The Associated Press has a story out about recent activity in uranium production from the Colorado Plateau. With people actually talking about long-range energy planning for the first time in decades, the high-tech carbon-negative nuclear option has a high profile at the moment. The article says that 28 applications for new uranium mills have come to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the last 10 months. The new mines and mills would be much cleaner than the last two generations—the first a wasteful byproduct of vanadium mining in the early 1900s, the second a toxic legacy from the Cold War. If the new facilities won't add to the problems left over from the old ones, why not go ahead? The United States and Canada have plenty of uranium thanks to the geologic conditions that favor uranium.

My view is a long-term, century-scale perspective: with the nation-state appearing to be here to stay and international transport destined to rise in price, the USA needs to safeguard its uranium supply, including the capacity and knowledge base needed to mine and produce it. The industry needs to stay modest and clean, but alive. This is how I feel about petroleum, logging and other natural-resource production as well.
_{Roll-front uranium deposit, Colorado — Geology Guide photo}

In the rock spectrum, phyllite occupies a position like indigo in the rainbow—it seems sort of transitional, without a clear identity of its own. Phyllite sits between slate and schist, but I've gained a new appreciation for phyllite after a few days in Vermont looking at the rocks. Now it's slate that looks dull and limited to me, while phyllite has a wide range of attributes, from color to sheen to accessory minerals. Have a look in this new gallery.
_{Vermont phyllite — Geology guide photo}