Once the pleased center of the Uranium Universe, and till recently the world's largest uranium manufacturer, the city of Grants (New Mexico escorts) nearly collapsed in the 1980s as uranium rates sank into a twenty-year anxiety. Five thousand uranium miners lost their jobs, and the city elders stressed, looking for a market with which to change mining. "Uranium business assisted construct our hospital, our school and most of our major infrastructure," Star Gonzales, Cibola County's Head of Economic Development, informed StockInterview.com. "We are a mining community and know it is advantageous.".
Grants is a sleepy town of less than 10,000, north of Interstate 40, off exit 85, and about an hour's west of Albuquerque. This past November, we explored the town's Mining Museum, which possesses having the only underground uranium mining museum. Grants is now a "jail town," and instead of mining uranium, the town runs the majority of the state's prison system. The times are changing once more, though. Together with the recent $45.50/ pound area uranium rate, revival of uranium mining in Grants is all but a done deal. A number of uranium companies have taken their initial steps into Cibola County. Similar to the state of Wyoming, more will follow them.
IS URANIUM MINING AGAIN INVITED IN GRANTS?
We wondered what the political pulse on uranium mining would resemble in Grants. So we spoke to a number of representatives on the city, county and state level. Fasten your seatbelts, and move over Wyoming. Grants, New Mexico is making a public invitation to all uranium mining business. "We will greet them with open arms!" Star Gonzales yelled into her phone. "We are really mining friendly in this community." That's an understatement. Grants Mayor Joe Murrietta returned from Vietnam after being wounded on the 4th of July 1968 with a Purple Heart and started working at Anaconda's uranium mill in Grants, New Mexico. He worked for Anaconda and ARCO for fifteen years before the uranium boom in his town ended. "We can handle the mining market, and we are anticipating having it back," Murrietta told us. The mayor is confident the entire community would invite uranium miners back.
Grants City Manager Bob Horacek operated in a uranium mill, as an university student twenty 5 years ago, and remembered it was a good source of income to assist him pay tuition. "We are obviously trying to find tasks," he informed us. "It's a professional, and economically we could use the greater paying tasks." Inquired about one company, which revealed it might construct a mill, perhaps in Cibola County, Horacek quickly reacted, "I want to go to with them." State Senator Joseph A Fidel, a Democrat representing District 30, that includes Cibola and Socorro counties, perked up during our interview, when we discussed uranium in his county, "I would be happy to have mining come back. It would be very positive financially.".
We talked about ecological lobbyists. Senator Fidel explained, "If there are demonstrations, they will come from outsiders, from Taos or other parts of the country." Ms. Gonzales concurred, "There will be no protests from the local community. The mining spirit still lives today in this town." These echoed State Senator Leavell's remarks, in part two of this series, "Most of the protestors have come from San Francisco, DC and Santa Fe." Fidel concluded, 'The community will be very encouraging of uranium mining. People will be cooperative and will certainly respond positively, when the time comes.".
Each of the politicians talked to were cautious, however optimistic. Grants, New Mexico was hard hit. Just like the Guv of Wyoming, who basically informed uranium business to put up or stopped talking, New Mexican decision makers are waiting to hear directly from uranium companies. Are they major? Fidel explained, "I believe it will emerge into something severe." After all, the county might be resting on numerous millions of pounds of unrecovered uranium. More than 340 million pounds, perhaps a large amount more, of uranium was produced before mining came to a standstill during the twenty-year drought. "We have a lot of uranium," said Senator Fidel. "The county has great potential.".
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