VANADIUM MINING INTHE CARRIZO
MOUNTAINS, 1942-1947 , SAN JUAN COUNTY
NEW MEXICO, AND APACHE COUNTY, ARIZONA
New MexicoBureau of MinesandMineralResources
Open-FileReport
No. 378
by
William L. Chenoweth
ConsultingGeologist
Grand J u n c t i o n ,C o l o r a d o
and
ResearchAssociate
New MexicoBureau of MinesandMineralResources
CONTENTS
Page
.......................
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
................
Historical
Background
Geologic Setting of the Carnotite Deposits . . . . . .
............
EarlyProspectingandLeasing
CarrisoUraniumCompany . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Later
Developments
...............
.................
TheVanadiumMarket
Monticello.Utah
................
Durango.Colorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
U.S. GeologicalSurveyInvestigations
.....
Abstract
Leasing and Production History
............
..............
..............
LeaseI-149-IND-4225
New Regulations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LeaseI-149-IND-3798
..............
..............
LeaseI-149-IND-5705
..............
LeaseI-149-IND-6197
LeaseI-149-IND-6342
..............
Manhattan Engineer District Activities . . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LeaseI-149-IND-5465
i
1
2
3
3
7
8
9
9
10
11
11
12
12
13
15
15
18
19
24
25
27
28
32
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
showing
F i g u r e 1, Index map of t h e Carrizo Mountains
mines
that
t h e l o c a t i o n of t h e vanadium
o p e r a t e dd u r i n gt h e1 9 4 0 ' s
.........
F i g u r e 2 , Navajo m i n eSrhs a d y s i d e
Mesa, SanJuanCounty,
1942
area, King T u t t
New Mexico, November
....................
Table 1,
Table 2 ,
Table3,
Table 4 ,
Table 5 ,
Table6,
Table 7,
Table 8 ,
4
20
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Carrizo
....
14
Locan
t ido n
I-149-IND-5456
. .s i.z e. . of. . .p l.o t.s ,. . Lease
...
17
L o c a t i o n , name
I-149-IND-5705
. a.nsd.i z e. . . .of . .p l .o t .s , . Lease
...
21
Locan
t ido n
I-149-IND-6197
. .s i .z e. . of. . .p l.o t.s ,. . Lease
...
23
Vanadium o r ep r o d u c t i o n 1, 9 4 2 - 1 9 4 7 ,
Mountains
Estimated u r a n i u m
content
of t h e vanadium
o r e s C a r r i z o Mountains1942-1945
......
26
Annual
vanadium
ore production,
C a r r i z o Mountains.
. . . . . . . .1942-1947,
.....
29
Estimated vanadium
production,
1942-1947,CarrizoMountains
30
. . . by. . mine,
...
Value of t h e vanadium o r e and
1942-1947,CarrizoMountains
. . .r o.y.a l.t i e.s ,.
ii
31
VANADIUM MINING I N THE CARRIZO MOUNTAINS.
1942-1947, SAN J U A N COUNTY, NEW MEXICO AND
APACHE COUNTY. ARIZONA
by
William L. Chenoweth
ABSTRACT
l a t e 1 9 3 0 ' sa n de a r l y
D u r i n gt h e
of t h eI n t e r i o ri s s u e d
1 9 4 0 ' ~ ~ t hU.S.
e
Department
s i x leases t o m i n ec a r n o t i t eo r e si nt h e
C a r r i z oM o u n t a i n so nt h eN a v a j oI n d i a nR e s e r v a t i o n ,i nS a nJ u a n
County,
Arizona.
New Mexico and
Apache
County,
The c a r n o t i t e
d e p o s i t s c, o n t a i n i n gu r a n i u ma n dv a n a d i u m o
, c c u r r e di nt h eS a l t
Wash
Member
of t h eM o r r i s o nF o r m a t i o nw h i c hc r o p so u ta r o u n dt h e
p e r i m e t e r of
t hC
e a r r i zM
o ountains.
The vanadium
oxide
i nt h eo r e s
was r e c o v e r e d a t p l a n tisM
n onticello,
s t e e l f o r war armaments.
The
ment f o u
r s ei nt h eh a r d e n i n go f
were t h e Vanadium C o r p o r a t i oonf
o p e r a t i ncgo m p a n i e s
C u r r a nB r o t h e r sa n d
Wade, and Wade, Curranand
V205
percent
V205
Company.
a t o t a l of 2 1 , 4 3 3t o n s
e i g h ts e p a r a t ep r o p e r t i e sp r o d u c e d
2.35
An
r e c o v e r e df r o mt h e
America,
Thirty-
of ore
and
containing
1,006,981
pounds
a t o t avl a l u e
between
1942
and
1947.
These
ores
had
$390,315.51.
Utah
and
Vanadium was i n demand by t h ef e d e r a lg o v e r n -
Durango,Colorado.
averaging
CV205)
estimated
76,000
pounds
U308
ores by t h eM a n h a t t a nP r o j e c t
f i r s t a t o m i c weapons.
1
were
of
secretly
f o r u s ei nt h e
INTRODUCTION
During the early and middle
1940’s the carnotite deposits in
the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation, in the Carrizo
Mountains, were extensively mined for their vanadium content.
Uranium in the oreswas recovered f o r the Manhattan Project. Very
little factual information on this activity has been published,
and some is incorrect. For example, a recent paper by Finch and
McLemore (1989)
states that the ore
was shipped to Durango,
Colorado, when in fact the majority of thewasore
sent to Monticello, Utah for processing. Also, an early report prepared by
the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission estimated that vanadium production in the Carrizo Mountains had been approximately 48,000 tons
of ore that averaged
2.50
percent V205 (Fetzer, 1948). This
estimate is over twice the amount that
was actually produced.
The principal source of data presented here is
report prepared
a detailed
by the General Services Administration (GSA),
Indian Trust Accounting Division for the Navajo
document (GSA, 1981) was admitted
Court, Navajo Tribe
Tribe.This
as evidence in
vs. United States,
U.S.
Claims
Docket Nos. 69 and 299
(copper, vanadium, uranium, sand,
rock and gravel claims) held in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 24-March
4, 1983.
A copy of
the vanadium and uranium section
was obtained by the Grand Junction Area Office of the
U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE)
,
where
the authorwas formerly employed. Details of the mineral leasing
regulations, applicable to the Navajo Indian Reservation, were
taken from a report prepared by DeVoto and Huber (1982) for the
U.S.
Department of Justice, which was also admitted as evidence
in the abovecase.
2
HISTORICAL
BACRGRODND
by Marie and P i e r r e C u r i ei n1 8 9 8
The discoveryofradium
l e dt ot h er e a l i z a t i o nt h a ta l lu r a n i u mo r e sc o n t a i n e dt h i s
w
element.
Experiments
#
new
showed t h arta d i u m
i n h i b i t e tdh e
so a s t o n i s h e dt h em e d i c a pl r o f e s s i o n
g r o w t ho cf e r t a i nc a n c e r s
that an incentive to
mine t h e u r a n i u m - b e a r i n g o r e s
was c r e a t e d .
S h o r t l yb e f o r e1 9 1 0 ,m e t a l l u r g i c a lp r o c e s s e sf o rr e l a t i v e l y
of radium from c a r n o t i t e o r e s were perfec-
large-scalerecoveries
ted.
The i m p r o v e d p r o c e s s e s r e s u l t e d i n g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d
accelerated p r o s p e c t i n g i n s o u t h e r n C o l o r a d o .
for carnotite and in
i s p r e s e n ti ne v e r y
Aboutonegramofradium
o r ec o n t a i n i n g
demands
200 t o 3 0 0 t o n so f
2.0 p e r c e n t U308.
S h o r t l y a f t e r 1 9 1 0 , t h ec a r n o t i t ed e p o s i t si ns o u t h w e s t e r n
ColoradoandsoutheasternUtah
t h e p r i n c i p a l world
becameoneof
sources
radium
of (Tyler,
1930).
