GILA COUNTY, AZ — A Canadian mineral exploration company is eyeing state-owned land to nearly double a uranium project it's currently working on in Gila County, Arizona.
New Earth Resources Corp. said earlier this month that it applied for a mineral lease for 268 acres of land adjacent to 273 acres it already owns east of Phoenix, near the Tonto National Forest. The site is home to the “Lucky Boy” uranium mine.
That small, open pit and underground mine operated in the 1950s and again in the 1970s, when demand for uranium – used to make nuclear weapons – exploded.
Today, uranium is primarily used to fuel nuclear power plants, including Arizona Public Service's Palo Verde Generating Station near Tonopah that went into service in the 1980s.
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