Lucky Mc Uranium Mines As the nuclear arms race ensued, a fervor to discover uranium seized the West. The Government Printing Office provided amateur prospectors with a how-to pamphlet for only 55 cents and a self-addressed envelope. Neil McNeice, a machine shop owner in Riverton, Wyoming, proved luckier than most part-time prospectors. When he and his wife Maxine approached an odd-colored outcropping during an antelope hunt, the needle on his Geiger counter soared. McNeice mortgaged his shop, found a couple of partners, and filed for mines on the southwest flank of the Gas Hills. Quickly the Lucky Mc entrepreneurs realized they needed the support of an established company. During World War II, Utah Construction had tried its hand at both open pit and strip mining. Now, Vice President Weston Bourret investigated the struggling Lucky Mc enterprise after most major mining operations had declined any involvement. Convinced that drilling problems could be corrected and a full-scale operation developed, Bourret persuaded his fellow Utah Construction executives to invest.