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Early next year, proposed rules Powertech USA must play by to open and operate its proposed uranium mine northeast of Fort Collins will be formally ironed out. For most of this year, the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety has been busy drafting proposed rules for how Powertech must protect the environment and groundwater if and when it constructs its mine, slated for a site in Weld County about 15 miles northeast of Fort Collins. The proposed rules allow for public input on the mine and set requirements for how the company must clean contaminants from the groundwater. The rules govern in situ leach uranium mines, which include the Centennial Project and another proposed uranium mine near Grover west of the Pawnee Buttes.

Early next year, proposed rules Powertech USA must play by to open and operate its proposed uranium mine northeast of Fort Collins will be formally ironed out. For most of this year, the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety has been busy drafting proposed rules for how Powertech must protect the environment and groundwater if and when it constructs its mine, slated for a site in Weld County about 15 miles northeast of Fort Collins. The proposed rules allow for public input on the mine and set requirements for how the company must clean contaminants from the groundwater. The rules govern in situ leach uranium mines, which include the Centennial Project and another proposed uranium mine near Grover west of the Pawnee Buttes.

In situ leach uranium mining has a lot of followers these days. Also called solution mining, it is the method Powertech USA plans to use in extracting uranium at its Centennial Project site in Weld County, about 15 miles northeast of Fort Collins. But Powertech isn't the only solution uranium mining player in Weld County. Two other companies, Geovic Mining Corp. and Black Range Minerals, are on the sidelines waiting for the right time to push their in situ leach uranium mining plans forward. In situ, or "in place," leach mining works this way: Water infused with sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, is pumped underground and into the formation containing uranium. The uranium is dissolved in the sodium bicarbonate solution as it is pumped through the ore and then to the surface, where the solution is processed and the uranium is recovered.

In situ leach uranium mining has a lot of followers these days. Also called solution mining, it is the method Powertech USA plans to use in extracting uranium at its Centennial Project site in Weld County, about 15 miles northeast of Fort Collins. But Powertech isn't the only solution uranium mining player in Weld County. Two other companies, Geovic Mining Corp. and Black Range Minerals, are on the sidelines waiting for the right time to push their in situ leach uranium mining plans forward. In situ, or "in place," leach mining works this way: Water infused with sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, is pumped underground and into the formation containing uranium. The uranium is dissolved in the sodium bicarbonate solution as it is pumped through the ore and then to the surface, where the solution is processed and the uranium is recovered.

NUNN - Hailed by a standing ovation Thursday night from a gymnasium full of Weld County residents distrustful of uranium mining company Powertech, a divided board of trustees approved a resolution opposing the company's proposed Centennial Project uranium mine. Advertisement Nunn joins the cities and towns of Fort Collins, Greeley, Ault, Wellington and Timnath in opposing the mine slated to be built on nearly 10,000 acres between Nunn and Interstate 25 about 15 miles northeast of Fort Collins. The resolution urges the state, Weld County and the federal government to deny Powertech its mining permits. The fate of the mine depends on both the state and county issuing it permits and on the final form of in-situ uranium mining rules state officials are now writing. Mayor Jeff Pigue warned town trustees that the resolution could expose the town to potential lawsuits from nearby landowners who may reap royalties from the mine. He invited the board to approve a resolution that takes no position on the mine as a way to avoid legal action.

Speakers at Nunn meeting share opinions about proposed uranium mine and pump test NUNN - Standing before a crowd of more than 100 people Monday night, Fort Collins resident Diane Marschke said she doesn't think it matters if Powertech USA's proposed Centennial Project uranium mine pollutes the water. "When people hear there's a uranium mine 10 miles away, they aren't going to come here," she said. Marschke and about 15 others confronted U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency officials at the Nunn Community Center with their opinions about a proposed water pump test that will tell Powertech if its in situ leaching method of uranium mining is viable in the area. To conduct the test, the company needs a "Class V" permit from the EPA, which will allow Powertech to pump water out of the uranium-containing Fox Hills aquifer, store it, then reinject the water back into the aquifer. The permit will not allow the company to mine for uranium.

