New Mexico knows the promises and the consequences of extractive industries. Across the state, communities are still living with the legacy of past mining — from contaminated water to lasting health impacts that have stretched across generations. As new mining proposals emerge across New Mexico’s rural and Tribal communities, and national debates intensify around minerals […]
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U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján wrote a letter to the editor published on the Washington Post’s website Sunday calling for changes to the 1872 Mining Law. The New Mexico Democrat pushed back on some points made by Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis in an April op-ed and criticized President Donald Trump’s policies promoting mining on public lands. “I know what […]
CANJILON — As he piloted his Toyota pickup down the familiar, winding Forest Service roads, Moises Morales spoke of generations of conflict between local ranchers and federal government employees who control grazing and timber permits. He served six months behind bars long ago for his role in the 1967 raid on the Tierra Amarilla courthouse by […]
A dark storm cloud of ignorant financial speculation hovers above the Navajo Nation, the largest indigenous reservation in the country, rich in mineral resources, livestock, farms and sacred landmarks. It stretches across parts of northern Arizona and New Mexico, and southern Utah. Some young billionaires and wannabes, with minds full of fungible narratives about new […]
Source: Santa Fe New MexicanBy Alheli Caton-Garcia Apr 18, 2026 New Mexico has been at the forefront of nuclear colonialism since its inception during World War II. As a result, generations of families have faced long-term effects from nuclear contamination that remain long after companies leave. From the Trinity Downwinders who recently received a semblance […]
A Vancouver-based uranium company is seeking federal approval to conduct exploratory uranium drilling within the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico, according to U.S. Forest Service officials. Gamma Resources Ltd. issued a notice of intent late last month to the Carson National Forest, proposing to drill up to 12 exploratory boreholes up to 500 […]
New proposal is extraction not remediation, warns the Navajo group, Dooda Disa More than 500 abandoned uranium mines (AUMs) contaminate the Navajo Nation, and genuine cleanup is urgently needed. But cleanup must be grounded in strict environmental oversight, transparency, and full community consultation. A proposal now being advanced by Navajo Nation EPA (NNEPA) Executive Director […]
At least 350 abandoned uranium mine and mill sites still dot the New Mexico landscape, vestiges of a Cold War-era boom that spurred companies or individuals to dig for ore, predominately along a mineral-rich deposit near Grants. Often, state officials say, those responsible left without a trace, apart from the environment-polluting and cancer-causing legacy left […]
By Navajo Times | Feb 19, 2026 | BY TOMMY ROCK, PH.D. EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Tommy Rock is from Oljato-Monument Valley, Utah. He is an assistant research professor at Northern Arizona University in the School of Earth Science and Sustainability and the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society. Rock has spent his career documenting the […]
By Navajo Times | Sep 19, 2024 | News | By Donovan Quintero Special to the Times https://navajotimes.com/reznews/elder-red-water-pond-water-family-members-say-no-to-uranium-mining/ Bertha Nez, 78, from Red Water Pond Road, north of Church Rock, N.M., speaks on Friday about her home and how uranium mining impacted her entire life. Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero WINDOW ROCK — Bertha […]