For
about
1 2 y e a r tsh, e s e
d e p o s i t s were mined f o r r a d i u m a n d y i e l d e d
andvanadium.This
some byproducturanium
activityleadtoprospectingandthediscovery
of similar d e p o s i t s i n t h e
C a r r i z o Mountainsofnorthwestern
M e x i c oa n dn o r t h e a s t e r nA r i z o n a( F i g u r e
GEOLOGIC
SETTINGOF THE
New
1).
CARNOTITE
DEPOSITS
Nearly a l l t h ec a r n o t i t ed e p o s i t si ns o u t h w e s t e r nC o l o r a d o
a n dt h ea d j a c e n tp a r t so fU t a h ,A r i z o n a ,a n d
t h eS a l t
a g eI.tnh e
Wash
Member
of t h eM o r r i s o nF o r m a t i o no fL a t eJ u r a s s i c
1910's and
1 9 2 0 ' tsh i us n i t
McElmo Formation,
New Mexico o c c u ri n
was i n c l u d e di nt h e
a name now a b a n d o n e dS. e v e r a cl a r n o t i t ed e p o -
s i t s were known i n t h e
Triassic ChinleFormation,butonly
were mined i n t h e 1920's.
3
a few
DO'
Poo'
I
36YS'
E030'
10d016'
Figure I.
Indexmap o f theCorrizoMountains
showing thelocation of the
vanadiummines that operated in the 1940's
-4-
I
'00
The S a l t Wash Member i s e x p o s e da r o u n dt h ep e r i m e t e ro ft h e
C a r r i z oM o u n t a i n si nn o r t h e a s t e r n
ApacheCounty,Arizona,and
t h e extreme northwesterncornerofSanJuanCounty,
New Mexico.
The m o u n t a i n sc o n s i s to fa ni r r e g u l a r l ys h a p e d
mass composed
of
1 9 6 9i)n t r u s i v e
a
in
(Armstrong,
68-Ma
several
c e n t r aslt o c akn d
s i l l s olfi g h t - g r a dy i o r i tpe o r p h y r tyh aht a vbe e e inn j e c t e d
l a t e r a l l yi n t ot h es u r r o u n d i n gs e d i m e n t a r yr o c k s .
are abou1
t3
r i s e 2,000-3,000
miles i nd i a m e t e ra n d
t hseu r r o u n d i n pg l a i nP. a s t o r a
t h eh i g h e s pt o i n (t F i g u r e
M o u n t a i n st h e
S a l t Wash Member c r o p so u t
of
otfh ien t r u s i o n .
is
a s a b e l t from Red Rock
state
Arizona-New
Mexico
B e c l a b i t o it rims B e c l a b i t o dome.
dome, a narrowbandof
feet,
On t h e e a s t side of t h eC a r r i z o
to
Beclabito
roughly
paralleling
the
l i n es; o u t h
f e e t above
e l e v a t i o9n, 4 2 0
Peak,
1).
The mountains
West otfh e
S a l t Wash Member i s exposedonthemargin
On t h n
eorth
s i d e of t hC
e a r r i zM
o ountains
t h e r e i s a l a r g ee x p o s u r eo ft h eu p p e r
S a l t Wash Member southwest
The lower S a l t Wash is exposed i n a
o tfh eF o u C
r o r n e r sa r e a .
small area a t t h e f o o t o f t h e m o u n t a i n s a n d i n s e p a r a t e e x p o s u r e s
i n t e r b e d d e dw i t hi g n e o u s
i n t r u s i v e complex.
s i l l s i nt h en o r t h e a s t e r np a r t
The Toh A t i na n t i c l i n ee x p o s e st h el o w e r
Wash Member i nt h en o r t h w e s tC a r r i z o s
amount
of
a t Martin Mesa.
S a l t Wash Member n o r t ho ft h e
state l i n e .
a l s oe x p o s e dn e atrh U
e tah
C a r r i z oM o u n t a i n st h eS a l t
Salt
The l a r g e
Toh A t i na n t i c l i n e
West a n sdo u t o
htfh e
Wash Member capsnumerous
mesas.
p a r t of t h eC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n s ,d i s c o n t i n u o u so u t c r o p s
of S a l t WashMember
is
S a l t Wash Member i s
l a r g e l yc o v e r e dw i t hd u n es a n d ,a n dt h el o w e r
thecentral
of t h e
occurwithintheintrusive
sills.
In
S a l t Wash Member c o n s i s t s of
I nt h eC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n st h e
180-250
f e e t of f l u v i a l ,l i g h tt a nt ow h i t e ,f i n e - g r a i n e ds a n d beds a n dl e n s e so g
f r a yg, r a y i s h -
s t o n ew i t hi n t e r b e d d e d t, h i n
greenandreddish-graymudstone.
The mudstonecomprisesfrom
member.
t o 30 p e r c e n t o f t h e
The uranium-vanadiumorebodies
a r e formed by t h es e l e c t i v e
i m p r e g n a t i o no ft h es a n d s t o n ea n da d s o r p t i o n
f o s s i pl l a n t
material.
t h e sandstone.
The o r e b o d i e s a r e
icnr o s s - s e c t i oannidr r e g u l airpnl a n .
They
feet i n w i d t h t o
r a n g ef r o ms e v e r a l
a few hundred f e e t i n l e n g t h .
a f e a t h e re d g et o
T h i c k n e s s e sr a n g ef r o m
high-gradepods
by themudstoneand
Orebodies a r e commonly a s s o c i a t e w
d ith
d e t r i t a l p l a nftr a g m e n tisn
roughly tabular
5
up t ot e n
feet.
of o r e a r e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h r e p l a c e d f o s s i l
Small
wood.
T h r o u g h otuh
Ctea r r i zMoo u n t a i tnh
user a n i um
mi n e r a l i z a t i o n
occurs a t various stratigraphic horizons in the
S a l t Wash Member;
a r e a l w a y sf o u n di nt h el o w e ro n e - h a l fo f
h o w e v e r ,t h eo r e b o d i e s
t h e member.
a potassium
uranium
The b r i g hyt e l l o w
m i n e r acl a r n o t i t e ,
v a n a d a t e ,h a sg i v e nt h ed e p o s i t st h e i r
(1956,1958)
and
S.
R.
i d e n t i f i e tdy u y a m u n i t e ,
name.
L a t e r work by Corey
Austin
(written
c o m m u n i c a t i o n1, 9 6 7h) a v e
a calcium uranium
vanadate,
and
meta-
tyuyamunite a s t h e o n l y u r a n i u m m i n e r a l s i n t h e C a r r i z o d e p o s i t s .
Vanadium c l a y a n dm o n t r o s e i t e
b e e no x i d i z e dt of o r m
a r e p r e s e n tT
. h e s em i n e r a l sh a v e
a number of
secondary
vanadium
minerals
t h a ti n c l u d es h e r w o o d i t e ,d u t t o n i t e ( ? )h e w e t t i t e ,m e t a h e w e t t i t e ,
r o s s i t e ,m e t a r o s s i t e ,a n dh e n d e r s o n i t e( C o r e y ,
a common cement i no r e .P y r i t e ,i r o no x i d e s ,a n d
1958).
Calcite i s
gypsum may a l s o
bp
eresent.
The o r eg r a d e rsa n g ef r o m
P e r c e n t U308 andfrom
t o more t h a n 0.50
0.10
1.00 t o 10.00 p e r c e n t v205.
EARLY PROSPECTING AM) LEASING
O u t c r o pcso n t a i n i n ug r a n i u m
a n vd a n a d i u m
m i n e r a lisn
the
were d i s c o v e r e d by John F.
C a r r i zM
o ountains
( o rcaol m m u n i c a t i o1n9, 5 5 ) .
Wade a b o u1t9 1 8
Wade Farmington,
of
New
Mexico,
operated Sweetwater Trading Post in the western Carrizo Mountains.
could not
be
mined
because
the
The n e w l dy i s c o v e r e d e p o s i t s
closed t o p r o s p e c t i n ga n dm i n i n g .
