Thousands of solution-collapse breccia pipe crop out in the canyons and on the plateaus of northern Arizona. Over 80 of these are known to contain U or Cu mineralized rock. The high-grade U ore associated with potentially economic concentrations of Ag, Pb, Zn, Cu, Co and Ni in some of these pipes has continued to stimulate mining and exploration activity in northern Arizona, despite periods of depressed U prices. Large expanses of northern Arizona are comprised of undissected high plateaus; recognition of pipes in these areas is particularly important because mining access to the plateaus is far better than to the canyons. The small size of the pipes, generally less than 600 ft (200 m) in diameter, and limited rock outcrop on the plateaus, compounds the recognition problem. Although the breccia pipes, which bottom in the Mississippian Redwall Limestone, are occasionally exposed on the plateaus as circular features, so are unmineralized near-surface collapse features that bottom in the Permian Kaibab and Toroweap Formations. The distinction between these two classes of circular features is critical during exploration for this unique type of U deposit.
