Uranium Companies Moving Forward As Old Mines Are Cleaned Up

By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division has approved Uranium Resources Inc.'s request for renewal of an exploration permit application in the Ambrosia Lake District and also has approved cleanup plans for two closed mines.

The permit for URI's Section 13 in-situ exploration project near Grants, originally approved in November 2008, allows URI to drill up to 10 holes for the purpose of extracting core samples to evaluate the suitability of the property for in-situ recovery of uranium. URI owns the Section 13 property in fee and the permit renewal is now valid until November 2010.

“This permit renewal is important in that it will allow us to determine the suitability of whether a portion of our Ambrosia Lake reserves are amenable to ISR mining methods,” URI President and CEO Don Ewigleben stated in a press release.

URI’s Section 13 property is located in McKinley County, about 10 miles northeast of Grants. The property, along with three other parcels owned in fee by URI, hold the company’s Ambrosia Lake resources, estimated at 2.4 million pounds of uranium mineralized material.

The Mining and Minerals Division also approved reclamation plans for the Section 27 Mine, once operated by the United Nuclear Corp. of Gallup and JJ No. 1/L-Bar Mine, formerly operated by Sohio Western Mining Co., and now under the responsibility of Rio Tinto Energy of America in Salt Lake City.

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