Comments from KM: Paul Robinson concludes, "No basis for a statement that VUI uranium resources approach one-quarter of U.S. uranium reserves is available from DOE EIA data."
A March 20, 2013 posting about uranium in Virginia includes
the statement,
How accurate is that statement and where can U.S. Uranium
Reserve estimates be found?
An appropriate sources for the estimation of U.S. uranium
reserves is the Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Information Administration
(EIA) that keeps on a range of energy related matters including U.S. and
state-by-state uranium reserves. DOE EIA’s
most recent report, published in 2010 from industry sources, is
available at http://www.eia.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/reserves/ures.html
As the table shows, Virginia reserves identified by DOE EIA
are a small fraction, much less than one-quarter, of U.S. uranium reserves in
all categories identified by DOE EIA.
The often-stated total amount of all uranium resources
identified at the Coles Hill deposit of 119 million pounds used in the 2011
National Academies of Science/National Research Council Study of Uranium Mining
in Virginia (“NAS Study”) is based on a 2009 Virginia Uranium, Inc.
Comments: Please click here:
Can science bury fear of Virginia’s uranium mine?
http://watchdog.org/75944/can-science-bury-fear-of-va-uranium-mine/
Uranium mining heats up VA governor’s race
http://watchdog.org/75723/uranium-mining-heats-up-va-governors-race/
Robinson debunks Millican's statement (see articles below). Robin Millican, of the market-oriented Institute for Energy Research in Washington, D.C., said Virginia has an estimated 100 million pounds of uranium – more than one quarter of all known U.S. reserves.
How does the amount of uranium identified at the deposit in
Pittsylvania County compare to U.S. uranium reserves?
March 22, 2013
Paul Robinson
Research Director
Southwest Research
and Information Center
“Robin Millican, of the market-oriented Institute
for Energy Research in Washington, D.C., said Virginia has an
estimated 100 million pounds of uranium – more than one quarter of all known
U.S. reserves,” without attribution. See
http://watchdog.org/75723/uranium-mining-heats-up-va-governors-race/.
The DOE EIA Report presets uranium reserves by state in the table as follows:
| Table 2. U.S. Forward-Cost Uranium Reserves by Mining Method, Year-End 2008 | ||||||
| Mining Method | $50 per pound | $100 per pound | ||||
| Ore (million tons) |
Gradea (percent U3O8) |
U3O8 (million pounds) |
Ore (million tons) |
Gradea (percent U3O8) |
U3O8 (million pounds) | |
| Underground | 76 | 0.142% | 215 | 323 | 0.094% | 608 |
| Openpit | 54 | 0.086% | 93 | 260 | 0.063% | 325 |
| In Situ Leaching | 145 | 0.080% | 230 | 241 | 0.060% | 289 |
| Other | <0.5 | 0.152% | 1 | 4 | 0.064% | 5 |
| Total | 275 | 0.098% | 539 | 828 | 0.074% | 1,227 |
| aAverage percent
U3O8 per ton of ore. Notes: Uranium reserves that could be recovered as a byproduct of phosphate and copper mining are not included in this table. Reserves values in forward-cost categories are cumulative: that is, the quantity at $100 per pound U3O8 includes all reserves up to and including that cost. Totals may not equal sum of components because of independent rounding. See EIA Glossary for definition of reserves. “Reserves,” as reported here, do not necessarily imply compliance with U.S. or Canadian government definitions for purposes of investment disclosure. Sources: Estimated by Energy Information Administration, Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, based on company reports, industry conferences, and U.S. Department of Energy, Grand Junction Office, files. | ||||||
The table identified uranium reserves in two cost
categories, “forward-cost $50/lb” and “forward-cost $100/lb.”
In the $50/lb category, total U.S. uranium reserves are
reported as 539 million pounds.
Reserves in the “Other” state category that
explicitly includes Virginia are reported as 50 million pounds, less than 10%
- about 9.2% - of the U.S. total.
Attributing all of the “other” state uranium to Virginia is undoubtedly an
over-estimate as it allows all of the “Other” state uranium to be counted as
Virginia reserves even though “Other” states includes Nebraska where a
currently operating in-situ uranium mine is located that certainly contains a
significant portion of the “Other” state uranium reserves.
In the $100/lb category, total U.S. uranium reserves are
reported as 1,227 million pounds. Reserves in the “Other” state category that
includes Virginia are reported as 154 million pounds, less than one-eighth –
12.2% - of the U.S. total. This estimate is undoubtedly an over estimate of the
uranium resource in Virginia as it allows all of the “Other” state uranium to
be counted as Virginia reserves even though “Other” states includes Nebraska
were a currently operating in situ uranium mine is located that certainly
contains a portion of the “Other” state uranium reserves.
DOE EIA’s U.S. uranium reserve estimate can be compared to
the amount of uranium identified in Pittsylvania County in technical reports
prepared by the Virginia Uranium, Inc. (VUI) consultants.
(VUI)
Preliminary Economic Assessment prepared by VI consultants filed in accordance
with Canadian Securities Administrator requirements for uranium resources
estimation.
The Canadian uranium resources estimation methods are not directly
comparable to the DOE EIA reserve estimation method.
The 2009 VUI consultant
report relied on in the NAS study does not support the use of 119 million
pounds as the mineable uranium resources as the deposit; that Report identifies
the uranium “resource available for mining” as 63.3 million pounds, only 53% of
the total VUI uranium resource reported.
The VUI “minable” resources, though larger than the “Other”
state reserves reported by DOE EIA, is still only 11.7% of the total U.S.
uranium reserves reported by DOE EIA for the lower cost, $50/lb.
If the total uranium resources reported by VUI of 119
million pounds - included the 47% determined not to be “mineable” by VUI
consultants – is compared to the total U.S. uranium reserves in the higher,
$100/lb., category; the total uranium resource identified by VUI is less than
10% - 9.7% - of the total U.S. uranium
reserves of 1,227 million pounds.
No basis for a statement that VUI uranium resources approach
one-quarter of U.S. uranium reserves is available from DOE EIA data.
Comments: Please click here:
Can science bury fear of Virginia’s uranium mine?
http://watchdog.org/75944/can-science-bury-fear-of-va-uranium-mine/
Uranium mining heats up VA governor’s race
http://watchdog.org/75723/uranium-mining-heats-up-va-governors-race/