N a v a j oI n d i a nR e s e r v a t i o nw a s
30 , 1 9 1 9 , o p e n e dt h eN a v a j oI n d i a n
A C o n g r e s s i o n a l Act ofJune
Reservation t o prospectingandlocatingmining
manner a s p r e s c r i b e d by t h eu n i t e d
T h i s Act a l l o w e d p r o s p e c t o r s
claims i n t h e same
S t a t e s Mining Law of
1872.
t o entertheReservationand
stake a
mining claim i f t h e i r p r o s p e c t i n g l o c a t e d p r o m i s i n g m i n e r a l i z a t i o n .
The l o c a t o r of t h e claim t h e n o b t a i n e d
a l e a s e on t h i s l a n d u n d e r
t e r m st h a ti n c l u d e de s c a l a t i n ga d v a n c er o y a l t i e sa n dr e n t a l s ,a n d
a n n u a l workcommitments.
Duringthe1920'sthe
Office of I n d i a n A f f a i r s
t o B u r e a uo If n d i a nA f f a i r s ) ,
U.S.
( l a t e r changed
D e p a r t m e not tfh eI n t e r i o r ,
i s s u e d f o u r leases f o r metal mining i n t h e C a r r i z o M o u n t i n s
of
1 9 8 1T) h
. ree
f o u r t h lease,
l o c a t e di nt h en o r t h e a s t e r nC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n s
b e l i e v e dt oh a v eb e e n
Company,
were f oc ar r n o t i m
t ei n i n g .
t h e sl e a s e s
f o r copper.
November 1920 (GSA, 1 9 8 1 ) .
o n l yr e c o r d e dr a d i u mp r o d u c t i o nf r o mt h eC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n s .
7
A
is
The l e a s e of t h e Radium Ores
i nt h en o r t h w e s t e r nC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n s p, r o d u c e d
p o u n d so rf a d i u mo r ei n
(GSA,
40,000
This is t h e
C a r r i s o Uranium Company
was opened t o p r o s p e c t i n g
After the Navajo Indian Reservation
F. Wade, who was a l s o a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e
andmining,John
-
Ores Company, l o c a t e d 40 claims a s t r i d et h eA r i z o n a
s t a t e l i n ei nt h ev i c i n i t y
1955).
of
d e t a i l s o ft h eC a r r i s o
lease, e x c e p tf o rt h e
177.45 acres p a i d i n
New Mexico
Milepost 1 6( o r acl o m m u n i c a t i o n ,
The GSA ( 1 9 8 1 ) c o u l d n o t l o c a t e t h e
Uranium
Company's
Radium
f i r s t y e a r ' sr e n t a l
May, 1 9 2 2 , a n dn o t e dt h a t
on
no p r o d u c t i o n was
recorded.
I n April,
area was examined by W.
1 9 2 t1h e
a
Staver,
H.
c o n s u l t i n gm i n i n ge n g i n e e r .S t a v e r( 1 9 2 1 )n o t e dt h a tt h ec o m p a n y ' s
S t a r , and
h o l d i n gc o n s i s t e do ft h eS o u t hB u t t e B
, luebellN
, orth
H i l l t o p claim groups.
The North S t a r Group
was
t h e state l i n e ,w i t hf i v e
located astride
claims i n New Mexico and s i x c l a i m si n
sacks
A r i z o n a a, n dc o n t a i n e dt h eo n l yd e v e l o p m e n t T
. hirty-seven
of
claims were s t o r e d a t B e c l a b i t o
h i g h - g r a doerfer o m
these
T r a d i n gP o s t( F i g u r e
1).
a t o t a l of 2,900
S t a v e re s t i m a t e dt h a t
t o n so fp r o b a b l eo r ec o u l db ed e v e l o p e do nt h ep r o p e r t y .B u t l e r
a n dA l l e n( 1 9 2 1 )m e n t i o nt h a t
500 f e e t ofbenchingand
claims.
underground
development
had
been
done
the
on
( 1 9 2 4 a) l s ov i s i t e dt h ea r e a
of t h eC a r r i s o
activitiesin
1 9 2 1 a n dr e p o r t e dt h a t
and t h a tt h eo r e
was r i c h e ir n
1926,
Hess
100 feet
( 1 9 2 9r)e p o r t e d
t h atth e
Uranium
Company's
no shipmentshadbeen
vanadium
than
Company ob-
t a i n e d some ore f r o mt h eC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n sa n dt h eo r e
was s h i p -
ped t o Denver for t h ep r o d u c t i o no ff u s e dv a n a d i u mo x i d eu s e d
8
made,
i n uranium.
In
Utah
Vanadium
e a s t e r nf e r r o a l l o ym a n u f a c t u r e r s .A l t h o u g ht h e r e
Hess
by
are no d e t a i l s
on t h es i z e
of
thishipment
it r e p r e s e n t st h e
p r o d u c t i ofnr o m
t hCe a r r i zM
o ountains.
i n c l u d e dt h e
f i r s t vanadium
The shipment no doubt
by S t a v e r a t B e c l a b i t o f, i v e
sacked o r eo b s e r v e d
years earlier.
Later Developments.
On March 2 5 , 1 9 3 6 ,t h eS e c r e t a r y
of t h eI n t e r i o rc l o s e dt h e
claim l o c a t i o na n dp r o s p e c t i n gf o r
N a v a j oI n d i a nR e s e r v a t i o nt o
m i n e r a l su n t i lf u r t h e ra u t h o r i z a t i o n .I nJ u l y1 9 3 6 ,a na p p l i c a -
was made t o
t hE
e xecutive
t i o nt op r o s p e c t
N a v a j oT r i b a lC o u n c i l .
Committee of
The a p p l i c a t i o n asked t h e c o u n c i l t o
a resolutionrequestingtheSecretary
The r e s o l u t i o n
was rejected by theExecutiveCommittee,whichevidently
w a n tp r o s p e c t i n g
pass
of t h e I n t e r i o r t o o p e n t h e
f o r mining t ot h ea p p l i c a n t .
N a v a j oR e s e r v a t i o n
the
or m i n i n g o n t h e R e s e r v a t i o n
did not
a t t h a t time.
THE VANADIUM MARKET
By
t hm
e id-l930's,
t h e m i n eistnh ce a r n o t i t ree g i o o
nf
were beingreopened
s o u t h w e s t e r nC o l o r a d oa n ds o u t h e a s t e r nU t a h
f o rt h e i r
vanadiumcontent.
t h eI n t e r i o r
wasbeing
A t t h e same time,
t h eS e c r e t a r yo f
asked t o o p e nt h eN a v a j oI n d i a nR e s e r v a -
tionforprospectingandmining.
When t h eU n i t e d
vanadium
f otrh e
S t a t e s e n t e r e d World War
I1 t h e need f o r
s t e e l i n d u s t r yg r e a t l yi n c r e a s e d .
u n c e r t a i n t yo ff o r e i g ns u p p l i e sa n dt h en e e df o rv a n a d i u mf o r
armaments,
t h e Federal governmentformed
i n December 1 9 4 1 .
Thisagency,which
9
Due t ot h e
war
Metals Reserve Company
was p a r t of t h eR e c o n s t r u c -
tion Finance Corporation, began
an ore-purchasing program and
increased the base price paid
f o r vanadium ore.
Monticello, Utah
In late1940, Vanadium Corporation of America (VCA) opened a
vanadium ore-buying station
at Monticello, Utah, in order to
stimulate mining in the area. Within a short time, ore production increased sufficiently to justify construction of a vanadium
mill.
In September 1941, the War Production Board approved VCA's
proposal to build a mill. Funding
was provided through the
government's Defense Plant Corporation. The plant
was to be
operated by VCA for Metals Reserve. Actual construction started
in February, and
on August 24, 1942, the first vanadium
was
produced (Albrethsen and McGinley,
1982, p. 92).
In April 1942, while construction was under way, the Metals
Reserve Company (MRC) established
an ore-buying stationat Monticello, and appointed the United States Vanadium Corporation (USV)
as its buying agent.
A l l ore producers, VCA, USV and independ-
ents, sold ore to the MRC. MRC in turn had the ore milled by VCA
or other mills. Metals Reserve closed the Monticello mill in
cl
February 1944 when the government ha acquired adequate vanadium
n
stocks.
