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| 4/3/2008 10:10:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | HASP holds meeting on in-situ mining
Timing, risks to neighboring aquifers, permitting discussed
Lynda James
Correspondent
Experts fielded questions for approximately one and a half hours after their presentations on in-situ uranium mining in South Park at a meeting in Fairplay on April 2.
The meeting was sponsored by the Headwater Authority of the Upper South Platte. HASP is a joint business venture between the Center of Colorado Water Conservancy District and the Upper South Platte Water Conservancy District.
Among the speakers was William Wilson, president and chief operating officer of Golden-based New Horizon Uranium Corp., the company proposing in-situ uranium mining northeast of Hartsel along the Elk Horn Road. The county road bisects South Park from Como to Hartsel.
New Horizon, which is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is making that proposal through its wholly owned subsidiary, Golden-based Horizon Nevada Uranium Inc.
Wilson said the company has approximately 25,000 acres of land leased in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Nevada for both traditional surface/underground and in-situ uranium mining operations.
Wilson opened the meeting by explaining the time frame of operations. The company is now in the first stage of a five- stage process.
During the first stage that will last about one year, the company will stake claims, acquire leases from surface property owners and select target areas for exploration drilling. The company plans to drill 20 holes to identify areas for mining uranium.
During stage one, surface and groundwater samples will be taken and tested for uranium content. Wilson said the company would sample private wells at the request of the property owner.
Stage two would involve drilling approximately 100 holes to establish the extent of the uranium ore body. Then a mining feasibility study would be completed. That would take between one and two years.
During stage three, applications for all federal, state, and local permits would be submitted. It could take up to three years to receive all permits.
Permits Wilson mentioned include an exempt aquifer permit form the United States Environmental Protection Agency, permits from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, a surface reclamation permit for Colorado Department of Reclamation Mining and Safety and any permits that Park County would require.
Stage four, mining, would commence once all permits are received. Wilson anticipated that would be seven or eight years from now. He said mining would probably last five to seven years.
Stage five, restoration of the well field and surface reclamation, would take about three years after mining was completed.
The second speaker at the April 2 meeting was Jeffrey Parsons, senior attorney with Western Mining Action Project based in Lyons, Colo. Parsons said the organization is a non-profit that provides legal representation for citizen groups on mining issues. He is currently working with a citizens' group in Weld County where Powertech Uranium Corp. has proposed an in-situ uranium mining operation.
Parsons said the large increase in uranium mining claims over the past few years is due to the rise in uranium prices, which have jumped from $7 a pound in 2001 to $70 per pound today. Prices peaked last year at about $120 a pound.
Parson said even though the mining process uses harmless substances such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and baking soda, it isn't harmless. These substances not only release uranium from the ore body, it also releases any other heavy metals found in the rock. These are then all pumped to the surface.
According to Parsons, several issues exist including "excursions" where the aquifer in the geologic formation being mined and used to transport uranium travels into other groundwater aquifers.
Water under pressure is pumped into the mining zone and then pumped back to the surface. The geologic layers above and below the mining area must be impermeable (water can not travel through them) to prevent contamination of other aquifers. Parsons said cross contamination can happen if the subsurface is fractured or if wells are nearby.
"Track records of the companies show there are excursions," Parsons said.
A second issue, Parsons said, is that national regulations require companies to attempt to restore the mined aquifer to pre-mining standards. "Again, the track record is fairly poor," Parsons said.
Three examples were cited by Parsons. In Texas where 32 mines exist, groundwater regulations were lowered so companies could meet the standards.
In Wyoming, the Smith Ranch Highlands Mine was cited for violations on March 10, 2008, for several reasons, including lack of groundwater restoration. Parsons said that 10 years after mining has ceased, the aquifer is in the same condition as it was when mining stopped.
Another example was near Grover in Weld County, where post-restoration of 1980s mining shows a 16-fold increase in radiation in the aquifer. Grover is near the Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado state lines.
Wilson disagreed with Parsons that the mining industry's track record was poor. He didn't cite any examples, saying he didn't have the data with him.
Parsons also elaborated on the permits needed to mine. The EPA exempt-aquifer permit requires a mining company to prove the aquifer in the formation to be mined is not currently being used as drinking water and contains economically viable minerals.
The Bureau of Land Management, which manages minerals owned by the federal government (as is the case in most of Park County), will require a National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process. If a surface owner signs a lease with a mining company, the process is not as detailed as when an owner does not sign a lease. Then a full-blown NEPA process will be required.
Parsons said regulations by both the Colorado Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment did not specifically address uranium in-situ mining.
He said House Bill 1161, a bi-partisan bill that just passed Colorado's House of Representatives, will set standards for in-situ mining reclamation, permits and restoration of groundwater. It now will be heard by Colorado's Senate.
Wilson said he had opposed the original bill and worked to get it amended. "We can live with it," he said.
In 2003, said Parsons, CDPHE amended its regulations to include mitigation of socio-economic impacts from mining. He said a recent court case had upheld denying a CDPHE permit based solely on socio-economic impacts.
Parsons also cited another case where Summit County won a Colorado Court of Appeals decision upholding the county's regulations governing mining operations. That case has been appealed by the mining company to the Colorado Supreme Court. Parsons expects a decision from the Supreme Court by the end of the year.
The third speaker at the April 2 meeting was James O'Brien, certified geologic consultant and college professor.
O'Brien explained that in-situ mining involves a series of injection wells and another series of extraction wells. He said that in addition to having a confined aquifer that is not connected to another aquifer, the company must prove "the aquifer does not have water good enough to be drinking water".
O'Brien said the company would probably have to fracture the rock formation it is mining. That is usually done by pumping down sand to break up the rock formation.
He said all wells would need to be double-cased to reduce the possibility of "excursions". But even then, he said, failure of the system is possible in several places. He said the high pressure needed to inject water into the uranium ore formation could cause failure in any place in the piping system.
Using a diagram showing a typical operation, O'Brien showed where failure could take place in the piping system. Critical points included a pipe failure in a formation above the ore body, above- ground piping to the facility where uranium is extracted from the water, in the facility itself, in piping to the evaporation pond, or a breach in the liner of the pond. He said if soil contamination occurred, all the soil would need to be removed.
O'Brien said other avenues for contamination included natural fractures and faulting in the area that extended through the target formation to other formations and old abandoned water or exploration wells.
O'Brien said residents should conduct tests now for radon in both their house and their drinking water to establish background limits before mining begins. He recommended two samples be taken in the house, one in the basement or crawl space and one in the living space.
See next week's Flume for article on residents' questions and the experts' answers.
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