New Mexico Counties Welcome Back Uranium Miners

In an amazing about-face of events, canton commissioners in two key New Mexico counties accept taken behemothic political accomplish to animate the Nuclear Renaissance in this state. Concerns about the activity crisis, assurance aloft adopted oil and all-around abating accept afresh led abounding politicians to advance alternatives, namely nuclear energy. The almanac uranium amount aswell helps accompany big dollars into their bounded economies. Both counties are adored with abounding uranium resources, which they are now auspicious to be mined.
What was already the world's top bearing uranium area, the Grants Uranium District has abundantly slumbered through the arising uranium bang of the accomplished three years. Stock analysts and investors discounted efforts by those uranium mining companies which accept been affective their flagship projects forward, primarily Uranium Assets (URRE) and Strathmore Minerals (STHJF). In ablaze of these developments, their opinions could anon change.
This accomplished September, Cibola Canton anesthetized a resolution acknowledging and auspicious uranium mining. The canton acutely believes the face-lifting of uranium mining would accommodate a able bread-and-butter addition for its residents. This resolution did not abruptness us. We aboriginal appear on the pro-uranium beating of Grants (New Mexico) and Cibola Canton in backward June 2005. The county's arch of bread-and-butter development told us, "We will accost them (uranium miners) with accessible arms." And again they did in both canton and city-limits resolutions which followed three months later.
What DID abruptness us was the about identical resolution anesthetized by McKinley Canton Commissioners. Having catholic through this canton and interviewed assorted personalities, the county-wide resolution amounts to annihilation abbreviate of a miracle. That's because the adjoining Navajo Nation, in the four corners breadth (New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona), banned uranium mining in 2005. The city-limits of Gallup is McKinley's canton seat. Gallup's Wal Mart is reportedly breadth the Navajos do a lot of of their shopping. Added than 36 percent of Gallup's association are Navajo.
Even added amazing is the actuality that McKinley Canton Commissioner Ernest C. Becenti, Jr, the admirer who alien McKinley Canton Resolution Number DEC-06-088 for application by the Canton Commission, is a Navajo. One of the primary affidavit cited in the resolution was to alter the bread-and-butter accident the canton will ache if the Pittsburgh & Midway atramentous abundance shuts down in 2008. This resolution is acceptable to accept a ample appulse aural the Navajo association in Gallup because it will advice alter those absent mining jobs.
We talked with Mark Pelizza, carnality admiral of ecology diplomacy for Uranium Resources, who told us, "We are admiring the principals of McKinley Canton accept the bread-and-butter allowances of uranium mining." How big is it? "The abeyant appulse is huge," Pelizza said, "At $100/pound and 10 actor pounds U3O8 produced annually, it could accompany $1 billion in uranium sales to the bounded economy."
Strathmore Minerals' carnality admiral of ecology diplomacy Juan Velasquez wrote in an email, "We accept enjoyed a lot of grass roots abutment from the association in the Grants area, and we are heartened that McKinley Canton is favorable to our activities." The resolutions should appulse both companies in 2007 because they were the aboriginal to arise the appropriate activities to access uranium mining licenses.
Uranium Assets has been actively complex in New Mexico aback 1986, according to Pelizza, and acquired its NRC approval in the mid 1990s (recently reaffirmed by the NRC). Strathmore Minerals opened its ecology allowing appointment in 2005 and has been avant-garde through the accompaniment and federal permissions activities for two of its New Mexico uranium properties.
Over the accomplished year, several added uranium companies became added alive in the Grants Uranium District, such as Urex Activity (OTC BB: URXE), Laramide (LMRXF) and Western Uranium (WURNF). Another avant-garde date inferior uranium mining company, Activity Metals Corp (EMU) aswell holds backdrop in New Mexico, but absitively to aboriginal advance its projects in Texas and Wyoming.
This accomplished June, New Mexico Accompaniment Senator Joseph A. Fidel, who represents one of the counties in the Grants Uranium District, told StockInterview, "The association will be actual admiring of uranium mining. People will be accommodating and will acknowledge positively, if the time comes." In June, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued LES a abstract authorization to body and accomplish the aboriginal U.S. uranium accessory ability in added than thirty years. It appears New Mexico's time has come, and this accompaniment is aback on clue to animate its aforetime world-class uranium mining industry.