In 1945, VCA leased
the Monticello mill from the Defense
Plant Corporation and purchased the remaining
ore stockpiles
MRC.VCAprocessed
thestockpiled
sources until the mill closed again
McGinley, 1982, p. 92).
from
ore plusorefromother
in 1946 (Albrethsen and
During the time the Monticello mill was
10
operating, VCA shipped all
of its Carrizo Mountains production to
this plant (GSA, 1981).
Durango, Colorado
In 1942, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation contracted
with United States Vanadium Corporation (USV) to convert and
operate an old lead smelter for vanadium production. The vanadium was supplied to Metals Reserve Company. USV operated the
plant f o r the government until February
1944, when the government
vanadium purchasing program
was terminated. USV then purchased
the facilities from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and
operated them for the production of vanadium for commercial sales
until August 31, 1945, when the plant was closed (Albrethsen and
McGinley, 1982, p. A-11).
All of the ore produced in the Carrizo
Mountains by John Wade's two companieswas processed at Durango.
The Metals Reserve Company's vanadium procurement program
was the stimulus to revive carnotite mining
in the Carrizo Mountains and elsewhere on the Colorado Plateau.
U.S.
Geological Investigations
As part
of the U.S.
Geological Survey's (USGS) investiga-
of
tions of critical war materials, the uranium-vanadium deposits
the Carrizo Mountains were examined during October and November
1942. The USGS geologists examined and mapped the existing mines,
acquiredproduction history
and
statistics
from
the
mine
operators,
of the
and estimated vanadium ore reserves. The detailed results
11
i n v e s t i g a t i o n s a r e i n a r e p o r t by
Duncan
October-November
1942
was s u b m i t t e d t o t h e
a n dS t o k e s( 1 9 4 2 ) ,w h i c h
District.
t a nE n g i n e e r
o ft h eo r e
U.S.
Army'sManhat-
The g e n e r a gl e o l o g ya n dt h ed e s c r i p t i o n
d e p o s i t s was l a t e r p u b l i s h e d by S t o k e s( 1 9 5 1 ) .
LEASING AND PRODUCTION HISTORY
was opened by a C o n g r e s s i o n a l
T h eN a v a j oI n d i a nR e s e r v a t i o n
A c t of May 11, 1 9 3 8 ,b u tw i t h
new p r o c e d u r e s .T h i s
Tribal Council the authority to enter into
t i o nl a n d sw i t ha p p r o v a lo ft h eS e c r e t a r y
leases f o r t h e R e s e r v a of I n t e r i o r .P r o s p e c -
stake a mining
t o r s no l o n g e cr o u l de n t e tr h eR e s e r v a t i o na n d
claim u n d erre g u l a t i o n s
Mining
Law.
The
similar t ot h o s e
of
t h eU n i t e dS t a t e s
new m i n i nr ge g u l a t i o nc so n t a i n eeds c a l a t i n g
a base r o y a l t y of 1 0 p e r c e n t( m i n e
a n n u a lr e n t a l s ,
A c t g a v et h e
bond r e q u i r e m e n t sa, c r e a g el i m i t a t i o n sa, n d
whichcouldbeextended
mouth v a l u e ) ,
a term of 1 0 y e a r s
by p r o d u c t i o n .
Lease I-149-IND-3798
On December
Wade, Thomas F.
1 9 3 9e, f f e c t i v Je a n u a r y1 91, 9 4 0J, o h n
4,
V.
Curran, H.
R.
Redington
(d.b.a.
F.
Wade, Curran
and Co.) l e a s e d 65.02 acres i n t h e C a r r i z o M o u n t a i n s . T h e i r l e a s e ,
I-149-IND-3798
c o v e r e dt h eM a r t i n
Claim,
E u r i d a No. 2 C l a i m as d e s c r i b e d i n
and3703.
U.S.
Say-Tah
C l a i m a, n dt h e
MineralSurvey
Nos. 3701
The lease was f o r a p e r i o d o f f i v e y e a r s .
These a r e t h r e e of t h ep r o p e r t i e sf o r m e r l yh e l d
Radium Ores Company.
menced iA
n u g u s t1,9 4 2 .
Shipments
from
Lease
by Wade's
I-149-IND-3798
com-
The Martin mine was t h e f i r s t t o be
12
When t h e USGS examined t h e area i n November 1942,
developed.
a p p r o x i m a t e l y 500 t o n os of r ea v e r a g i n g
2.50
p e r c e n t V205
had
beenproducedfromtheMartinmine(DuncanandStokes,1942,p.
23-24).
t o n s of
o r ce o n t a i n i n g
127,909
pounds
p e r c e n t V205
Curranand
a n dt h e n
November 1943 , a t o t a l of 2 ,198
When m i n i n gc e a s e di n
had
been
produced
(Table
V205
and
averaging
2.91
1).
Ore
mined
by Wade,
Company was s h i p p e d by t r u c k t o F a r m i n g t o n ,
by r a i l t o t h e
mill a t Durango,Colorado.
New Mexico
Lease I-149-
IND-3798 was due t o e x p i r e on J a n u a r y 1 9 , 1 9 4 5b u t
was a p p a r e n t l y
cancelled earlier.
Lease I-149-IND-4225
On A p r i5l1, 9 4 0e,f f e c t i v e
Thomas F. V. Curran,and
42.32
T h i s lease, I-149-IND-4225,
20.66
1940,
John
H. R. Redington(d.b.a.
l e a s e da na d d i t i o n a l
Co.)
May 9 ,
F.
Wade,
Wade, Curranand
acres i nt h eC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n s .
c o v e r e dt h eS u n n y s i d e
Lode C l a i m of
acres i nt h ew e s t e r nC a r r i z o ' sa n dt h eS y r a c u s e
Lode Claim
of
20.66
acres i nt h ee a s t e r nC a r r i z o ' s( F i g u r e
were d e s c r i b e d by U.S.
Mineral
Survey
1).
Nos.
The claims
3700
and
3857.
The
lease was f o r a p e r i o d o f f i v e y e a r s .
The Sunnyside claim had a l s o b e e n h e l d
byWade'sRadium
Ores
"arc
Company.
Shipments
from
Lease I-149-IND-4225
l a t e May 1 9 4 2 through October 1 9 4 3 .
13
was r e c o r d e fdr o m
TABLE 1
Vanadium Ore Production,1942-1947,CarrizoMountains,
SanJuanCounty,
New Mexico andApache County, Arizona.
Lease
NO.
I-149-IND3798
4225
5465
5705
6197
6342
Tons of
Or e
2 ,198
966
7,504
1 0 ,231
388
146
Pounds
'2'5
127,909
84 ,418
274,411
504,822
1 5 ,060
361
Percent
'2'5
2.91
4.37
1.83
2.47
1.94
0.12
Years
Operated
1942-43
1942-43
1942-44
1942-45,47
1943-44
1944
Total
,433
21
1,006 2.35
,981
Source:
1942-1945;
GSA (1981)
1947; USGS memo d a t e d J u n e 2 , 1948 ( i n DOE f i l e s )
14
two claims a r e n o st e p a r a t e d b, u Jt o h n
S h i p m e n t sf r o mt h e
f i r s t p r o p e r t tyb
oe
was t h e
s t a t e d t h a tt h eS y r a c u s e
Wade ( o r a lc o m m u n i c a t i o n ,1 9 5 5 )
mined.
Harshbarger
(1946,
p.
2 5r)e p o r t s
t h a t from May t h r o u g hO c t o b e r1 9 4 3 ,s h i p m e n t sf r o mt h eS u n n y s i d e
mine
totalled
a nadv e r a g i n g
475
2.57
lease was 966
tons
o rceo n t a i n i n2g4 , 3 9p5o u n d s
of
p e r c e n t V205.
T o t aplr o d u c t i ofnr o m
this
t o nosofrceo n t a i n i n8g4 , 4 1p8o u n d s
a v e r a g i n4g- 3p7e r c e n t
v205
to
expire
on
May
.
Ore
from
t h i s lease
was
Lease I-149-IND-4225
was
91 ,9 4b5u t
and
V205
( T a b l e 1)
was a l s o s h i p p e d t o Durango,Colorado.
due
V205
a p p a r e n t lcya n c e l l e d
earlier.
