Geology and Production History of the Moonlight Uranium-Vanadium Mine, Navajo County, Arizona

During the mid-1950s exploration drilling located several large uranium ore bodies in buried channels, in the Oljeto syncline area of the Monument Valley, Navajo County, Arizona. The channels occupy the basal portion of the Shinarump Member of the Triassic Chinle Formation. The Moonlight Mine was the largest of these deposits and was the second largest deposit in the entire Monument Valley area. The deposit was located on a Navajo Tribal Mining Permit, which was issued in 1953, at a time when mining and exploration were just commencing in this part of Monument Valley. The Moonlight was originally an underground mine but was converted to an open pit operation once the size of the deposit was established. As the result of a lawsuit involving the Moonlight Mine, considerable additional information was located including a map of the underground workings. This report incorporates the new information and supersedes a former report CR-95-D.