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Conventional uranium mining threatened by lack of milling facilities

Proposed Mt. Taylor uranium mine faces new obstacle « New Mexico Independent, By Marjorie Childress 10 May 2010,”…….There is only one mill in the United States that is currently operating–the White Mesa Mill in Utah, which has its own environmental problems.The lack of milling facilities makes the resumption of widespread conventional mining problematic.

Building a uranium mill has huge upfront costs–in the hundreds of millions of dollars–which makes the new Colorado law a big problem for Mt. Taylor ore as well as any other ore that is mined from a conventional mine in the state. Currently, about a third of the known uranium resources in New Mexico are owned by another company, Hydro Resources, Inc., which is planning a combination of both conventional and in situ leaching mines.

The use of insitu leaching mining won’t be affected by a lack of mills, as the ore acquired under that process is drawn up after being dissolved in underground aquifers, which makes it essentially ready to be sent for enrichment. With conventional mining, the ore comes straight from the earth and has to be processed in a mill before it can be enriched.

Proposed Mt. Taylor uranium mine faces new obstacle « New Mexico Independent

May 11, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium