The Hemisphere: Uranium Rush

The northern Saskatchewan wilderness, which once lured prospectors with a glittering promise of gold, was the scene of the world’s first big uranium rush last week. Officials opened up a field on the shore of Lake Athabaska, and hundreds of prospectors swarmed in to stake claims.

The atomic-age treasure hunters included old hard-rock miners and rank amateurs; three of them were women. A $5 license fee gave them the right to stake 21 claims of almost 52 acres each. All of them dreamed of claiming an area of radioactive pitchblende, and selling out for a fortune. But the man who struck it rich the first week was a canny storekeeper who sold the dreamers $4,000 worth of food and supplies in a single day.