Mining companies are ramping up uranium production across the West as prices rise
Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Uranium drilling to begin next to residential community
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Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Cañon City, Colorado, and the surrounding landscape, Scrubhiker via Flickr ([link removed]) , CC BY-NC 2.0 ([link removed])
Residents of a community outside of Cañon City, Colorado, were surprised to learn ([link removed]) that an Australian mining company will begin drilling for uranium in view of their front yards this spring. In November 2023, Global Uranium and Enrichment received a permit from the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety to prospect for uranium. A prospecting permit allows the company to search for minerals in order to estimate how much of the mineral exists and to create a plan to extract it. A company must then apply for a development permit, which involves a more thorough public notice and comment process, before extracting any minerals.
After the prospecting permit was issued, a nearby homeowner filed an appeal with the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board, making the case that Global Uranium and Enrichment already has information about how much uranium is present in the area and therefore should have been required to apply for a development permit rather than a prospecting permit. The company argued that it couldn't rely on old data collected by other companies in order to secure a development permit or financing for the project. Last week, after a four-day hearing, the Mined Land Reclamation Board rejected the homeowner's appeal ([link removed]) , clearing the way for the company to move forward with its exploration plan. That plan involves operating 24/7 for 60 days to drill as many as 20 holes, each requiring a 6,400-square-foot drill pad and reaching 700 feet deep, including through underground aquifers.
Global Uranium and Enrichment is not the only mining company looking to ramp up uranium production as prices rise. Colorado-based Energy Fuels recently resumed operations ([link removed]) at three uranium mines in Arizona and Utah. One of these, the Pinyon Plain Mine, is inside the recently-designated Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. Pinyon Plain Mine was one of the sites highlighted in the Center for Western Priorities' Backyard Problems report ([link removed]) , which examined the impacts of historical and present-day extractive activities on Western communities and landscapes.
** Quick hits
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** Quote of the day
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” This is one of the last places where our roots aren’t being sprayed by anybody or they’re not grazed over by animals. It’s our food cache, and we don’t want it ruined.”
—Andy Joseph Jr., Colville Tribal Business Council, High Country News ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Solitude, stillness and spectacular scenery greet visitors to @greatbasinnp ([link removed]) in the winter. Frost delicately ornaments every feature of the Nevada park from high mountain peaks to low stream beds. Trails and roads are explored by a few adventurous visitors on skis and snowshoes, and wildlife leave tracks in the fresh powder.
Photo by Karen Robinson
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