Uranium—The "Magic Metal"
They came by the thousands, armed with
Geiger and Scintillation counter, in search
of the "magic metal"—uranium. It was the
1950s, the era of the Cold War, and the
Atomic Energy Commission was
purchasing uranium. Anyone might become
a :uranium-aire." Said one prospector, "We
slid down canyons and toiled up steep
inclines where the mules had to scramble
to keep their footing." Eventually, 200
uranium mines honeycombed the Uravan
area. Miners lived in cavas tents and
tarpaper shacks that clung to the mesas.
All supplies, food and water had to be
hauled in. By 1960 the uranium boom was
over. For the nexty three decades, the mines
continued to produce uranium. However,
most of the mined mineral no longer went
toward the production of nuclear weapons
but as a fuel for nuclear power plants
"Here each individual knows his neighbor"
Uravan, home to some 800 people, once stood just south of here.
Along Main Street was a general store, drugstore, barbershop, post
office, school, hospital, swimming pool, and community center.
Houses with lawns and flower gardens lined the river. Known as
the Joe Jr. Camp in the early part of the century, the town became
Uravan in 1736—a name drawn from the principal metals milled
here, uranium and vanadium. Mills operated on this site almost
continuously between 1914 and 1984. During World War II, some of
Uravan. Over the years, the mills created waste piles 150 feet high.
People moved away. In a $70-million reclamation project, Umetco
Minerals Corporation gradually returned the valley to the solitude
and beauty of an earlier era.
[Picture Captions]
Uravan Mill, one of the largest uranium/vanadium operations in
the United States from 1935 to 1984.
Photographed by Frederic J. Athearn, coutesy of Bureau of Land Management
Miners housing, Uravan around 1950.
Colorado Historical Society
Uranium Miners, 1950, Courtesy Research and Special Library, Museum of Western Colorado
