Uranium resources in the so-called Arizona Strip represent about 40% of the US reserves.
Arizona and Utah officials are asking US President Donald Trump to end a 20-year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, which came into effect in 2012 as part of a set of environmental protection rules passed during the Obama administration, reports Mining News.
This is not the first time mining groups and politicians ask the federal government to withdraw the moratorium, which expires in 2032. Under former President Obama, there were a string of lawsuits filed against this decision, which ended with a 2014 court order to keep the prohibition in place. According to the ruling, revoking the ban would have resulted in the development of 26 new uranium mines and 700 uranium exploration projects, which would have consumed at least 1.2 billion litres of water, and negatively affected flora and fauna.
