Hydrological, geological, and biological site characterization of breccia pipe uranium deposits in Northern Arizona

doi:10.3133/sir20105025

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…2). A few of them contain uranium and other elements about 1,000 feet below ground, and some have been mined (Alpine, 2010). Uranium is used to generate electricity.…”

Section: What Are Breccia Pipes?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Balancing natural resource use and extraction of uranium and other elements in the Grand Canyon region

Walton-Day,

Siebers,

Hinck

et al. 2024

Fact Sheet

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“…2). A few of them contain uranium and other elements about 1,000 feet below ground, and some have been mined (Alpine, 2010). Uranium is used to generate electricity.…”

Section: What Are Breccia Pipes?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Uranium is used to generate electricity. The breccia pipes in the Grand Canyon region contain some of the highest-grade uranium ores in the Nation (Alpine, 2010). As of August 2023, new mining is not allowed within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints National Monument.…”

Section: What Are Breccia Pipes?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing natural resource use and extraction of uranium and other elements in the Grand Canyon region

Walton-Day,

Siebers,

Hinck

et al. 2024

Fact Sheet

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“…High-grade uranium ore was discovered in geologic features called "breccia pipes" in the Grand Canyon region during the late 1940s and became the subject of intense exploration during the 1970s (Otton and Van Gosen, 2010). Despite decreasing market values in the early 1980s, some uranium mining persists in the Grand Canyon region because of the high ore grades present in these deposits (Otton and Van Gosen, 2010). Price increases of uranium from 2005 to 2007 renewed interest in mining, which led to thousands of new mining claims in the Grand Canyon region (Otton and Van Gosen, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite decreasing market values in the early 1980s, some uranium mining persists in the Grand Canyon region because of the high ore grades present in these deposits (Otton and Van Gosen, 2010). Price increases of uranium from 2005 to 2007 renewed interest in mining, which led to thousands of new mining claims in the Grand Canyon region (Otton and Van Gosen, 2010). Growing public concern that uranium mining activities could have adverse environmental, cultural, and social impacts prompted a 2-year withdrawal of approximately 1 million acres (404,686 hectares) of Federal lands from future mineral extraction to study the potential effects of uranium mining (Alpine, 2010) and to prepare an environmental impact statement (Bureau of Land Management, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expanded conceptual risk framework for uranium mining in Grand Canyon watershed—Inclusion of the Havasupai Tribe perspective

Tilousi,

Hinck

2024

Open-File Report

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In 2012, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior placed a 20-year limit on mineral extraction on Federal lands in the Grand Canyon watershed to permit further study of the environmental effects of uranium mining. Tribal concerns were also noted by the U.S. Department of the Interior and included in the rationale for the decision stating Tribal resource impacts could not be mitigated and cultural degradation may result should mining occur within sacred and traditional places of Tribal peoples. The U.S. Geological Survey previously developed a conceptual framework for a uranium mine in the region that defined contaminant sources and physical, chemical, and biological processes that affect contaminant transport to ecological receptors. However, published risk models have largely ignored exposure pathways relevant to Tribal communities in terms of traditional uses and existential values of the resources included. This report presents an updated conceptual risk framework for uranium mining that includes indigenous knowledge components informed by the Havasupai Tribe perspective.The expansion of the framework relied on connecting to the foundations of the Havasupai ceremonial wheel-food, environment, belief system, and ceremony. The framework is applied to uranium development near Red Butte, an important gathering place for multiple federally recognized Tribes including the Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo, and Zuni. Plants and animals important to the Havasupai for subsistence, ceremonial, and medicinal practices and how mining affects these practices are described. The final framework is presented in English and Havasupai to aid Tribal members in understanding how the framework relates to their community and to help preserve the language and historical cultural practices for future generations. New or expanded exposure pathways include inhalation, ingestion, and absorption from traditional food and medicines as well as ceremonial practices. The updated framework has allowed the U.S. Geological Survey to take first steps in understanding resources important to the Havasupai and to build relationships to improve co-production in our research. Ideally, the framework and other research can be used, along with indigenous knowledge, in Federal research and decision making for mining in the Grand Canyon region.

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Assessment of chronic low‐dose elemental and radiological exposures of biota at the Kanab North uranium mine site in the Grand Canyon watershed

Cleveland

Hinck

Lankton

2018

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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High-grade U ore deposits are in various stages of exploitation across the Grand Canyon watershed, yet the effects of U mining on ecological and cultural resources are largely unknown. We characterized the concentrations of Al, As, Bi, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se, Ag, Tl, Th, U, and Zn, gross alpha and beta activities, and U and Th radioisotopes in soil, vegetation (Hesperostipa comata, Artemisia tridentata, Tamarix chinensis), and rodents (Peromyscus maniculatus, P. boylii) to waste material at the Kanab North mine, a mine with decades-long surficial contamination, and compared the concentrations (P < 0.01) to those at a premining site (Canyon Mine). Rodent tissues were also analyzed for radium-226 and microscopic lesions. Radioactivities and some elemental concentrations (e.g., Co, Pb, U) were greater in the Kanab North mine biological samples than in Canyon Mine biota, indicating a mining-related elemental signature. Mean rodent Ra-226 (111 Bq/kg dry weight [dry wt]) was 3 times greater than expected, indicating radioactive disequilibrium. Multiple soil sample U concentrations exceeded a screening benchmark, growth inhibition thresholds for sensitive plants, and an EC for a soil arthropod. Lesions associated with metals exposure were also observed more frequently in rodents at Kanab North than those at Canyon Mine but could not be definitively attributed to U mining. Our results indicate that Kanab North biota have taken up U mining-related elements owing to chronic exposure to surficial contamination. However, no literature-based effects thresholds for small rodents were exceeded, and only a few soil and vegetation thresholds for sensitive species were exceeded; therefore, adverse effects to biota from U mining-related elements at Kanab North are unlikely despite chronic exposure. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;00:000-000. Published 2018. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

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Hydrological, geological, and biological site characterization of breccia pipe uranium deposits in Northern Arizona

Cited by 15 publications

References 54 publications

Balancing natural resource use and extraction of uranium and other elements in the Grand Canyon region

Balancing natural resource use and extraction of uranium and other elements in the Grand Canyon region

Expanded conceptual risk framework for uranium mining in Grand Canyon watershed—Inclusion of the Havasupai Tribe perspective

Assessment of chronic low‐dose elemental and radiological exposures of biota at the Kanab North uranium mine site in the Grand Canyon watershed

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