Show mound meal indian hoes down U boom ore GRANTS GRAM N X M the young la guna indian was working with a common hoe on a mound of what looked like cottonseed meal weal he lie wore overall overalls and his bronze arms and face contrasted sharply with the color of the huge pile upon which he labored this wa wai i the pile of 0 treated uranium ore after it bad been filtered and precipitated at the huge anaconda copper co g s mill on the slopes ot of mt taylor in the mountains near grants to sec see the indian casually hoeing the finished uranium so it will dry out Is always a surprise to visitors who envision workers in thick asbestos suit windowed helmets and heavy rubberized boots hand ling long armed metal tongs to grasp the mineral instead the indian makes the mounds of ore which when dry will be packed in containers and ana shipped to the atomic energy commission compound at grand junction tor for testing and distribution to appropriate laboratories or A bomb plants As it Is piled by the indian the ore Is powdery dirty yellow brown in color and appears quite harmless it is there not until later does it take on a deadly or life giving aspect 1 the anaconda mill receives uranium ore from many sections of the colorado plateau in railroad car and truck As the ore arrives it Is carefully sorted according to its class and type on the mill property are huge piles of gray ray tan yellow and brown ore which later will be treated and then prepared for shipment to grand junction inside the mill as in all others handling plateau uranium ores the operations are almost entirely by machine the ore is shoveled ito a conveyor belt which transports it to two crushing mills thence the ore is poured into the top of a 3 story tower what goes on inside of the tower is not considered to be public information but at the bottom of the tower Is what looks much like a 5 6 gallon can into which the crushed ore Is poured directly from the mechanism of the tower AlthO although uRh officials of the mill will not discuss the towers internal elcans the noise emanating from origins it is t deafening clea fening but the ore still Is not re ready ady tor for the indian to make into mounds it is given yet another crushing treatment in drums filled with steel rods and balls and corn comes es from these fully pulverized the next process is to cook th the e ore producing an extremely foul odor in live steam to step up the chemical process separating the uranium salts from the rock finally the uranium sale salts are filtered and precipitated out of the solution by a classified agent then it Is ready for the indians Indian 8 hoe treatment soon to be opened by anaconda bra second mill nearby in which sandstone type ores from the famous Jack pile mine owned by anaconda will be treated la in the older mill only limestone uranium ores arc are treated all ali so that america may have power to cure diseases or to defeat an enemy |