Science for Decision Making on Uranium Mining in Arizona

Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) Photo Gallery

  •  Four scientists wearing hard hats and carrying buckets while soil sampling and standing in front of buildings and head frame at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine).

    USGS scientists collecting soil sample in the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) yard. . Photo credit: Kit MacDonald , US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service .

Bats

  •  Bat acoustic monitor

    Bat acoustic monitor (left on berm) and invertebrate light trap (center) at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) pond. June 2013. Photo credit: Ernie Valdez , USGS .

  •  Bat extended

    USGS scientist Ernie Valdez holding a bat captured at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  Bat in hand

    USGS scientist Ernie Valdez holding a bat captured at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

Biology

  •  Checking coverboard

    USGS scientist checking a coverboard for reptiles at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Coverboard

    Placement of herpatofauna cover boards at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Erika Nowak , NAU .

  •  Many-lined skink

    Many-lined skink found at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine).

  •  Setting gopher trap, field

    Researchers from Bethel College setting a gopher trap at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Setting gopher trap, detail

    Researchers from Bethel College setting a gopher trap at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Weather station

    Weather station near Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) pond.

  •  Woodrat release

    USGS scientist releasing a woodrat at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  Checking Sherman trap

    USGS scientist Greg Linder checking a Sherman trap at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

Birds

  •  Western bluebird

    Western bluebird collected at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Abigail Darrah , University of Arizona .

  •  White-breasted nuthatch

    White-breasted nuthatch collected at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Abigail Darrah , University of Arizona .

Canyon Mine

  •  Left perimeter

    Bermed perimeter (left) of the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Containment pond, from front

    Containment pond with emergent vegetation at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Containment pond and headframe

    Containment pond with emergent vegetation at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Containment pond

    Bird feeding over the containment pond at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Containment pond, low

    Containment pond at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Waste rock 5

    Waste rock from the sinking of the mine shaft at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Waste rock 4

    Waste rock from the sinking of the mine shaft at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Waste rock 3

    Waste rock from the sinking of the mine shaft at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Burrow mound

    Burrow mound near the waste rock piles at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Waste rock 2

    Waste rock from the sinking of the mine shaft at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Waste rock 1

    Waste rock from the sinking of the mine shaft at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). August 2016. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) sign

    Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine).

  •  Bermed perimeter

    Bermed perimeter of the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine), June 2013. Black liner of pond and headframe can be seen in the background.. June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Headframe

    Headframe of the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Containment pond, dry

    Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) containment pond.

  •  Headframe side 2

    Headframe of the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Headframe side 1

    Headframe of the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

Dust

  •  Active Dust sampler deployed on tripod attached to battery with barbed wire fence and bare ground in the near background, and pine trees on the horizon

    Active dust sampler deployed at Owl Tank, near the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Katie Walton-Day , U.S. Geological Survey .

  •  Active dust sampler sitting on top of tripod and attached to batteries. Head frame and fence of the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) in the background.

    Active Dust sampler deployed on eastern side of the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Katie Walton-Day , U.S. Geological Survey .

  •  Tripod with active dust sampler on it pointed toward the mine site and attached to batteries.  Concrete and metal structure on the ground is groundwater well covering.

    Active dust sampler deployed outside of Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). . Photo credit: Katie Walton-Day , U.S. Geological Survey .

  •  Dust particle sampler on tripod and plate used to collect particles

    Active dust particle sampler deployed at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Plate will collect individual dust particles for analysis of amount and composition of those particles. Photo credit: Katie Walton-Day , USGS .

  •  Passive dust sampler, wide view

    Passive dust sampler at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Passive dust sampler and headframe

    Passive dust sampler (foreground) and headframe (background) at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Passive dust sampler

    Passive dust sampler at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Installing weather station

    USGS installing the weather station at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). April 2013. Photo credit: Mike Duniway , USGS .

  •  Installing aeolian sediment collector

    U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey staff install aeolian sediment collectors at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) to monitor wind erosion. April 2013. Photo credit: Mike Duniway , USGS .

Soil

  •  Photo showing scientists collecting soil samples in buckets with mine head frame and buildings in the background

    USGS Scientists collecting samples on the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) yard . Photo credit: Kit MacDonald , U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service .