New R e g u l a t i o n s .
On April 9 , 1 9 4 1 r
t h eN a v a j oT r i b a lC o u n c i lr e q u e s t e dt h e
S e c r e t a r y of t h eI n t e r i o rt ol e a s el a n d sf o rm i n i n gp u r p o s e st o
t a k e care of t h i s s i t u a t i o n ,t h e
t h eh i g h e s tb i d d e r .I no r d e rt o
areas a nsdu b s e q u e n t l y
were w r i t t e fnolra r g e
m i n i nlge a s e s
a t t h e n do f
r e d u c e di na c r e a g e
The
lease was t h a t a p r o s p e c t i n gp e r m i t
n e t e f f e c t of t h i st y p eo f
was i s s u e d t o t h e h i g h e s t b i d d e r ,
l a n dw i t h i nt h ep e r m i t
a s p e c i f i e d time p e r i o d .
who t h e n h a d t h e r i g h t t o
area u p t o a maximum a c r e a g e .
a c r e a g e a company c o u l d lease on t h e R e s e r v a t i o n
lease
The maximum
was 960 acres.
Lease I-149-IND-5456.
The f i r s t s a l e t o b e - h e l d u n d e r t h e
was i nt h en o r t h w e s t e r n
t h eO f f i c e
of
C a r r i z o Mountains.
new b i d d i n gr e g u l a t i o n s
On November 2 8 , 1 9 4 1 ,
I n d i a nA f f a i r as d v e r t i s e da ne x p l o r a t i o nm i n i n g
lease s a l e , f o rc a r n o t i t ea n d
r e l a t e d m i n e r a l s f, o r
1 4 4 square
t r a c t was d e s c r i b e d as:
miles i n Apache
County,
Arizona.
The
was d e s i g n a t e do na nu n a p p r o v e ds u r v e y
"unsurveyedlandwhich
7 West, andTownship
Township
12
and
13
North,
Range
North,Range
1 2 and13
6 West, NavajoMeridian."
B i d s were opened on December 1 9 , 1 9 4 1 ,
b i d s were r e c e i v e d ;
Lease,
as
a t which time two
Naturita,Colorado,$2,000.00;andKing
VCA,
Inc.,
Ouray,
Colorado,
$100.00
Lease I-149-IND-5456
was e x e c u t e dw i t h
e f f e c t i v e February
23,
1942 for
s h i p m e n t st ot h eM o n t i c e l l o
continuedthroughFebruary
(GSA,
1 9 8 1e,x h i b i2t 6 ) .
VCA on December 26,1941,
a p e r i ootdefyne a r s .
Ore
m i l l commenced i n e a r l y May 1942and
1944.
lease was t h e f i r s t
The e a r l y May 1 9 4 2s h i p m e n ft r o mt h i s
Metals
v a n a d i u mo r ep r o d u c e di nt h eC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n su n d e rt h e
Reserveprogram.
The ore came f r o mt h eR a t t l e s n a k em i n e si nt h e
S a y t a h Wash a r e a
(Duncan
and
Stokes,
1942,
22).
p.
When t h e
o p e r a t i o n s were examined by t h e USGS i n November 1942,approxim a t e l y2 , 0 0 0t o n so fo r ew i t ha na v e r a g eg r a d eo f1 . 8 0p e r c e n t
V205 hadbeenproduced(DuncanandStokes,1942,
On September2,
p. 2 2 ) .
1 9 4 3 , t h e lease was reduced t o a permanent
o p e r a t i n g lease a n d 1 6 p l o t s ( c l a i m s ) t o t a l l i n g
of t h e s ep l o t s
s e l e c t e dt ob er e t a i n e dD
. etails
T a b l e2 .T h e s e1 6p l o t s
R e s e r v a t i o n Lease" by VCA.
t o t a l p r o d u c t i o nf o r
V205
a r e g i v e ni n
were commonly referred t o a s t h e
"West
When m i n i n gs t o p p e di nF e b r u a r y
1944,
lease 1-149-IND-5456
o rceo n t a i n i n2g7 4 , 4 1p1o u n d s
229.14 acres were
V205
(Table 1).
16
hadbeen7,504tonsof
a nadv e r a g i n1g. 8p3e r c e n t
TABLE 2
L o c a t i o na n dS i z eo fP l o t s ,
Lease I-149-IND-5456.
Mine Name*
Acres
Hogan
10.33
Canyon W. ofSaytah
Wash
2
L O .33
Canyon W. ofSaytah
Wash
3
10.33
Canyon
w.
ofSaytah
Wash
10.33
Canyon W.
ofSaytah
Wash
10.33
W.
s i d e of Saytah Wash
52.36
E.
ofSaytah
2.14
E.
s i d eo fS a y t a h
Number
1
4
Gila
5
6
R a t t l e s n a k eM i n e s
7
R a t t l e s n a k e No. 5
Wash
Wash
Canyon E. of Saytah Wash
8
10.41
9
9.77
R a t t l e s n a k e Canyon
10.19
R a t t l e s n a k e Canyon
7.41
R a t t l e s n a k e Canyon
10
Horse
11
Two Level
12
R a t t l e s n a k e No. 8
18.13
E.
s i d eS a y t a h
Wash
13
7.92
E.
s i d eS a y t a h
Wash
14
20.66
N.
E u r i d a Mesa
15
31.74
S.
E u r i d a Mesa
16
6.76
Total
*
Location
E u r i d a Mesa
229.14 acres
Mining and p r o s p e c t i n g o c c u r r e d o n
have named mines.
S o u r c e :U n p u b l i s h e dd a t a ,
J u n c t i o n ,C o l o r a d o
S.W.
a l l p l o t s , b u t o n l ys e v e n
AtomicEnergyCommission,Grand
office.
U.S.
17
Lease I-149-IND-5705.
On
May
29, 1942 I i nr e s p o n s et or e q u e s t s
by s e v e r a lm i n i n g
c o m p a n i e s ,t h eO f f i c eo fI n d i a nA f f a i r sa d v e r t i s e da ne x p l o r a t i o n
lease s a l e for c a r n o t i t ae n d
CarrizM
o ountains.
r e l a t e d m i n e r a l isnt h e a s t e r n
was described a s f o l l o w s :
The a r e ao f f e r e d
New Mexico-Arizona S t a t eL i n ew h i c h
" b e g i n n i n g a t a p o i n to nt h e
i s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 8 1/3 miles s o u t h of t h ec o r n e r
s t a t e s ofColorado,Utah,
east 6
New Mexico,andArizona;thence
12 miles: t h e n c e west 6 miles t o t h e Arizona-
miles, t h e n c e s o u t h
west 3 1/2 miles: t h e n c en o r t h
New Mexico s t a t e l i n e :t h e n c e
miles: t h e n c e east one mile: t h e n c en o r t h
1/2 miles t o t h e
Arizona-NewMexico
beginning."
of
The
miles.
common t ot h e
area
2
1 0 miles: t h e n c e e a s t 2
s t a t e l i n ea n di nt h ep o i n t
c o n t a i n ae pd p r o x i m a t e l y
T h i s was t h es e c o n dc a r n o t i t e
104 s q u a r e
lease s a l e for N a v a j ol a n d s
h e l du n d e rt h eb i d d i n gp r o c e d u r e s .
15, 1942 , a t which time VCA b i d
B i d s were openedonJune
$7,600,
$7,550
andJohn
(GSA,
a n ds i n c e
t hhei g h e s t
F.
Wade and Thomas F.
V.
Wade a n dC u r r a no f f e r e dt op a y
make t h e d e c i s i o n t o
I-149-IND-5705,
$ 2 , 0 0 0 overandabove
r e c e i v e dt h,Ge e n e r aSlu p e r i n t e n d e n t
N a v a j oS e r v i c er e q u e s t e d
award t h e lease.
the
VCA was awarded t h e lease
which was executed o nJ u l y
1 4 1 1942, e f f e c t i v e
1 0 years.
