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Bat Cave Mine

Mine in Grand Canyon NP near Meadview, AZ

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The Bat Cave guano mine, located in the western Grand Canyon of Arizona at river mile 266, 800 feet (240 m) above Lake Mead, was an unusual, expensive and noteworthy mining operation. The natural cave was a bat habitat and contained an accumulation of guano. The cave was apparently discovered in the 1930s by a passing boater. Several unsuccessful early attempts were made to mine the nitrogen-rich guano deposit within the cave for fertilizer. The U.S. Guano Corporation bought the property around 1957. Based on a reputable mining engineer's estimate that the cave contained 100,000 tons of guano, the company constructed an elaborate plan to extract the guano. A small airstrip was built on a nearby sandbar in the Colorado River, and all supplies and machinery needed were then flown in.