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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

Power generation still driving uranium demand, but environmental, health concerns persist – by Ilan Solomons (MiningWeekly.com – January 29, 2016)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

The future of the uranium mining industry will be largely dependent on the price of the commodity and the profitability of uranium mines, while demand for uranium in nuclear power stations and potentially for nuclear weapons remains the main driver for the commodity.

This is according to North-West University Mine Water Research Group head and geography and environmental studies chair Professor Frank Winde, who spoke at the Nuclearisation of Africa symposium in Kempton Park, on the East Rand, in November.

He stressed that the mining of uranium must be analysed in a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, which had to include all externalised costs, such as its impact on the environment and the health of local communities.

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Denmark and Greenland reach uranium export agreement (World Nuclear News – January 20, 2016)

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/

An agreement has been reached between Denmark and Greenland on how they will cooperate on foreign, defence and security policy issues related to the mining and commercial export of uranium from Greenland.

The island of Greenland introduced a zero-tolerance policy concerning the mining of uranium and other radioactive elements in 1988, while under Danish direct rule. It took a step towards greater autonomy from Denmark in 2009 with the official transition from ‘home rule’ to ‘self rule’.

This saw Greenland assume full authority over its mineral and hydrocarbon rights, which had formerly been overseen by Denmark. However, Greenland remains part of the kingdom of Denmark and its defence and foreign policies are still determined by Copenhagen.

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NEWS RELEASE: Uranium stocks: How the Athabasca Basin is shaping up in 2016 – by Tommy Humphreys and James Kwantes (Ceo.ca – January 11, 2016)

http://ceo.ca/

The best way to make money as a mining investor is by owning a company that has exploration success, or being on the right side of commodity price moves.

Last year, NexGen Energy (NXE-TSXV) delivered us 95% share price increases thanks to their Athabasca Basin uranium discovery, Arrow. But we’re holding out for a bigger move. We believe Arrow will get larger through exploration, and that the uranium sector is staged for a substantial recovery.

The sector has struggled since the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe of 2011, but change is finally in the air. Japan is restarting some of its reactors and global nuclear power generation is expected to eclipse pre-Fukushima highs within the next two years, according to Forbes.

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“New awakening” in Indigenous engagement – by Ella Myers (Northern Ontario Business – January 11,2016)

http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sean Willy brings a unique perspective to his role as director of corporate responsibility for the uranium producing Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation (Cameco).

Willy was raised in the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan, and belongs to the Metis Nation of NWT.

He runs the Saskatchewan-based Cameco’s Aboriginal engagement program, bringing personal and professional insight to his role, which he presented at a Goodman School of Mines lecture.

The school’s Nicole Tardif said Willy was brought to Sudbury to share Cameco’s years of experience building strong, mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous populations in northern Saskatchewan with local academia and industry.

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[Northern Saskatchewan] Gunnar mine tailings cleanup project underway – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – January 8, 2016)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

After getting the go-ahead from Canada’s nuclear watchdog, the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) has begun the process of cleaning up 4.4 million tonnes of radioactive tailings at a derelict uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan.

In November, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) approved part of SRC’s quarter-billion-dollar plan to “remediate” the Gunnar uranium mine, which was abandoned in 1964 with virtually no cleanup work.

Now, SRC is seeking a consultant to develop a detailed project plan for covering the tailings deposits with a at least 0.6 metres of earth or aggregate.

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North Korea Says It Has Detonated Its First Hydrogen Bomb – by David E. Sanger and Choe Sang-Hun (New York Times – January 5, 2016)

http://www.nytimes.com/

WASHINGTON — North Korea declared on Tuesday that it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb. The assertion, if true, would dramatically escalate the nuclear challenge from one of the world’s most isolated and dangerous states.

In an announcement, North Korea said that the test had been a “complete success.” But it was difficult to tell whether the statement was true. North Korea has made repeated claims about its nuclear capabilities that outside analysts have greeted with skepticism.