Mining commenced i n August 1942 on
King
New Mexico
of
t h a t t h e Commissioner of I n d i a n A f f a i r s
J u l y 23, 1942, f o r a p e r i o d o f
Juan
County,
bid
A s t h e b i d s were n e a r l ye q u a l ,
1981, e x h i b i t 31).
bid
C u r r a n ,p a r t n e r s ,
( F i g u r e 2).
T u t t Mesa i n San
When t h oe p e r a t i o n s
were
examined by t h e USGS i n November 1942, a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 ,800 t o n s
of
o rw
e i tahanv e r a gger a d e
of
18
2.30
p e r c e n t V205
had
been
p. 2 6 ) .
produced(DuncanandStokes,1942,
Lease I-149-IND-5705
was commonly referred t o as t h e "East R e s e r v a t i o n Lease" by VCA.
still usedincurrent
a name
a s t h eE a s t s i d em i n e s ,
The USGS r e f e r r e dt ot h em i n e s
USGS r e p o r t s .
, the
On September2,1943
lease was reduced t o a permanent
o p e r a t i n g lease and 1 2 p l o t s t o t a l l i n g 436.79 acres were s e l e c t e d
were on
King
t o be r e t a i n e d S
. i xo ft h ep l o t s( 1 - 6 )
twoof
1 0 ) were a l o n gt h en o r t hs i d eo f
t h ep l o t s( 7 ,
Canyonand
were i n
Each of t h e p l o t s were named by VCA
t h ev i c i n i t yo fM i l e p o s t1 6 .
(Table 3)
Oak Creek
9 , 11, a n d1 2 )
t h er e m a i n i n gf o u rp l o t s( 8 ,
T u t t Mesa,
.
Three of t h ep l o t sn e a rM i l e p o s t1 6
of
t h ree m a i n d e r
( 9 , 11, a n d1 2 )c o v e r e d
t h ea r e ap r e v i o u s l yd e v e l o p e d
Uranium Company on i t s N o r t h S t a r
by t h eC a r r i s o
claims.
M i n i n gc o n t i n u e dt h r o u g hA u g u s t1 9 4 4 .S i n g l es h i p m e n t s
were
r e c o r d e idF
n e b r u a r 1y 9 4 a5n idJnu l 1y 9 4 7T. o t apl r o d u c t i o n
from Lease
I-149-IND-5705
504,822
pounds
(Table 1).
V205
was
1 0 , 2 3t 1o noosfrceo n t a i n i n g
av
a ne rda g i n g
2.47
percent
V205
was
With t heex c e p t i o ontfh1e 9 4 s7h i p m e nwt h i c h
made t o i t s m i l l
a t N a t u r i t aC, o l o r a d o ,
s h i p p e od rfer o m
A l l b u t a few dozen t o n s , mined
t h i s lease t oM o n t i c e l l o ,U t a h .
on P l o t s 1 0 , 11 a n d1 2 ,
VCA
were mined i n New Mexico.
Lease I-149-IND-6197.
On J u l y 2 1
p a n i e s t, h e
, 1943,
Office of
i nr e s p o n s et or e q u e s t sf r o mm i n i n g
com-
I n d i a n Affairs a d v e r t i s e da ne x p l o r a t i o n
19
F i g u r e 2, Navajominers
attheShadysidearea,
King T u t t Mesa, SanJuanCounty,
Mexico.
Note
New
s t a c k e do r ea b o v ep i t ,
ready f o r shipment, November 1 9 4 2 .
Photo by USGS.
20
TABLE 3
L o c a t i o n , Name and S i z e of P l o t s , Lease I-149-IND-5705.
Number
Mine Name
Acres
Point
Location
1
RedWash
3.53
S.E.
King T u t t Mesa
2
King T u t t P o i n t
9.14
S.W.
King T u t t Mesa
3
Shadyside
4
Williams P o i n t
8.62
N.
C e n t r a l King T u t t Mesa
5
Fissure
1.57
N.
C e n t r a l King T u t t Mesa
6
F r a n k sP o i n t
6.23
N.W.
7
Lower Oak Creek
205.39
Oak Creek Canyon
8
Cottonwood Butte
20.66
Cottonwood Butte
9
Lone S t a r
6 -20
E.
10
Oak S p r i n g s
5.53
S.E.
of Oak S p r i n g s
11
White Cap
S.W.
of MP-16
12
Syracuse
145.13
20.66
4.13
Total
C e n t r a l King T u t t Mesa
King T u t t Mesa
of MP-16
W. of MP-16
436.79
A l l were l o c a t e d i n S a n J u a n C o u n t y ,
10, 11, and12inApacheCounty,Arizona.
New Mexico except numbers
Source:Unpublisheddata,
U.S. AtomicEnergyCommission,Grand
J u n c t i o n ,C o l o r a d o o f f i c e .
mining
s a l e f ocr a r n o t i t ae n d
related
m i n e r a l isn
the
lease
northern and western Carrizo Mountains.
The area o f f e r e d c o n s i s t e d
miles i n a t r a c t 7 miles wideeast-west,and
of 1 6 8s q u a r e
miles l o n g n, o r t h - s o u t h ,
w i t h t h es o u t h e a s tc o r n e rl o c a t e dn e a r
1 ) . Excluded were a l l ' l a n d s s u b j e c t t o
Cove S c h o o l( F i g u r e
prior
leases.
a p p r o v e dm i n e r a l
B i d s were openedonAugust3,1943
was $5,085 .OO
b i dr e c e i v e d
24
Curran,andJohn
a t which time t h eo n l y
from Thomas F.
V.
C u r r a n ,C h a r l e s
Wade, d.b.a.CurranBrothersand
F.
1 9 8 1e, x h i b i 3t 8 ) .
Lease I-149-IND-6197
Wade (GSA,
was executed
on
August
f o r a p e r i o do f
6 1, 9 4 3 e, f f e c t i v eO c t o b e r2 7 1, 9 4 3
F.
ten years.
was
lease became e f f e c t i v e , a two t h i r d s i n t e r e s t
On t h e d a t e t h e
assignedtoUnitedStates
Vanadium C o r p o r a t i o n (USV).
Shipments commenced i n December 1 9 4 3a n dc o n t i n u e dt h r o u g h
was 388 t o n s of o r ec o n t a i n i n g
F e b r u a r y1 9 4 4 T
. o t a pl r o d u c t i o n
15,060
pounds
V205
a anvde r a g i n g
1 ) . The o r e was minedfrom
Main Claim mine i nS a y t a h
1.94
percent
t h e S a y t a h Canyonmineand
V205
t h e CB
& W
Canyon andfromtheNorthMartinmine
A small amount may havebeenminedfromthe
i n S a y t a h Wash.
(Table
west
s i d e of Cove Mesa ( H a r s b a r g e r ,1 9 4 6 ,f i g .3 ) .
On March
22,
1944
o p e r a t i n g lease w i t h 1 2
b er e t a i n e d .
are g i v e n i n T a b l e
were twomines(Martin,
Lease I-149-IND-3798.
andSyracusemines
a permanent
p l o t s , t o t a l l i n g 959.7 acres, s e l e c t e d t o
Details of t h e s e p l o t s
d e di nt h i ss e l e c t i o n
h e ludn d e r
t h e lease was r e d u c e tdo
4.
Inclu-
Eurida) previously
P l o tcso v e r i ntghSe u n n y s i d e
were n o t selected due t o t h e 960 acre limita-
t i o no nt o t a ll a n dt h a tc o u l db eh e l d
by o n eo r g a n i z a t i o no nt h e
22
TABLE 4
of P l o t s , Lease I-149-IND-6197.
