Garfield County News | 1955-02-24 | Page 8 | Grants Beckons to Prospectors

Grants Beckons To Prospectors GRANTS N. Mex. For the ordinary fellow trying to break into the uranium business Grants, N. M., is a good place to go, according to several local successful uranium men. Plungers who dove headfirst Into one of the riskiest businesses and came up with the Jackpot say they've only scratched the' surface. Uughlng Williams, who In a short time realized enough from uranium to buy a local restaurant, says, "almost any fellow with some brains and a lot of ambition could make a go of it." Every Indication seems to bear out his statement. The ore mill here Is adding on so it can handle double its present capacity. And almost all mining so far has been open pit. Nobody knows what drilling might turn up. - As money and people pour Into Grants by the day other businesses look good, too. Just as he moved Into his new offices, newspaper editor Sherman Ford Jr., said, "At this rate any well-managed business venture is bound to pay off." The risk is even less In business activity because Grants, "The Carrot Capital of the World." shipped out 1700 freight cars of vegetables last year. The region's far from being dependent on uranium alone. A U. S. Gypsum operation here Is quietly rutting away at a mountain of per-lite for use in plaster. About 40,000 tons were processed last year. As Mayor Dannenbaum says, it's low taxes, mild climate mixed with enthusiastic people and, of course, uranium. The potent mixture has awakened this sleepy town up to the fact it'll soon be a 10,000 person city serving as New Mexico's atomic energy headquarters.