Sep 13, 2008 - 08:55:15 CDT By LAUREN DONOVAN Bismarck Tribune An Australian company will be allowed to run a Geiger-style counter and look for uranium on the Little Missouri National Grasslands in Slope and Billings counties, but it must holster its shovels for awhile.
Formation Resources, a North Dakota corporation name for PacMag Metals of Australia, will be allowed to walk on the grasslands with detectors to see if the public land there is as rich for uranium mining as nearby private land appears to be.
On Friday, the U.S. Forest Service approved the survey, with six conditions. But the agency wants more archaeological information before deciding where the company can remove approximately 500 hand-shoveled soil samples.
Grasslands district supervisor Ron Jablonski said the agency will seek a National Environmental Policy Act review and public comment before letting any shovels loose.
Jim Guilinger, of World Minerals, in Colorado, said the company was aware there would likely be an archaeological delay.
Guilinger said they'll proceed with the walk-about work in the next few months.
"Hopefully, we'll be out there before the snow flies," he said.
In the rules set out for the walk-about uranium survey, the company must meet with the Forest Service before starting; agree it will not disturb the ground; keep vehicles on existing roads; stay off any wet roads; wrap it up by Dec. 31, or confer with biologists on raptors; and wash all vehicles clean of invasive and noxious weeds before entering the grasslands.
PacMag recently announced encouraging finds of uranium after testing 12 bore samples taken from private land near the grasslands.
The company also reported deposits of molybdenum, which is used to strengthen steel, and germanium, apparently a very rare elemental metal that has semiconducting and microscoping uses.
Guilanger said PacMag will test more samples and post additional results in the next several weeks. Western North Dakota was a source for uranium back in the '60s and early '70s, so its presence in shallow coal seams comes as no geological surprise.
The prospecting work on the Little Missouri Grasslands includes 12,600 acres in Slope County and 4,100 acres in Billings County.
The grasslands are managed for many uses, including cattle grazing, oil development and hunting. There is no reference to uranium mining on the grasslands' management plan and the company's interest and application this summer did come as a surprise.
Jablonski said it would take a decade for the agency to complete environmental and permit reviews before open pit mining could happen.
(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)
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