The Mitchell Mesa Mine was developed on the rim of an isolated mesa within the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in Navajo County, Arizona. Mitchell Butte is the right mesa visible in the panoramic view as seen from the Monument Valley Visitor’s Center. The park, established by the Tribal Council in 1958, is composed of almost 30,000 acres of spectacular red rock mesas, buttes, monoliths and spires. At the time it was created, mining was not prohibited within the park. Due to the difficult access to the top of Mitchell Mesa, the ore deposit was not fully exploited until 1962. Since this was late in the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's ore-procurement program (1947-1970) very little information is available about this small uranium-vanadium mine.

Mitchell mesa is approximately seven miles southeast of Gouldings, Utah. Within the park, Mitchell Mesa forms the divide between the Outer Valley and the Inner Valley. The mesa is ringed by sheer cliffs, except at the southern edge where a slope extends from just below the mesa top to the valley floor. The main mine was located at latitude 36° 57' 45", longitude 110° 06' 33". A single road provided access to the foot of the mesa inside the park. A rough jeep trail was built along the steep slope to reach the mesa top.

The uranium on Mitchell Mesa were brought to the attention of the AEC in June 1951. At this time, Harry Binale of Gouldings, Utah claimed the top of Mitchell Mesa with an unnumbered Navajo Tribal Mining Permit or MP (the Tribal Council did not begin issuing numbered permits until 1952) and was issued a numbered permit, MP-32, in 1952. This permit included 98.41 acres covering a narrow strip of land across the center of Mitchell mesa and 3.92 acres on the Rock Door Mesa, south of Gouldings. Binale discontinued prospecting in 1953 due to the remote location and the lack of access to the mesa top.

In November 1960, a new mining permit, MP-549, was issued to Harry A. Binale for the same 98.41 acres on Mitchell Mesa. Late in 1961, 1500 tons of uranium ore with an average grade of 0.28 percent U308 were delivered to the AEC. In 1962, a total of 421.25 tons of ore averaging 0.23 percent U308 and 2.6 percent vanadium (V205) was sent to the Kerr-McGee mill at Shiprock, New Mexico. The mine was abandoned in the spring of 1962 because of its low profit margin, however in1964, Harry Binale was issued a new mining permit, MP-597, for the same 98.41 acres on Mitchell Mesa and operations resumed in the spring of 1965, headed by a Mr. Shriver, who constructed a small airstrip on top of the mesa that provided access for small planes to fly to and from the mine site. Mr. Shriver was killed in 1965 when the small ore hauler he was driving crashed 400 feet to the valley floor. During 1965, a total of 976.80 tons of ore averaging 0.11 percent U308 and 1.58 percent V205 were shipped to the mill at Shiprock, New Mexico. Shipments continued through early 1966, when again the mine was abandoned. All of the uranium concentrate produced from the ore was sold to the AEC.

This information was based on a publication entitled Geology and Production History o fthe Mitchell Butte Uranium-Vanadium Mine, Navajo County, Arizona, by Wilhain L. Chenoweth, Consulting Geologist, Grand Junction, Colorado, Arizona Geological Survey, Contributed Report 95-B, January 1995, as an Arizona Geological Survey of the area.