Mining

Old coal mine near Coal Canyon, Navajo Nation, 1935. Image 1865a by Barbara or Edwin McKee courtesy of Cline Library Special Collections, Northern Arizona University.

Manifest Destiny meant settlement of the west, and the federal government offered potential homesteaders a powerful incentive with passage of the 1872 Mining Law. Under the law, settlers and explorers could make mining claims on federal land for just a few dollars and, when markets proved viable, extract the ore with no royalties paid to the U.S. Treasury. The distinctive geologic strata of the Colorado Plateau is not only rich in color and spectacular landforms but also in valuable mineral resources. Many took advantage of this law, and as ore deposits were found small mining towns sprang up on the Colorado Plateau.

The sedimentary rocks of the Plateau include pockets of coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium. The minerals mined have changed over time as markets have grown and subsided, and as technological advances have been made. At first, most mining concentrated on coal and hard rock minerals such as gold, silver, and copper. The rush to build nuclear weapons during World War II and the early years of the Cold War brought an unprecedented level of uranium exploration and mining activity to the region. By the second half of this century natural gas joined with uranium and coal to became major sources of energy for the Four Corners states and parts of Nevada and California

Potash solution-mining ponds along the Colorado River near Moab. Photo © 1995 Ray Wheeler

Today on the Plateau, a few large coal-mining operations are in operation, including the largest strip mine in the world, the Kayenta/Black Mesa mining complex on Black Mesa in the Navajo Nation. The establishment of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996 prevented the strip mining of coal resources found atop the Kaiparowits Plateau in southwestern Utah.

Some volcanic centers, such as the San Francisco Volcanic Field along the southern Plateau, are being mined for cinders used as construction material. In August of 2000 an historic agreement was reached to close down a large pumice mine on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona after years of protest by a coalition of 13 Indian tribes and several environmental groups.

The most important effects of mining activities on the region's biota are habitat loss due to extensive strip-mining operations and infiltration of mine waste into local riparian and groundwater systems. An indirect effect of large mines in the region can be degradation of riparian areas due to consumption of water for mine operations.

For more on the history of mining on the Colorado Plateau, read The Grand Plan, a CP-LUHNA special essay by Ray Wheeler.

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