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Uranium in Weld County?

 

by Paul James Poppe
 

Have you heard?
 

Maybe you haven’t yet ... either way, the presence of poor grade uranium ore in northeastern Colorado, especially in Weld County, could dramatically affect rural life, the economy, and the well-being of every­one who lives in the area.
 

Uranium is not new to Weld County. It exists in extremely minute quantities throughout the county in the form of low grade deposits that consist of an average of 0.28 percent to as low as 0.05 percent concentration levels (less than 1/3 of 1 percent aver­age) of uranium oxide in the ore. It is low yield-per-ton ore and its location makes it unprofitable to mine it using conventional methods such as tunnel­ing and open pit mining.
 

Some say, “What’s the big deal?
 

How does this affect us?” The uranium ore is found deposited as coatings on the grains of sand in the host sand­stone formations, known geologically as rollfront deposits. These deposits are located within the Laramie/Fox Hills water aquifer. This domestic water bearing aquifer is the sole source of water in northeastern Colorado for tens of thousands of people, their families, and their livestock.
 

The uranium ore, when left undisturbed, is insoluble (cannot be dissolved) in the surrounding water in which it is naturally located. However, mining technology is available that can convert insoluble uranium oxide into a soluble form (capable of passing into solution) and thereby lift most of it from its resting place. This process is known as “in-situ leach mining.” The process is somewhat comparable to the water spraying mining operations from the days of the gold rush in California in the early 1800s, where the soil was disturbed to expose gold nuggets. The in-situ mining process does all this underground and pumps whatever comes loose up to the surface, after which it is later returned back into the aquifer from which it came, over and over again in the form of contami­nated groundwater. It is an extremely invasive process.
 

The demand for uranium has increased lately and the price for its ore has sharply risen, making the in­situ leach mining method of low grade ores economically feasible for would-be mining companies.
 

The in-situ leaching process is said by some to be less hazardous than other conventional mining processes such as open pit mining, tunneling, etc. A great deal of publicity, effort and money has been spent by interested urani­um mining companies (which includes purchas­ing mineral right leases, buying mineral rights, purchasing land, and more) to further progress their intentions of obtaining governmental per­mits, construction facilities, and use the in-situ leach mining process to extract the uranium oxide ore from within the domestic water bear­ing aquifer in which the uranium ore is found.
 

Groundwater is supposed to be restored to pre­mining levels of quality following the mining process by the company.
 

In the midst of all the publicity, though, little has been disclosed regarding the problems, hazards, potential for groundwater contamina­tion and possible loss caused by the disturbance, rearranging and altering of a naturally stable groundwater system. The attached map shows the vast areas of potential mining activities in the northeastern portions of Weld County.
 

An example of past activity in Weld County with the in-situ leach mining process occurred in the late 1970s during a test pilot project that was initiated by the Wyoming Mineral Corporation at a location outside of Grover, Colo. The test began in June 1977, and ended in February, 1979, and was situated in the east central portion of sec within the domestic water bear­ing aquifer in which the uranium ore is found.
 

Groundwater is supposed to be restored to pre­mining levels of quality following the mining process by the company.
 

In the midst of all the publicity, though, little has been disclosed regarding the problems, hazards, potential for groundwater contamina­tion and possible loss caused by the disturbance, rearranging and altering of a naturally stable groundwater system. The attached map shows the vast areas of potential mining activities in the northeastern portions of Weld County.
 

An example of past activity in Weld County with the in-situ leach mining process occurred in the late 1970s during a test pilot project that was initiated by the Wyoming Mineral Corporation at a location outside of Grover, Colo. The test began in June 1977, and ended in February, 1979, and was situated in the east central portion of sec 24T, 10N, R62W. The test was conducted in the Grover Sandstone Aquifer, which is part of the Laramie Formation.
 

Listed in the observations and conclusions after groundwater restoration was completed: increases of radionuclides, ammonia, nitrate, calcium, chloride, molybdenum, selenium, and boron. Of special concern, though, is the large increase of radionuclide activity. There was a 10-fold increase in gross alpha, 8 fold increase in radium-226, three fold increase in gross beta.
 

The radionuclides mobilized by the leach solu­tions may have been absorbed by the clays ...”
 

Several differing leaching solutions were used, called lixivants. An ammonia based lixi­vant is found to cause water restoration prob­lems as well as other technical problems. A sodi­um bicarbonate lixivant is more preferred as its contamination effects are less severe. However, sodium bicarbonate causes swelling of certain clays, and can cause other technical problems as well, such as permeability problems affecting water flow in an aquifer, mineral absorption (uranium, selenium, arsenic, etc.) onto its surfaces, etc.
 

It has been widely stated that if in-situ uranium mining were allowed to take place in Weld County, it would greatly benefit the local economy and even create local jobs. Even if this is true and a few jobs would be made available, a trade-off with the environment would be in place..
 

It is becoming more and more apparent that our world is reaching what is termed “peak” oil production, meaning that the future holds a finite availability of petroleum to be had.
 

Likewise, as the population increases, and as the demand for fresh water also increases, “peak” fresh water will also soon be realized.
 

It would be unwise, to say the least, to risk the future of a sustainable water aquifer that will serve thousands more in the future as a renew­able domestic water source by allowing the use of an invasive toxic mining process to obtain a non-renewable mineral such as uranium, which is in itself highly toxic.
 

For more information about uranium mining, please visit www.nunnglow.com, or Powertech’s own website at

www.powertechuranium.com/s/home.asp.
 

Editor’s Note: This article was written by an individual and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Fence Post staff members.

 

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