Miners at the Monument #2 Mine

Abstract

Photograph of the Monument #2 Mine showing the miners (mostly Native Americans) posing at the mine entrance. The Monument #2 Mine was one of the largest producers of carnotite ore during the uranium boom of the 1950s. It was located in Monument Valley north of Kayenta, and owned by the Vanadium Corporation of America (V.C.A.). The Vice President of the Corporation, Dennis Ward Viles, is pictured second from the left. The carnotite ore from the Monument #2 Mine was trucked (approximately 40 truckloads daily) to the V.C.A. Durango Uranium-Vanadium Processing Plant where uranium concentrate (yellow cake) and vanadium concentrate (red cake) were extracted from it.