Winnemucca News

Winnemucca News

Miners step up exploration for uranium in state - 06-09-2008

A study by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology a while back identified 661 places in Nevada at which some hints of uranium deposits have been recorded.

But the study found that fewer than 30 of those locations had seen mining activity, and many of them produced little more than a ton or two of ore before they were abandoned.

As uranium prices have surged, however, a new wave of uranium exploration is under way throughout Nevada, and a handful of small mining companies are hoping they can find deposits that justify commercial mining operations.

The basic economics are straightforward: In early 2004, a pound of uranium sold on world markets for $15.55. By mid-2007, the price reached $136 a pound before settling back to about $60 this spring.

Worries about global warming, and the thought that nuclear power plants are an option to replace coal-burning facilities, provide further impetus to the search for uranium, says Pamela Klessig, president and chief executive officer of Western Uranium Corp. , a Reno company that’s among those conducting
exploration in the state.

More than 30 nuclear power plants are under construction in 12 countries worldwide, 90 more are on the drawing boards and about 200 have been proposed, says the London-based World Nuclear Association.

In hopes of meeting some of the demand for uranium from those new plants, Klessig’s company has two drill rigs at work in the Kings Valley area northwest of Winnemucca. They’ll be working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to drill about 50 exploratory holes.

Read the entire article on the Blog of the Northern Nevada Business Weekly

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