this has indeed been discussed before - a few threads going...

this has indeed been discussed before - a few threads going around in the last couple of weeks addressed this.

I's amazing to me how many people confuse the basic processes of mining, processing and separation/sales of individual products.

I've copied a previous few posts of mine here.

'Uranium is a constituent of the orebody and cannot simply be avoided. Uranium is effectively present in all rocks, albeit at typically minute concentrations. One cannot simply mine the Kvanefjeld deposit and avoid digging up the uranium. Uranium is separated from REE during processing. The issue is that uranium has been flagged as a saleable by-product, which would increase production profitability. GGG cannot avoid mining uranium - they can only avoid selling it. The uranium separated from the REO would need to go somewhere.'

'GGG have simply highlighted that uranium is not their core business. As with any mine, a large number of by-products could be extracted/processed/separated and sold in addition to the primary product, however it is typically not profitable to do so. With Kvanefjeld ore and the proposed processing flowsheet, GGG will produce uranium oxide as a by-product of primary REO production. Whether they sell it or not, the uranium is there. Crazy not to as it contributes to a greater profit margin.'

It's possible that you are somewhat confusing mining and processing. Noone is seriously discussing leaving the uranium behind because that is utter nonsense - in order to 'leave it behind', GGG will have already dug it up, fed it through processing and separated it. They can only choose to not sell it.