Nature
Temple Mountain, a remote peak on the San Rafael Reef in central Utah, rises above the desert as the reef’s highest point and is named for a profile likened to the Salt Lake Temple. Its pale cliffs and layered formations record ancient desert dunes and ore-bearing strata that made the area part of an important Utah mining district. Claims began in 1898, with major radium, vanadium, and uranium production starting in 1914 and expanding again during the Cold War. A temporary settlement, Temple City, grew beside the mines, which by 1948 through 1956 produced large amounts of yellowcake and vanadium pentoxide before being abandoned.
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Utah · United States