L o c a t i o na n dS i z e
Number
Mine Name
Acres
Location
1
Martin
20.2
West s i d e S a y t a h Wash
2
North Martin
14.4
West s i d e S a y t a h Wash
2.2
East s i d e S a y t a h Wash
3
4
Saytah Canyon
5
Main Claim
6
Eurida
7
Cove Mesa
10.4
N o r t hs i d eS a y t a h
Canyon
5.7
S o u t hs i d eS a y t a h
Canyon
20.6
246.2
E u r i d a Mesa
South2/3
Cove Mesa
A
1 6 .O
East endSaytah
B
17.3
NW p o i n t S e g i
Ho Cho Mesa
C
34.9
SW p o i n t S e g i
Ho Cho Mesa
D
37 .E
SW p o i n t S e g i
Ho Cho Mesa
E
529.0
Total
959.7
Source : Harshbarger
(1946)
23
E a s te n d
Canyon
K i n u s t a Mesa
N a v a j oI n d i a nR e s e r v a t i o n .S e l e c t i o na n ds u r v e y i n go ft h ep l o t s
by p e r s o n n e l of t h e UnionMinesDevelopment
were d o n ep r i m a r i l y
D i s t r i c t , who were apprais-
CorpsofEngineersManhattanEngineer
of
i n tghue r a n i u m
resources
.
1 9 8 51, 9 8 8 )
B r o t h e r sa n d
t o t h e Army's
Union Mines was a p r i v a t ec o n t r a c t o r
Corporation.
On April 1 7 I
the
Colorado
Plateau
(Chenoweth,
1 9 4 4 , Union
Mines
Wade's o n e - t h i r d i n t e r e s t i n t h e
2 4 , 1 9 4 4 t h e ya c q u i r e d
a c q u i r e dC u r r a n
lease, andonApril
USV's t w o - t h i r d si n t e r e s t .
Both r e a s s i g n -
ments were approved by t h e Office of I n d i a n A f f a i r s onOctober
31,1944
(GSA, 1 9 8 1 ) .
The c o s t of a c q u i r i n gt h e
lease was r e p o r t e d a t $16,000 or
a b o u t $16.50 a n acre (ManhattanEngineer
UnionMines
d i d no p h y s i c a l e x p l o r a t i o n
EnergyCommission
o r m i n i n go nt h e
was never
approved
plannedrilling
project
District Engineers.
D i s t r i c t , 1947 , p. 2-6).
by
lease, a
the
Manhattan
The lease was r e a s s i g n e d t o t h e U.S.
Atomic
in1948.
Lease I-149-IND-6342.
I nt h e
b e a r i n go u t c r o p so tf h e
southwestof
Navajo p r o s p e c t o r sl o c a t e d
f a l l of
1943,
vanadium-
miles
S a l t Wash s a n d s t o n ea b o u t h r e e
Teec Nos Pos T r a d i n g P o s t ( F i g u r e
1).
VCA asked t h e Office o fI n d i a nA f f a i r st h a t
a 13.50
acre
~
~
t r a c t was a d v e r t i s e d o n J a n u a r y
openedonFebruary
b i do f
$600.00.
Lease
11, 1 9 4 4 , and when t h e b i d s w e r e
1, 1 9 4 4 , VCA was t h e o n l y b i d d e r w i t h
a bonus
(GSA, 1981)
I-149-IND-6342
e f f e c t i v e April 1, 1 9 4 4 .
was
e x e c u t eoFdne b r u a r8y,
VCA named t h el e a s eR a t t l e s n a k e
24
1944,
No. 1
Lease produced 146 tons of ore containing 361 pounds V205 and
averaging
0.12
percent
V205
(Table
Since
the
Metals
1).
Reserve program had terminated in February
1944, this ore was
trucked toVCA's vanadium millat Naturita, Colorado.
HANEATTAN
ENGINEER
DISTRICT
ACTIVITIES
In 1942, the Army Corps of Engineers formed
the Manhattan
Engineer District (MED) for the development of atomic weapons and
the acquisition of raw materials for the production of weapons.
The entire Manhattan Projectwas dependent on the acquisition of
uranium. At
the operating vanadium mills in the carnotite region
of the Colorado Plateau
-
Monticello, Utah; Durango, Naturita,
and Uravan, Colorado - MED made arrangements to secretly recover
uranium from the carnotite ores and from the tailings from prior
operations (Chenoweth,1985, 1988)
Using
of ore
under
the
shipments
uranium
(U308)
from
theU.S. Atomic
to
vanadium
(v205)
ratios
these
Energy
.
same
mineswere
that
made
Commission's
ore
in
1948-1953
procurement
program,
I estimated that the Carrizo vanadium ores contained 108,627
pounds U308
(Table 5).
MED's uranium procurement program on
the Colorado Plateau ended in 1945. Hence, the 1947 shipment from
Lease I-149-IND-5705 was not included. Also, the small shipment
from Lease I-149-IND-6342 was too low grade to
be considered for
uranium recovery. Assuming a 70 percent milling recovery factor,
it is reasonable to estimate that approximately 76,000 pounds
U308 were recovered from the Carrizo vanadium ores.
In
addition MED's
to
uranium
25
procurement
program,
a
contractor
TABLE 5
Estimated Uranium C o n t e n t of t h e Vanadium Ores, C a r r i z o Mountains,
1942-1945.
Lease NO.
1-1 49- IND-
Pounds
5'2'
U308 to
V2O5 R a t i o *
Estimated
Pounds U3 O8
3798
127,909
1:7.5
17,055
4225
84,418
1:9.3
9,077
5465
274,411
1:g.o
30,490
1:lO
50
504,199
05 57
6197
15,060
1:9.5
T o t a lc o n t a i n e d
*
1 ,585
pounds
Based on 1948-1953 p r o d u c t i o np u r c h a s e d
EnergyCommission
Source:
Chenoweth (1985, 1988)
26
,420
by t h e U.S.
108,627
Atomic
made g e o l o g i c s t u d i e s of t h e
UnionMinesDevelopmentCorporation,
u r a n i u mr e s o u r c e so ft h eS a l t
of t h eM o r r i s o n
Wash
Member
Forma-
tionandacquiredlandfordevelopinguraniumreservesthroughout
D i s t r i c t E n g i n e e r s ,1 9 4 7 ) .
t h eC o l o r a d oP l a t e a u( M a n h a t t a n
Mines'
Union
Carrizo Mountains a r e summarized i n
a c t i v i t i e is nt h e
r e p o r t s by Coleman ( 1 9 4 4 ) a n dH a r s h b a r g e r( 1 9 4 6 ) .
A l l of the functions of
MED, and t h e numerousgovernment-owned
f a c i l i t i e s a s s o c i a t e dw i t ht h e s ea c t i v i t i e s ,
t h e newlyformed
were t r a n s f e r r e d t o
AtomicEnergyCommission
U.S.
(AEC) by E x e c u t i v e
December 3 1 , 1 9 4 6 .
O r d e 9r 8 1 6e, f f e c t i v em i d n i g h t
By mid-1947,
for the continued
t h e AEC e s t a b l i s h e d u r a n i u m p r o c u r e m e n t p r o g r a m s
d e v e l o p m e notaft o m iecn e r g fyom
r i l i t a r py u r p o s e(sA l b r e t h s e n
andMcGinley,1980).
SUMMARY
The f e d e r a l l y f u n d e d
Metals R e s e r v e o r e procurementprogram,
December 1941-February1944,
was a boom t o vanadiummining
in the
c a r n o t i t er e g i o no ft h eC o l o r a d oP l a t e a u i, n c l u d i n gt h eC a r r i z o
Mountains.
Vanadium was neededby
t h e war e f f o r t t o h a r d e n s t e e l
u s e di na r m a m e n t s .D u r i n gt h ep e r i o d
May 1 9 4 2t h r o u g hJ u l y1 9 4 7 ,
38 p r o p e r t i e s i n t h e
S a l t Wash Member of t h eM o r r i s o nF o r m a t i o n ,
on t h e perimeter of
t h eC a r r i z oM o u n t a i n ps r o d u c e d
21,433
t o nosof r ae v e r a g i n g
1,006,981
pounds
V205
2.35
(Tables 6 , 7 )
p e r c e n t U308
.
p r o g r a mc e a s e di nF e b r u a r y1 9 4 4 ,t h em i n i n g
b u t ended i n t h e C a r r i z o s a n d e l s e w h e r e
D u r i n gt h e
1942-1947
a t o t a l of
a n dc o n t a i n i n g
A f t etrhM
e etals
of vanadium ore a l l
on t h e C o l o r a d o P l a t e a u .
period,
1,006,981
pounds
of
vanadium
27
Reserve
oxide
were
(V205)
p r o d u c ferdotm
h ei ntieC
hnsea r r i z o
material had a t o t a l v a l u e of
$390,315.51,
Mountains.
