Uranium exploration near Grand Canyon sparks battle with Bush administration In the fight to protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining and exploration, one battle is over, but another has just begun. Last week, three environmental groups – the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club and the Grand Canyon Trust – announced they had reached a settlement with VANE Minerals, a U.K.-based minerals exploration firm that had previously received approval from the Forest Service to drill 39 exploratory holes in search of uranium deposits in the Kaibab National Forest, which borders both the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon. ssentially, VANE is back at square one. If they still want to drill some holes, they will have to go through much more rigorous environmental review than it had previously faced....