Uranium Mining Facts

DISASTER OF THE DAY

February 11, 2011: Wismut's water treatment plant capacity insufficient to handle effluent volume increase after heavy rains (Germany) January 14, 2011: Yellow cake containers damaged in severe weather during shipment from Canada to China January 14, 2011: Acidic mine water reaches Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (South Africa)

ISL SPILL OF THE DAY Latest major spills and excursions reported from mines exploited by the in situ leach process

Crow Butte, Nebraska: Jan. 18, 2013: Well fails mechanical integrity test Oct. 24, 2012: Well fails 20-year mechanical integrity test Aug. 20, 2012: Well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test June 4, 2012: Well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test May 25, 2012: Monitor well fails 15-year mechanical integrity test Smith Ranch, Wyoming: Oct. 20, 2012: 100 gallon spill of production fluid (31.1 ppm U) Oct. 16, 2012: 50 gallon spill of injection fluid Aug. 20, 2012: Monitor well placed on excursion status PRI Highland, Wyoming: Dec. 20, 2012: 1141 gallon spill of production fluid (23.1 ppm U) Aug. 8, 2012: Monitor well placed on excursion status Aug. 1, 2012: Monitor well placed on excursion status Mar. 10, 2012: 344 gallon spill of production fluid (4.1 ppm U) Mar. 9, 2012: 1202 gallon spill of injection fluid Mar. 7, 2012: 774 gallon spill of injection fluid Willow Creek (ex Christensen Ranch/Irigaray), Wyoming: Dec. 23, 2012: 800 gallon spill of injection fluid (< 0.4 ppm U) Dec. 22, 2012: 950 gallon spill of disposal well fluid (2.1 ppm U) Dec. 9, 2012: 1,500 gallon spill of injection fluid (< 0.4 ppm U) Oct. 12, 2012: Monitor well placed on excursion status Sep. 10, 2012: spill of injection fluid from unplugged historic drillhole located near injection well Sep. 7, 2012: 1,000 gallon spill of injection fluid Jun. 30, 2012: 1,500 gallon spill of injection fluid (0.9 ppm U) Jun. 18, 2012: 1,200 gallon spill of production fluid (7.5 ppm U) Jun. 18, 2012: 300 gallon spill of injection fluid (1.0 ppm U) Jun. 17, 2012: 500-700 gallon spill of injection fluid (1.4 ppm U) Apr. 20, 2012: 1,020 gallon spill of injection fluid (1.0 ppm U) Apr. 12, 2012: Monitor well placed on excursion status Apr. 3, 2012: Two monitor wells placed on excursion status Mar. 29, 2012: Two monitor wells placed on excursion status Muyunkum (Moinkum), Kazakhstan: Nov. 25, 2011: spill of 240 cubic metres of production solution, after pipeline was severed by truck Beverley, South Australia: Feb. 28, 2012: spill of 30 - 34 cubic metres Beverley North, South Australia: May 12, 2012: Monitor well excursion May 2, 2012: Monitor well excursion Honeymoon, South Australia: July 10, 2012: fumes observed emanating from the dry hopper in the Drying and Packaging controlled area Jan. 6, 2012: 30 cubic metre spill of injection solution (2 mg/L U3O8)

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Two thirds of the earth's surface is water... the rest we can process" (Motto of MDM Engineering Group Limited , contractor to gold/uranium miners Gold One International Ltd and Gold Fields Ltd)

"Interviewed, URANEX Public Relation Officer Nyero Godwin denied the allegations, contending that the type of uranium that would be extracted was in “salt form”, insisting that no person would be affected." (referring to health problems, in particular from dust, attributed to uranium exploration performed by Uranex NL in Bahi and Manyoni districts, in: The Guardian, Tanzania, Oct. 8, 2011)

"the deputy minister for Energy and Minerals, Mr Adam Malima, said the mining activities would not have any impact on the people since the minerals would only be produced in their raw form" (referring to uranium mining projects in Bahi and Manyoni districts in Tanzania, in: The Citizen, August 15, 2011)

"With regard to tailings, tailings are in fact a potential future resource so I think there's a considerable incentive to manage the tailings in a very good way with that in mind." (Michael Angwin of the Australian Uranium Association referring to the uranium mill tailings from a proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium mine, ABC Aug. 5, 2011)

"Another woman said Arizona Mine Inspector Joe Hart of Kingman told her the mining process would make the environment cleaner." (Mohave Daily News, July 7, 2011, reporting on meeting of Mohave County Board of Supervisors, before it voted to support rather than ban uranium mining near the Grand Canyon)

"No, that's not radioactive, you can't say that. This is water that indeed contains radium, a certain number of products [...]" (François Sublime, technical director of Areva's subsidiary COMUF responsible for reclamation of the Mounana uranium mine site, Gabon, referring to the water covering the uranium mill tailings dam; RFI May 28, 2011)

"Mining is a 24 hour operation and cannot be stopped as a result of a shortage of available dust masks" (Johan De Bruin, geology superintendent of Paladin's Kayelekera uranium mine in Malawi, Nyasa Times Sep. 25, 2010)

"at the mine we focus on production matters" (Mr. Werner Duvenhage, Managing Director Langer Heinrich, Paladin Energy Africa, September 2010, in an email communication with WISE Amsterdam, denying request for information and site visit)

"We're taking the uranium out of the ground, we're exporting it to be used for productive purposes, so we should be getting a medal for cleaning up the environment." (Neville Huxham, Malawi country director for Paladin Energy Africa, operator of the Kayelekera uranium mine, IPS Aug. 24, 2009) http://www.wise-uranium.org/new.html