“This is the self-defensive measure we have to take to defend our right to live in the face of the nuclear threats and blackmail by the United States and to guarantee the security of the Korean Peninsula,” a female North Korean announcer said, reading the statement on Central Television, the state-run network.

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History of Elliot Lake – Life of an Elliot Lake miner at work – by Kevin McSheffrey (Elliot Lake Standard – December 30, 2015)

http://www.elliotlakestandard.ca/

Elliot Lake has been in existence since 1955, and grew out of the wilderness following geologist Franc Joubin’s uranium discovery earlier that decade.

Joubin’s discovery resulted in a dozen uranium mines in the area, 11 around Elliot Lake and one on the North Shore. Two mining companies were involved: Rio Algom, headed up by Joseph Hirshhorn and Denison Mines, headed by Stephen Roman.

The discovery attracted mine workers from across the province, the country and around the world.

However, the boom was followed by a bust in the early 1960s when the United States government cancelled its contracts with the two mining companies.

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Fission Uranium nears landmark $82-million investment from state-owned Chinese giant CGN Mining Company Ltd – Peter Koven (National Post – December 22, 2015)

http://business.financialpost.com/

Fission Uranium Corp. is closing in on a landmark deal with a Chinese company that would represent China’s first direct investment into a Canadian uranium firm.

Fission and state-owned CGN Mining Company Ltd. have signed a letter of intent for CGN to acquire a 19.9 per cent stake in Fission for $82.2 million. The two sides also plan to enter an offtake agreement in which CGN would buy uranium output from Fission’s Patterson Lake South (PLS) property in Saskatchewan.

Companies often sign letters of intent that never turn into firm deals, but Fission chief executive Dev Randhawa said it is “highly likely” this transaction will close next month. CGN announced the deal publicly on Monday, and it put the money in trust with Fission’s lawyers, he added.

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OPINION: Mine uranium, stop climate change – by Stephen Antony (Boston Globe – December 15, 2015)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/

Stephen Antony is the president and CEO of Energy Fuels.

Fresh off the successful negotiations in Paris, there is an unprecedented international coalition now focused on the important issues of climate change and clean energy.

Nuclear energy has rightfully been one of the major topics of discussion because no other power source — not wind or solar — has the scalability or reliability of nuclear energy to significantly reduce air and carbon emissions. If we are even remotely serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear power must be part of our energy future.

That’s why I’ve chosen this moment to respond to two misleading HuffPost and New York Times columns, both written by Mark Udall, former US senator from my home state of Colorado.

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Guest Commentary: Nuclear power critical to climate fight – by Stephen Antony (Denver Post – November 21, 2015)

http://www.denverpost.com/

Stephen Antony is president and CEO of Energy Fuels, a Lakewood-based integrated uranium mining company.

Nuclear power has the potential to emerge globally in the coming years. It’s incontrovertible: Honest efforts to fight climate change and air pollution will absolutely depend on nuclear energy. Moreover, achieving real energy independence will depend on nuclear energy. That makes these two goals very much intertwined.

The U.S. has greatly benefited from a shale revolution that has yielded billions of barrels of oil and gas. This has brought enormous economic benefits to America and made our nation less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

However, there is another key consideration: taking greater responsibility in providing cleaner energy to the world.

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Mexican drug gangs, an Argentinian tycoon and the illicit trade of uranium to China – by Gardenia Mendoza (Fox News Latino – November 13, 2015)

http://latino.foxnews.com/index.html

MEXICO CITY – A gang-related arrest in Mexico took a surprising twist last week when a portion of the suspect’s testimony was leaked, revealing that the criminal organization La Familia Michoacana is also involved in the illegal trade of uranium to China.

Sidronio Casarrubias – the head of the Guerreros Unidos crime gang who was arrested last year and interrogated about his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 43 college students from Iguala, in the state of Guerrero in September 2014 – said the uranium operation in Mexico is being carried out under the orders of mogul Carlos Ahumada, a prominent Argentinian-born businessman who spent a couple of years in jail in a bribery scandal.

