page_title: Anaconda, New Mexico
section_title: Jackpile-Paguate mine
hierarchical_section_title: Anaconda, New Mexico / Jackpile-Paguate mine
caption_attribution_description: English: The former Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine on the Laguna Pueblo, 40 miles west of Albuquerque, shows the results of typical remediation efforts, which consisted of covering mine waste and contouring to reduce erosion. However, runoff from the site pollutes water downstream. (Photo courtesy of Mary Gant)
context_page_description: Anaconda was a small mining community in Cibola County, New Mexico. The town came into existence in the early 1950s when the Anaconda Copper Company of Butte, Montana opened up a uranium ore processing plant 10 miles northwest of Grants, along Route 66, to process ore from the Jackpile Mine, then the world's largest open-pit uranium mine. Anaconda was the site of somewhere around 100 homes for the supervisors and management of the company. The Mill was also located on the same property. Contrary to reports, none of the homes were built using "radioactive" material from the plant. Referred to by the residents as "Camp", a carryover from the original tents used as temporary housing during the initial establishment of the operations. The housing was built in three phases. The first group of about 35 houses was constructed of cinderblock walls and had exposed beam ceilings. A building with four efficiency type apartments was included and used to house unmarried employees and was known as the Bachelors Quarters, or simply "The BQ". The two subsequent groups of approximately the same number were wood frame construction with stucco exteriors.
context_section_description: The Jackpile uranium mine opened in 1953 and operated until 1982. The Jackpile was one of the largest uranium mines ever developed and mined in the United States, and by far the largest mine in the Laguna uranium district. The ores of the Laguna district contain uranium, vanadium, and many other elements. Only rarely do the ores contain more than 1% uranium or vanadium; most of the ores ·average about 0.2% uranium and less vanadium. The first 3 million tons of ore shipped from the mine averaged 0.23
  percent U₃O₈ and 0.13 percent V₂O₅ (1958 data). The ore bodies are typical "roll-front" deposits, localized in old stream channels. Carboniferous material within the ore zones is often high-grade.
caption: Reclaimed Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine, circa 2013
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