
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