Casarrubias said Ahumada, who holds a dual Mexican-Argentinian citizenship, owns two uranium mines in Guerrero.

“The cargo is moved by small boats,” said Casarrubias shortly after he was arrested, but whose testimony was released only recently and published by Milenio newspaper.

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OPINION PAGE: Grand Canyon Waters, at the Abyss – by Mark Udall (New York Times – October 14, 2015)

http://www.nytimes.com/

Mark Udall, who represented Colorado as a Democrat in the Senate from 2009 to 2015, is a member of the board of the Grand Canyon Trust.

Eldorado Springs, Colo. — I RECENTLY reunited with an old friend — not a person, but a place in Arizona, the state where I was born. It is a timeless place of great antiquity, a shrine of the ages that President Theodore Roosevelt said “man can only mar.”

Roosevelt proclaimed the Grand Canyon a national monument in 1908. In so doing, he specifically intended to prevent mining and tourist development from harming one of our nation’s most treasured landscapes. “Keep it for your children, your children’s children and all who come after you,” he said, “as the one great sight which every American should see.”

But mar it we have. An abandoned uranium mine on the canyon’s South Rim has cost taxpayers more than $15 million to remove toxic wastes from the surface.

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Uranium mining in Northern Arizona has a controversial history – by Andy Alvarado (The Daily Wildcat – November 10, 2015)

http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/

Tensions are high at the Grand Canyon this year after a judge’s ruling in April that denied a request to stop new uranium mining at the canyon.

The neighboring Havasupai tribe and conservation groups like the Grand Canyon Trust work hard to put a permanent end to uranium mining at the canyon. The groups are weary of the potential dangers the mining poses to wildlife, the risks of contaminating freshwater springs, and the religious and cultural concerns of several tribes in the region.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has led the push to re-open uranium mines after the federal government ruled in 2012 to put a stop to mining in the area.

“So much of what’s happening today in the environmental movement is not about science. It’s not about quality of life. It’s not about clean air.

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[South Dakota] Radioactive Legacy, Part 3 of a Journal Special Report: The uranium boom goes bust – by Seth Tupper (Rapid City Journal – November 1, 2015)

http://rapidcityjournal.com/

In 1980, the Brafford family of Edgemont learned their house, or the land around it, was probably giving them cancer. That’s what they claimed in a lawsuit against Susquehanna Corporation, the Chicago company that ran Edgemont’s uranium industry.

Before the Braffords moved in, someone used sand-like radioactive tailings from the mill owned by Susquehanna’s subsidiary, Mines Development, as fill material around the home’s foundation. The tailings gave off potentially cancer-causing radiation far in excess of regulatory limits.

Susquehanna tried to get the Braffords’ lawsuit tossed out. When that didn’t work, the giant holding company paid the family to drop it.

That was 1984. The same year, the author of a Life magazine story on Edgemont claimed the amount of the settlement was “believed to be in excess of a quarter of a million dollars.”

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Timeline of [South Dakota] Edgemont’s uranium industry – by Seth Tupper (Rapid City Journal – October 26, 2015)

http://rapidcityjournal.com/

Here is a look back at the timing of key events in the history of the Edgemont uranium mining industry:

1951: Uranium deposits are discovered in a canyon wall near Edgemont.

1952: The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission opens an ore sampling and buying station in Edgemont, one of many Western sites where the federal government buys uranium to fuel its growing stockpile of nuclear weapons.

1953: The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad reorganizes and emerges as a subsidiary of a new holding company, Susquehanna Corporation, which will soon come to dominate Edgemont’s uranium industry.

1955: Mines Development Inc., a subsidiary of Susquehanna Corp., builds a uranium mill in Edgemont.

1960: Edgemont’s population hits 1,772, a 53 percent increase from 1950.

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