4-5 years away

http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/region-story.asp?ID=14005

Publish Date: 6/28/2010

Mining in Tallahassee area may be years away

Charlotte Burrous
The Daily Record
It could be three to five years before the company would decide whether to pursue uranium mining operations in the Tallahassee District.

A feasibility study in 1991 found the area to be favorable based only on the Hansen deposit but since then, the study has become outdated.

Before we can make any decision about whether we might have a commercially viable operation by incorporating additional resources, we need to update the work that was done historically. said Black Range Minerals managing director Mike Haynes during a community meeting Friday at the Abbey. In order to update that work, we need to drill six to 12 holes down on the northern end of the South T-Bar Ranch. In order to drill those holes, several weeks ago, we launched an amendment to our application a week ago to have the conditional use permit incorporate the South T-Bar Ranch into the existing CUP.

That will take about three months. In anticipation of that application being granted, the additional 12 holes will be drilled in October, which will take about six or eight weeks. Upon completion, the company would then analyze the results to determine whether or not to proceed.

Haynes said 23 percent of the 441 worlds nuclear plants are located in the United States, which generates 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear power.

Although the United States consumed around 50 million pounds of uranium, it only generated 3.75 million pounds in 2009, according to statistics, which means the rest of it comes from outside the country.

Were deliberately trying to develop uranium sources here in the U.S. to supply the U.S. market, Haynes said. Theres a huge shortage here in the U.S. Its important to supply uranium to the U.S. utilities.

Mining uranium began when it was first discovered in 1954. From 1954 to 1972, there were more than 16 mines operated on Tallahassee Creek District, which consisted of 120,000 acres from the Arkansas River up toward Hartsel, Haynes said.

Just recently, we secured an additional 2,500 acres, Haynes said.

He reminded the residents that the major discovery was made in 1977 with the Hansen Deposit. From 1977 to 1991, an extensive amount of work was done on the Hansen deposit.

However, the need for uranium collapsed so it was not economical to pursue the mine.

In 2006, Black Range Minerals secured the Taylor Ranch about four miles north of the Hansen project then purchased the Boyer Ranch in March 2007 prior to leasing Colorado Section 16 in July 2007 to conduct exploration.

About a year later, Fremont County awarded a conditional -use permit to Black Range Minerals. Since then, the company has consolidated ownership of other uranium deposits in the district.

Haynes said the 55 million pounds of uranium that Black Range found on the Boyer and Taylor ranch is sub-economic, so it would not justify exploration or development.

The current circumstances, the uranium processes and the cost to develop the uranium on the Boyer and Hansen deposits precludes them from being economically viable, he said.

Because of that, Black Range Minerals secured the Boyer and Picnic Tree deposits rights.

Its very important to the district to have a single operator in the district so one entity is responsible for whats going on in the district, Haynes said.

In April, the company requested an option to acquire the mineral rights in the district.

During the question and answer session, Dave Ropiski asked once the drilling and feasibility study is done, what is the timeline to do full mining.

Lets say all things being equal with our conditional-use permit application and also the hunting season, we drill in November and probably complete the drilling program in December, Haynes said.

He said it would probably take six-months to complete the desk studies, which would comprise of a pre-feasibility study. That will give the company indication whether to progress through to mining, which will take another four or five years before they make a decision, he said.

Other questions revolved around monitoring water and the environment, the hours of operation and whether local residents would be hired to work the mine.

Charlotte Burrous can be reached at [email protected]