News Summary

• On September 11, the first day the 1.2 million acres were opened up, miners filed 16 claims.
• All of the claims appear to have been filed by small-scale local miners with other jobs, small businesses, and an interest in uranium mining.
• The rapid timing of those claims alarmed environmental groups like the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and they expect more to come.
• “Hobby miners who want to go locate claims, play miner on the weekend, leave disturbance and pollution in their wake, that really damages the monument resources,” said Steve Bloch, an attorney for the environmental nonprofit.