Uranium mining to be banned near Grand Canyon

U.S. to Ban New Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon, NYT, 6 Jan 12, By JOHN M. BRODER Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to announce on Monday that he has approved a 20-year moratorium on new uranium mining claims in a million-acre buffer zone around the Grand Canyon.

The decision, which has been under consideration for nearly two years, would allow a small number of existing uranium and other hard rock mining operations in the region to continue while barring the new claims. In 2009 Mr. Salazar suspended new uranium claims on public lands surrounding the Grand Canyon for two years, overturning a Bush administration policy that encouraged thousands of new claims when the price of uranium soared in 2006 and 2007.

Many of the stakeholders are foreign interests, including Rosatom, Russia’s state atomic energy corporation.

The Interior Department took public comment and prepared an environmental impact statement before deciding to extend the moratorium for another 20 years…. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/u-s-to-ban-new-uranium-mining-near-grand-canyon/

USA to buy enriched uranium from Russia

Rosatom Signs $2.8 Billion Contract to Enrich Uranium for U.S.  Bloomberg, By Ilya Khrennikov – Mar 26, 2011 Rosatom Corp., Russia’s government- owned nuclear holding company, agreed a contract valued at about $2.8 billion to supply enriched uranium to the U.S., Russian state-run newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta said, citing the company.The accord includes an option to double supplies, possibly boosting the value of the deal to $6 billion, Kommersant said in a separate report, citing Rosatom Chief Executive Officer Sergei Kirienko.….Rosatom Signs $2.8 Billion Contract to Enrich Uranium for U.S. – Bloomberg

Russian uranium company Atomredmetzoloto, to own Utah town

SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 12 (UPI) — A Russian company has won approval to take over a U.S. uranium operation, including a whole town in Utah, an executive says.Citing national security, four members of Congress had urged the U.S. Treasury to keep the Canadian Uranium One company from selling majority ownership to Atomredmetzoloto, whose parent entity is Rosatom, the Russian nuclear agency. One concern is that Rosatom has sent highly radioactive reactor fuel to Iran.
But the Treasury Department, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Utah Division of Radiation Control have approved the deal, The Salt Lake Tribune reported….Russian firm buying U.S. uranium mine – UPI.com

Russian company taking over Utah uranium milling

the disintegration of boundaries in the uranium-mining industry, a trend that has picked up in uranium-rich Utah……..
foreign companies with claims to U.S. minerals pay no royalties under the 1872 Mining Act…….

Russian company may get Utah town and uranium | The Salt Lake Tribune, By JUDY FAHYS  Oct 10, 2010 “…..the town itself, the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill a few miles up the highway, more than 10,000 acres of uranium claims in Utah and holdings in South Dakota, Wyoming and Texas — all of it will be in the portfolio of ARMZ’s parent company, Rosatom, the Russian nuclear agency, which last month provided fuel for Iran’s nuclear power plant…..

Uranium spot price falls with fears over Uranium One and Rosatom

“alarmed industry observers worried that the Vancouver-based company might end up serving the Kremlin’s strategic interests.”
The spot price of uranium reacted to this news by falling in price.

Financing uranium mining raises concern, Star Tribune, Hildred Shelton, July 7, 2010 The hearing on uranium mining conducted in Chatham on June 22 by the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission Subcommittee has received extensive comment………………..that brings up a current development in financing uranium mining which is causing international commentary…that “world of capital.”

Uranium One Inc., the second largest uranium mining company in Canada, is reportedly being taken over by ARMZ, a division of the Russian State Corporation Rosatom (Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation).

For 51 percent of the stock of Uranium One, ARMZ, Rosatom, will pay Uranium One $610 million U. S. dollars and the controlling (or 50 per cent) interest in two Kazakhstan uranium mines.

The CEO of Uranium One, Jean Nortier, referred to this as a “shift to Russian-style Capitalism.”

If this Uranium One/Rosatom deal goes to completion, as reported, then a uranium project, Honeymoon Well, in South Australia scheduled to be in production by the end of 2010 will also be under the control of the Russian Government. Uranium One owns 51 per cent of Honeymoon Well…………The London newspaper, Globe and Mail, on June 27 stated it best in saying, “The prospect of Kremlin control of the Canadian company left many investors worried that Uranium One would be pressured to serve Russian strategic interests that do not necessarily deliver the best returns…” and “alarmed industry observers worried that the Vancouver-based company might end up serving the Kremlin’s strategic interests.”

The spot price of uranium reacted to this news by falling in price.

Russia now in control of Uranium One

Uranium One gives up control, FINANCIAL POST, June 2010, The company has negotiated a complex deal in which it will hand over a controlling stake of at least 51% in itself to the state-owned Russian uranium companyJSCAtomredmetzoloto (ARMZ). It is a subsidiary of Rosatom, the world’s biggest integrated nuclear firm……”Putting cash in the pockets of our shareholders and being able to grow our business were two very compelling reasons [to do this deal],” Mr. Nortier said……
Not all investors are thrilled with the idea of Uranium One increasing its exposure to Kazakhstan. But Mr. Nortier said the company has worked “very hard” on improving its government relations, and has made a lot of progress.

A year ago, Uranium One was caught up in a scandal when the head of Kazakhstan’s state-owned uranium miner was accused of illegally selling stakes in uranium deposits to foreign companies.

Uranium One gives up control

Russia’s Rosatom creating a stockpile of nuclear fuel

...The bank will allow countries that join the facility to obtain uranium from the stockpile, supplied entirely by Russia, if commercial uranium markets are frozen for political reasons.

Russia’s Rosatom Corp to create a uranium fuel bank with the International Atomic Energy Agency Seeker 401, 12 April 2010, Rosatom Corp., Russia’s state-run nuclear holding company, said its agreement to create a uranium fuel bank with the International Atomic Energy Agency will help expand demand for nuclear power.
The 120-ton uranium stockpile “means countries will have supply assurance and reliability, which means the global market will become bigger,” Rosatom Director General Sergei Kirienko said today at a press conference in Vienna. “The supplied stock will be paid for at market price.”The uranium, enough to load two nuclear reactors, will be stored under IAEA seal in the Russian city of Angarsk, 5,150 kilometers (3,200 miles) southeast of Moscow…
….The bank will allow countries that join the facility to obtain uranium from the stockpile, supplied entirely by Russia, if commercial uranium markets are frozen for political reasons. The IAEA will be tasked with determining whether the uranium shipment is warranted. Russia’s Rosatom Corp to create a uranium fuel bank with the International Atomic Energy Agency « Follow The Money