Tailings ponds, circa 1957, were constructed by Vanadium Corporation of America on the slope of Smelter mountain facing Durango, starting in 1942.
Tailings ponds, circa 1957, were constructed by Vanadium Corporation of America on the slope of Smelter mountain facing Durango, starting in 1942.Courtesy of Jerry Zink

I’m telling you, they used to be there – honest! Starting in 1942, tailings ponds were constructed by Vanadium Corporation of America on the slope of Smelter mountain facing Durango. Due to the lack of flat area available near the mill, the ponds became very tall piles. The attached photo shows them in 1957. (View to the southeast from Cemetery Hill across Highway 160) The mapmakers at the USGS had it right, showing ponds on the two flat-topped piles.

By 1991, millions of cubic yards of radioactive tailings were hauled elsewhere. The sand piles and ponds are long gone, but Google didn’t bother to erase them from the map.

If the Arc of History at the intersection of 550 and 160 was hauled away now, would the Google Street View still show it in 2038?

Jerry Zink

Durango