The town came into existence in the early 1950s when the Anaconda Copper Company of Butte, Montana opened up a uranium ore processing plant 10 miles northwest of Grants, along Route 66, to process ore from the Jackpile Mine (or Jackpile-Paguate Mine), Laguna Pueblo Indian Reservation Case Study: Jackpile-Paguate Mine, New Mexico , MiningWatch Canada,