Beclabito Dome

The panel's 1950s boom had an older root and a long end. Vanadium-uranium ore was found in the Carrizo Mountains in 1918, and during the Second World War uranium was quietly recovered from Carrizo vanadium ores. An ore-buying station opened at Shiprock in 1952; two years later Kerr-McGee built a mill there on land leased from the Navajo Nation. Sold in 1963 to the Vanadium Corporation of America, it closed in 1968 after about 1.5 million tons. Its tailings were sealed in a disposal cell in 1986, still monitored today.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Beclabito Dome Colorful red rocks of Entrada Sandstone are domed up by deep seated igneous intrusions to be exposed by erosion. The same igneous activity created the Carrizo Mountains to the west. Uranium deposits in the Morrison Formation just above the Entrada created New Mexico's first uranium boom in the East Carrizos south of here in the 1950's. Elevation 5,600 feet.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Four Corners Monument & Marker — 12 mi
• Shiprock — 16 mi