This
approximately
$0.39
per
pound
V205.
leases,
of t h ei n d i v i d u a lp r o p e r t i e sa r eg i v e n
The e s t i m a t e ds i z e s
estimates a r e basedonmine
(1946)andColeman(1944);
of
maps i n H a r s h b a r g e r
t h e GSA ( 1 9 8 1 )p r o d u c t i o nr e c o r d s ,a n d
t h eo l dw o r k i n g s
by t h ea u t h o ri n
1953-54.
the
Shadyside
mines
on
The most productive areas were
(Lease 5705)
and
t h eR a t t l e s n a k em i n e so nP l o t
O t h e lr a r g em i n e si n c l u d et h eM a r t i nE
, urida,
andHorseand
the
were c a l c u l a t e d (GSA, 1 9 8 1 ) .
theorebeforeroyalties
inTable7.These
some of
were d e d u c t e df r o mt h ev a l u eo f
t r a n s p o r t a t i o nc h a r g e s
the xamination
R o y a l tpitaehised
(Table 8 )I .n
N a v aT
j or i bt oet a l l e$d4 1 , 6 1 0 . 5 7
or
Plot 3
6 (Lease 5 4 5 6 ) .
King T u t t P o i n t ,
Hogan m i n e s n e a r P l o t 6 .
When p r o d u c t i o nf o,urr a n i u mr e, s u m ei1dn9 4u8n d et h
re
U.S.
Atomic
Energy
Commission's
ore
procurement
programs,
the
were
R a t t l e s n a k em i n e s t, h eS h a d y s i d em i n e sa n dt h em i n e st h a t
developedon
Cove Mesa
(Plo7
tL
, e a s e6 1 9 7 )c o n t r i b u t e ds i g n i f -
from t hCe a r r i zM
o ountains
i c a n t l tytohue r a n i u m
production
(Chenoweth
and
Malan,
1973).
There
has
been
no m i n i n gi nt h e
C a r r i z oM o u n t a i n ss i n c eA u g u s t1 9 6 7 .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T h ri es p o r t
would
nhoat vb e epnr e p a r ewdi t h otuhte
encouragement of V i r g i n i a T.
McLemore andFrank
t h e New Mexico BureauofMinesandMineralResources.
E.
K o t t l o w s k i of
TABLE 6
Annual Vanadium Ore P r o d u c t i o n1 9 4 2 - 1 9 4 7 ,C a r r i z o
Mountains,
San Juan County, New Mexico andApache County, Arizona.
Year
4,079
15,504
1,820
Tons of Ore
1942
?203
1943
1944
Pounds V205
2.18
P e r c e n t V205
244
2.99
682,343
2 -20
79,230
1945
1.941 5
582
1946
0
-
-
1947
15
623
2 -08
1,006,981
21,433 Total
2 -35
Source:
1942-1945;
GSA (1981)
1947; USGS memo d a t e d J u n e 2 , 1 9 4 8
29
( i n DOE f i l e s )
TABLE I
E s t i m a t e d Vanadium P r o d u c t i o n , byMine,1944-1947,CarrizoMountains,
SanJuanCounty,
New Mexico andApacheCounty,Arizona.
Lease/Mine
3798-6197
North Martin
Martin
Saytah
S a y t a h Canyon
Main C l a i m
Eur ida
Cove Mesa
4225
Sunnyside
Syracuse
5456
Hogan
Plot 2
Plot 3
Gila
Plot 5
Rattlesnakemines
R a t t l e s n a k e No. 5
Plot 8
Plot 9
Horse
Two Level
Size
C
A
B
C
C
A
C
B
B
A
C
C
B
Acl/
B
C
C
A
B
Lease/Mine
Size
-
5456 ( c o n t )
R a t t l e s n a k e No. 8
Plot13
Plot 1 4
Plot 15
Plot16
5705
Red Wash P o i n t
Ring T u t t P o i n t
Shadyside mines
W i l l i a m sP o i n t
Fissure
F r a n k sP o i n t
Lower Oak Creek
Cottonwood B u t t e
Lone S t a r
Oak Springs
White Cap
Syracuse
6342
R a t t l e s n a k e No. 1
B
C
C
C
C
B
AA2/
C
C
C
B
B
C
C
C
C
C
S i z e Class:
A - Great t h a n 800 t o n s of o r e
B - 2 0 0 t o 8 0 0 t o n s of o r e
C - Less t h a n 200 t o n s of ore
1/
-
2/
6 produced a t l e a s t 3 , 5 0 0t o n s
R a t t l e s n a k em i n e so nP l o t
of o r e .
S h a d y s i d em i n e so nP l o t
ore.
3 produced a t l e a s t 6,000tons
30
of
TABLE 8
V a l u eo ft h e
Vanadium Ore a n d R o y a l t i e s , 1942-1946, C a r r i z oM o u n t a i n s ,
SanJuanCounty,
New MexicoandApacheCounty,Arizona.
Lease No.
1-1 49- IND-
Pounds
5'2'
3798
127 ,909.03
$54,380.69
$8,157 -09
4225
84 ,417 .95
35,663.08
5,349.48
5465
274 ,410 -63
90,513.96
8,721.35
57 05
504 ,822 .27
200,894.37
6197
15,060.28
6342
361 .OO
Total
Source:
1,006
,981
.16
Total
Value
6
,605
.69
2,257.72
Royalty
18 ,518 .77
660.57
203 -31
$390 ,315 .51
$41,610.57
1942-1945: GSA (1981)
1947; USGS memo d a t e d J u n e 2, 1948 ( i n DOE f i l e s )
31
REFERENCES
A l b r e t h s e n ,H o l g e r ,
J r . , andMcGinley,
F.E.,
1 9 8 2 , Summary
h i s t o r y ofdomesticuraniumprocurementunder
U.S. Atomic
Energy Commission contracts, f i n a l report: U.S. Department
ofEnergyReport
GJBX-220 (821,162 p.
Armstrong, R.L., 1 9 6 9 , K-Ar d a t i n g of l a c c o l i t h i c c e n t e r s o f t h e
C o l o r a d oP l a t e a ua n dv i c i n i t y :G e o l o g i c a lS o c i e t yo f
America
B u l l e t i n , v. 8 0 , p. 2081-2086.
B u t l e r , G.M.,
a n dA l l e n ,
M.A.,
1921,Uraniumandradium:Arizona
B u r e a uo fM i n e sB u l l e t i n1 1 7 ,
26 p.
Chenoweth, W.L., 1 9 8 5 , Raw m a t e r i a l s a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e M a n h a t t a n
P r o j e c t i n New Mexico: New Mexico B u r e a u ofMinesand
MineralResourcesOpen-FileReport
No. 241, 11 p.
1988, U r a n i u mp r o c u r e m e n ta n dg e o l o g i ci n v e s t i g a t i o n so f
t h eM a n h a t t a nP r o j e c ti nA r i z o n a :A r i z o n a
B u r e a u of Geology
andMineralTechnologyOpen-FileReport88-2,12
p.
Chenoweth, W.L., andMalan,
R.C.,
1973, Theuraniumdeposits
of
n o r t h e a s t e r nA r i z o n a :
New MexicoGeologicalSociety
Guidebook24,
p. 139-149.
Coleman, A.H.,
1944, A r e p o r t on t h e g e o l o g y a n d
o r e d e p o s i t s of
t h e B ' C l a B ' t o h( B e c l a b i t o )
d i s t r i c t , Carrizo u p l i f t area,
Arizona: U.S. Army, ManhattanEngineer
D i s t r i c t Raw
M a t e r i a l sO p e r a t i o n sR e p o r t
RMO-469, 21 p., 9 f i g s . ,
o p e n - f i l e d by AEC 1957.
Corey, A.S., 1 9 5 6 ,P e t r o g r a p h i cr e p o r to nt h eM a r t i nm i n e ,
northwestCarrizoMountains,ApacheCounty,Arizona:
U.S.
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