Speakers at Nunn meeting share opinions about proposed uranium mine and pump test NUNN - Standing before a crowd of more than 100 people Monday night, Fort Collins resident Diane Marschke said she doesn't think it matters if Powertech USA's proposed Centennial Project uranium mine pollutes the water. "When people hear there's a uranium mine 10 miles away, they aren't going to come here," she said. Marschke and about 15 others confronted U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency officials at the Nunn Community Center with their opinions about a proposed water pump test that will tell Powertech if its in situ leaching method of uranium mining is viable in the area. To conduct the test, the company needs a "Class V" permit from the EPA, which will allow Powertech to pump water out of the uranium-containing Fox Hills aquifer, store it, then reinject the water back into the aquifer. The permit will not allow the company to mine for uranium.

"Colorado mining regulators have finalized a hearing schedule for proposed state rules that will determine how Powertech USA can proceed with its plans to construct a uranium mine in Weld County less than 15 miles northeast of Fort Collins. Powertech is in the process of obtaining state and federal approval for its Centennial Project in situ, or "in place," uranium mine between Nunn and Wellington near the Larimer County line. If built, the mine would use a baking soda solution to leach the uranium from an underground rock formation, possibly affecting underlying aquifers. Since Gov. Bill Ritter signed a 2008 law, House Bill 1161, requiring companies doing in situ leach mining to safeguard groundwater, state mining regulators have been working with Powertech and others in the uranium mining industry to write rules governing how the law is implemented."

"Environmentalists and local politicians Friday cheered a Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety order late Thursday directing Denver-based Cotter Corp. to begin curtailing drinking water contamination from an inactive Jefferson County uranium mine this summer. Uranium pollution revealed to be more than 13 times state standards was contaminating Ralston Creek, and the state rejected a cleanup plan proposed by Cotter, which owns the Cotter Mill uranium processing facility near Canon City and several uranium mines around the state. The mining division required Cotter to begin water treatment at its Schwartzwalder uranium mine west of Arvada by July 31. "The mining division took bold and decisive action to protect our drinking water," Jefferson County Commissioner Kathy Hartman said in a release. "I am pleased to see immediate action to protect Ralston Reservoir.""

The Bureau of Land Management inked an approval for expanded uranium mining in the Big Gypsum Valley last Friday, agreeing to a proposal brought forth from Denison Mines Corporation, a Canadian company. New activities at the Sunday Mining complex - which lies near Naturita - will include the expansion of waste rock areas and the addition of vent holes along with access roads and additional drilling. The existing land disturbance at the complex is about 80 acres; the proposed new surface disturbance would affect about 20 additional acres of public land in the area. According to the BLM, the Denison Mines Corporation acquired the entire mining complex - it was multiple mines before - and will run it as one operation.

Colorado uranium mining operations are being shut, postponed or scrapped as stock and commodity prices plummet and financing dries up. In the past six weeks, two mines - Whirlwind and JBird - have temporarily shut. A project in San Miguel County has been scrapped, and the development of the Van-4 mine in Montrose County has been postponed. "There have been lower prices, but there hasn't been this precipitous a drop in the last 25 years," said Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association. The ingredients for the market free-fall are a 40 percent drop in uranium prices this year, a sharp decline in mining stock prices and a lack of financing for projects. Behind those trends are hedge funds that had bought up uranium and banks no longer willing to lend money, mining industry executives said. "Industrywide, everyone is suffering," said Greg Barnes, an analyst with TD Newcastle Inc. in Toronto.

