Uranium Mining in Sweetwater County

GREEN RIVER - Uranium mining could be taking place once again in Sweetwater County.  I.R. Energy Subsidiary Lost Creek ISR hopes to start producing uranium in the Northeast part of the county in 2009.  Currently, an application is being prepared for submission to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of the month.  Also being readied is an application for a permit to mine from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, which should be submitted by the end of the year.  According to U.R. Energy's Vice President of Mining, Wayne Hiley, the proposed site would be fully usable after the mining is completed in ten or more years.  The water reclamation would take about two years to finish, putting the water quality back to its original state.  The company would use in-situ mining to extract the uranium, which is much safer for the environment, than other methods.  The Lost Creek property is about 5 miles north of the Sweetwater Mill and is mostly sagebrush-covered land at this time.  A recent boom in uranium prices has caused this sudden interest in uranium mining throughout the region.  Just about three years ago, prices for uranium were under $10 per pound, but they have now shot up to around $78 per pound.  An in-house study conducted by U.R. Energy that is scheduled to be finished next month, currently shows that they could extract the uranium at an operating cost under $25 per pound.  Lost Creek has vowed to keep the Sweetwater County Commissioners up-to-date on any important developments there, and they will also have quarterly meetings with NRC and DEQ.  U.R. Energy expects minimal land impact and a very small footprint.  Primary and secondary roads are pre-existing, the processing facility will take only seven to ten acres, and since the location is bounded on all sides by the Continental Divide, the migration of impacted groundwater during mining is limited.  A total of about 280 acres will be covered and mined, with water quality monitor wells installed every 300 feet.  Research has found that there are at least 11 million pounds of mineable uranium in the area, at a depth of 400-600 feet.  When asked by Sweetwater County Commissioner Debby Dellai-Boese at Tuesday's (10/16/07) meeting what the potential risks would be, Hiley didn't really have many to speak of.  He said there is a risk in failure to control groundwater, which is very unlikely to happen especially considering the location - and when the water is put back into its original "class of use", it still wouldn't be drinkable water, just like now.  The proposed mine would create 60 or more jobs for the community, creating a projected 32.5 million dollars in direct wages over the life of the mine.  Plus the mine would have to pay numerous taxes at an estimated 21 million dollars for the county and 10.5 million for the state.