Thousands of Claims Threaten Public Health & Sacred Lands By
Klee Benally Grand Canyon, AZ — In defiance of legal challenges
and a U.S. Government moratorium, Canadian company Denison Mines
has started mining uranium on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
According to the Arizona Daily Sun the mine has been operating
since December 2009. Denison plans on extracting 335 tons of
uranium ore per day out of the “Arizona 1 Mine”, which is set to
operate four days per week. The hazardous ore will be hauled by
truck more than 300 miles through towns and communities to the
company’s White Mesa mill located near Blanding, Utah. After
being pressured by environmental groups, U.S. Secretary of
Interior Ken Salazar initially called for a two-year moratorium
on new mining claims in a buffer zone of 1 million acres around
Grand Canyon National Park, but the moratorium doesn’t include
existing claims such as Denison’s. The moratorium also doesn’t
address mining claims outside of the buffer zone. The Grand
Canyon is ancestral