Uranium companies in Southwest Colorado could face stricter oversight if they restart the region's idled mines. The state's Mined Land Reclamation Board kicked off a rulemaking this week on the topic. Most of the controversy centers on a mine near Fort Collins that plans to dissolve the uranium in the ground and pump it to the surface - a process known as in-situ leach mining. But uranium laws passed by the Legislature in 2008 also apply to the conventional mines near the Dolores River, the historic home of uranium mining in Colorado.

ctivists claim that the Environmental Protection Agency is working behind closed doors to draft permit rules for a first-of-its-kind uranium mine in northern Colorado. An EPA spokesman says the agency has consulted with Powertech USA, which wants to build the mine, but hasn't drafted any policy or rules for the permit. Attorney Jeff Parsons of the Western Mining Action Project says documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the EPA is developing rules in violation of federal laws requiring public involvement. Powertech USA wants to mine uranium about 70 miles north of Denver by injecting a solution underground to dissolve and extract the mineral.

ctivists claim that the Environmental Protection Agency is working behind closed doors to draft permit rules for a first-of-its-kind uranium mine in northern Colorado. An EPA spokesman says the agency has consulted with Powertech USA, which wants to build the mine, but hasn't drafted any policy or rules for the permit. Attorney Jeff Parsons of the Western Mining Action Project says documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the EPA is developing rules in violation of federal laws requiring public involvement. Powertech USA wants to mine uranium about 70 miles north of Denver by injecting a solution underground to dissolve and extract the mineral.

What better way to take your mind off the huge hole the American economy is stuck in these days than to visit the biggest hole in the nation? President Obama and his family will take a trip the Grand Canyon Sunday, just days ahead of a congressional junket to the site led by Obama's GOP opponent for the White House last year, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. McCain will be joined by current Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and former Colorado senator and now Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, both Democrats, in the tour next week. Salazar recently called a timeout on new uranium mining claims on public lands near Grand Canyon National Park while the administration weighs withdrawing up to 1 million acres of national forest from potential uranium mining and Congress considers revamping the 1872 mining law to provide hard-rock mining royalties and create a fund for mine pollution cleanups.

The Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker and humpback and bonytail chubs could be unraveling Western Colorado's second uranium boom. Last week, four conservation groups took on the federal government for opening the floodgates to uranium mining without assessing the impacts on the Dolores and San Miguel rivers. Western Colorado's first uranium boom arrived in the 1950s with the beginning of the Cold War. At that time, prospectors with newly patented mining claims and Geiger counters in hand descended en masse on the canyon country west of Durango. Many walked away with fortunes but left a legacy of mine waste and radioactive tailings in their wake. Three years ago, uranium prices once again spiked, and prospectors and mining companies started eyeing the desert of the Dolores River drainage. Local uranium mining got a big nudge in the summer of 2007 when the Department of Energy announced its Uranium Leasing Program. At that time, the agency opened 27,000 additional acres in San Miguel, Montrose and Mesa counties to prospectors seeking the radioactive ore. With this acreage, the DOE estimated that regional mines would produce 2 million tons of unrefined uranium per year.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday a decision about whether Powertech USA will be permitted to conduct an aquifer pump test for its proposed Centennial Project uranium mine northeast of Fort Collins will be announced by mid-April. If approved, Powertech will be allowed to test the feasibility of in situ leach mining for uranium at the Centennial Project site. The test could help regulators find answers to questions about how the underlying aquifer works and how any contamination from the mine could move through it and affect groundwater elsewhere. Powertech's in situ leach mining method would pump a baking-soda-like fluid into the ground, which would loosen uranium from the underground rock formation, then pump the fluid back out of the ground, taking the uranium with it. The proposed pump test would allow Powertech to pump water out of the uranium-containing aquifer, store it and reinject it. The mining could have the greatest impact on the Laramie-Fox Hills aquifer, which many surrounding landowners have tapped for their well water. "

Colorado uranium mining operations are being shut, postponed or scrapped as stock and commodity prices plummet and financing dries up. In the past six weeks, two mines - Whirlwind and JBird - have temporarily shut. A project in San Miguel County has been scrapped, and the development of the Van-4 mine in Montrose County has been postponed. "There have been lower prices, but there hasn't been this precipitous a drop in the last 25 years," said Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association. The ingredients for the market free-fall are a 40 percent drop in uranium prices this year, a sharp decline in mining stock prices and a lack of financing for projects.

The Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE) informs Mining Weekly that two of the three mining companies responsible for cleaning and treating the toxic mine water in the Western Basin have once again stopped pumping and treating the mine void water. The mines were instructed earlier this year by the Depart(ment of Water and Environ-mental Affairs (DWEA) to pump and partially treat the toxic water that rose up to just 0,6 m from the surface. The department further directed that, after October 31, 2009, the water had to be pumped and treated to values with sulphates of less than 600 mg/ℓ, failing which it might take any measures it considered necessary to remedy the situation, which could include taking the measures itself and recovering all reasonable costs for measures taken by the department from the parties to whom the directive was issued as well as taking legal action against the parties.

Weld County residents opposed to the proposed uranium mine near Nunn are still not convinced their groundwater will be protected from contamination. Two weeks ago, Gov. Ritter signed legislation to protect groundwater from contamination as a result of leach uranium mining. House Bill 1161 requires that companies using leach uranium mines restore all affected groundwater to the condition it was in before mining. A new study, however, shows that these types of regulations may not prevent all groundwater contamination. Weld residents now are using this information as their primary argument against the uranium mine. Powertech Uranium Corp., a Canadian firm, is continuing to collect samples and apply for permits. President and CEO Richard Clement said all the work applications should be completed by mid-summer. The applications take about a year and a half to process.

Weld County residents opposed to the proposed uranium mine near Nunn are still not convinced their groundwater will be protected from contamination. Two weeks ago, Gov. Ritter signed legislation to protect groundwater from contamination as a result of leach uranium mining. House Bill 1161 requires that companies using leach uranium mines restore all affected groundwater to the condition it was in before mining. A new study, however, shows that these types of regulations may not prevent all groundwater contamination. Weld residents now are using this information as their primary argument against the uranium mine. Powertech Uranium Corp., a Canadian firm, is continuing to collect samples and apply for permits. President and CEO Richard Clement said all the work applications should be completed by mid-summer. The applications take about a year and a half to process.

Panel to consider prohibiting mining Uranium exploration and mining again are on tap for the Fremont County Planning Commission. The panel will meet Tuesday evening in regular session with an agenda that includes a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Fremont County Master Plan that would prohibit mining in certain areas of the county. The amendment, submitted by the Tallahassee Area Community group, would prohibit mining in the "Mountain District" of Fremont County. That area covers about 500 square miles in the northern part of the county and another 250 square miles in the south-central part of the county. TAC formed last year to protest uranium exploration and possible future mining in the Tallahassee area northwest of Cañon City. Lee Alter, chairman of TAC's government affairs committee, will represent the group in presenting the Master Plan amendment.

"The owner of a defunct uranium mine leaking pollution along a creek that flows into a Denver Water reservoir has launched a cleanup as ordered, state officials confirmed Thursday.\n\nCotter Corp. installed a system that can pump and treat up to 50 gallons per minute of contaminated water from inside its Schwartzenwalder Mine, west of Denver in Jefferson County.\n\nWater tests in 2007 recorded uranium levels in mine water exceeding the human health standard by 1,000 times. Elevated levels in Ralston Creek also were recorded.\n\nThe Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ordered the action. State natural-resources officials also are monitoring the mine, which produced uranium for weapons and nuclear power plants."

"Groups on either side of proposed uranium-mining operations in Colorado this week will present their ideas about how companies should conduct themselves if they use water and chemicals to extract the ore. The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board hearings begin this morning and are likely to last through Wednesday. The board will issue formal rules on in-situ mining in August. The in-situ process injects water and chemicals to free the uranium, pumps out the fluid and collects the ore. The state has been gathering information on the proposed rules since last year. The rule-making process is required under a law signed by Gov. Bill Ritter in 2008 that regulates pollution and reclamation activity for in-situ uranium mines in Colorado."