Satellite photo of ISL well field shows hundred of wells
Smith Ranch in Wyoming is typical uranium in-situ leaching operation
Posted September 10, 2007, Updated September 28, 2007
Below is a satellite photograph of the Smith Ranch in-situ leaching wellfield located in Converse County, Wyoming, just north of Casper. The uranium mining operation is owned by Power Resources, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cameco Corporation, a Canadian company. The Smith Ranch and nearby Highland ISL mine produced 2,043,876 pounds of uranium in 2006 and employed 98 workers. (Source: Wyoming Mining Association)
The large number of wells required to extract uranium preclude any agricultural or other use of the land by surface owners for the duration of the mining operation and subsequent reclamation efforts. Wellfields and adjacent areas are unfit for any non-mining use for several years or even decades while mining companies attempt to restore the aquifers.