  •  Photo showing scientists collecting soil samples in buckets with mine head frame and buildings in the background

    USGS Scientists collecting samples on the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) yard . Photo credit: Kit MacDonald , U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service .

  •  Soil samples along roadway

    USGS scientists collecting soil samples along road near Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Soil samples outside mine yard

    USGS scientists collecting soil samples outside the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) yard. Photo credit: Katie Walton-Day , USGS .

  •  Soil blank samples

    USGS scientists collecting blank sample to test whether sampling equipment contaminates soil samples. Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Collecting soil under coverboard

    USGS scientists collecting soil sample under herpatofauna cover board. Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Recording soil field information

    USGS scientist recording field information for soil sample. Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Sieving soil sample

    USGS scientist sieving soil sample. Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Measuring gamma radiation

    USGS scientist measuring gamma radiation under herpatofauna cover board. Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Dissasembling soil corer

    USGS scientists dissembling soil corer to retrieve core and liner from inside the core barrel. Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Soil core in liner

    Soil core collected near Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) in core liner, Blue cap represents top of core, orange cap represents bottom of core. Core length about 55 centimeters.. Photo credit: Katie Walton-Day , USGS .

  •  Pocket gopher burrow soil

    USGS and Bethel College scientist collected soil sample from a pocket gopher burrow at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Gopher burrow soil

    USGS scientist collecting soil from gopher burrow. Photo credit: Jo Ellen Hinck , USGS .

  •  Soil core site

    USGS scientists preparing to collect soil core. Photo credit: Marlene Naftz , USGS .

  •  Sectioning soil core

    USGS scientists sectioning soil core collected at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). Photo credit: Christine Dowling , USGS .

Vegetation

  •  Vegetation being burned in a combustion chamber to collect and analyze smoke particles

    Vegetation combustion chamber used to collect smoke from combusted vegetation for analysis of amounts of different metals in smoke. Combustion chamber is used to simulate burning of vegetation used in some Native American ceremonies.. Photo credit: Danielle Cleveland , USGS .

  •  Vegetation being burned in a combustion chamber to collect and analyze smoke particles.

    Vegetation combustion chamber used to collect smoke from combusted vegetation for analysis of amounts of different metals in smoke. Combustion chamber is used to simulate burning of vegetation used in some Native American ceremonies.. Photo credit: Danielle Cleveland , USGS .

  •  USGS scientist collecting vegetation samples for analysis

    USGS scientist collecting vegetation samples for combustion to determine amounts of metal in smoke particles. Photo credit: Katie Walton-Day , USGS .

  •  Collecting vegetation data

    Field crews collecting vegetation and soil data at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013. Photo credit: Emily Palmquist .

  •  Vegetation transect, mine

    Vegetation transect at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013.

  •  Vegetation transect, field

    Vegetation transect at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013.

  •  Red flowers

    Flowers. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  Yellow flowers with butterfly

    Flowers. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  Green flowers

    Flowers. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  Yellow flowers

    Flowers. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  White flowers

    Flowers. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  Cactus flowers

    Flowers. Photo credit: Keith Grabner , USGS .

  •  Vegetation transect, close

    Vegetation transect at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine).

  •  Vegetation transect, distance

    Vegetation transect at Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine). June 2013.

Water

  •  Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) observation well

    USGS collects water-quality samples and monitors groundwater levels at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) observation well.. July 2017. Photo credit: Fred Tillman , USGS .

  •  Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) regional well sampling

    USGS hydrologist collects water-quality samples from the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) regional groundwater well.. September 2017. Photo credit: Fred Tillman , USGS .

  •  Proposed runoff monitoring location

    Proposed location for monitoring possible runoff from Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) area. June 2019. Photo credit: Don Bills , USGS .

  •  Groundwater samples

    USGS scientists collect groundwater samples from shallow groundwater next to the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) uranium mine. September 2017. Photo credit: Fred Tillman , USGS .

  •  Water samples from containment pond

    Water sampling at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) pond. August 2013. Photo credit: Don Bills , USGS .

  •  Water sample collection equipment

    Water sample collection equipment at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine), August2013. Pond (with black liner) can be seen in the background.. August 2013. Photo credit: Don Bills , USGS .