Areas Near Grand Canyon Approved for Mining

Posted by: Nate Berg

8 May 2009 - 11:00am

Despite a congressional ruling last year that prevents them, wight uranium mining operations have been approved near the Grand Canyon.

"According to documents released yesterday [pdf] by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Grand Canyon Trust, BLM on April 27 authorized Quaterra Alaska Inc. to conduct eight uranium mine exploration operations at five separate projects north of Grand Canyon National Park and west of the Kaibab Plateau.

"Our understanding is that exploration can begin immediately," said Taylor McKinnon, director of CBD's public lands program.

All of the projects are within the 1 million acres of BLM and Forest Service land that the House Natural Resources Committee ordered to be withdrawn from new uranium mining claims in June 2008, according to the groups."

Full Story: Prospecting for Uranium--In the Grand Canyon

Source: Scientific American, May 6, 2009