Virginia Uranium drops its Coles Hill project

Amid fierce political opposition, US uranium miner suspends mine plans Mining.com, Ana Komnenic | December 15, 2013 A uranium miner has given up on mining one of the world’s largest known uranium deposits in Virginia – for now.

Virginia Uranium has plans to develop the Coles Hill deposit in Pittsylvania County.According to the Associated Press, the site contains an estimated 119-million-pounds of uranium.

But Virginia has a decades-long ban on uranium mining and the Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe has fiercely opposed attempts to change this legislation and said he would veto any pro-uranium bills.Faced with this major political hurdle, Virginia Uranium told the Associated Press on Saturday that it would “not back the introduction of uranium mining legislation in the 2014 session of the General Assembly.”

The company cited the Governor-Elect’s opposition as a “significant challenge” to the project……

Environmental group Sierra Club has applauded McAuliffe for his opposition, publishing an article this week thanking the Governor.

Earlier this year McAuliffe stated that he was “not comfortable” enough with the science to say that he believed his community would be safe.

“I’m afraid it would get into the drinking water,” he said……http://www.mining.com/amid-fierce-political-opposition-us-uranium-miner-gives-up-on-one-of-the-worlds-largest-uranium-deposits-66417/

Virginia’s Governor McDonnell getting hundreds of calls opposing uranium mining

Va. governor hearing from public on uranium mining http://www.nbc12.com/story/21089999/va-governor-hearing-from-public-on-uranium-mining
Feb 09, 2013  RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Gov. Bob McDonnell is hearing from hundreds of people who want him to keep in place a ban on uranium mining in Virginia.The governor’s office says as of Friday, 894 calls, letters, emails and faxes were received in support of the ban, with 171 support mining.

The call on the ban is not McDonnell’s to make but he could keep the issue alive this year. He’s been asked to use his executive powers to direct the drafting of regulations for mining. The General Assembly would still have to act to end a decades-old prohibition on uranium mining.

The debate is being fueled by a company’s quest to tap a deposit of the ore in Pittsylvania County.

McDonnell has said he has not arrived at a position on the issue.

 

Cold, hard, economics killing off the uranium industry

For now, at least, uranium is dead. Its killer was cold, hard economics. 

Virginia Uranium’s Strangely Short Half-Life, Bacon’s Rebellion,   February 1, 2013 by Peter Galuszka “…….Back in 2007, uranium prices were about $140 a pound. That touched off a renewed effort to mine the Coles Hill Farm tract in Pittsylvania County, one of the country’s largest uranium deposits.

As both sides of the argument poured money into lobbyists’ pockets, something happened that was beyond their control. Uranium prices set by global demand started dropping. By 2010, they had plummeted to about $70 a pound because of the global economic slowdown. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011, they fell to the mid-$40-a-pound level, where they are now.

What that means for uranium mining in Virginia can be explained with simple arithmetic. According to Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal, “The industry needs prices to be at $75 to $80 a pound for future mine production to be profitable.” In other words, for Virginia Uranium’s project to work, prices would likely need to rebound by about $30 a pound. I have noted this in a previous blog.

The bad news for uranium continues. 

Virginia Uranium headed for doom?

Virginia Uranium’s Strangely Short Half-Life, Bacon’s Rebellion,   February 1, 2013 by Peter Galuszka After years building up to a critical mass, Virginia’s uranium controversy never quite reached fission. State Sen. John Watkins, a Republican and uranium backer from Powhatan, pulled the plug on his pro-mining bill Thursday as it faced certain death at a Senate committee. There are a couple of other legislative efforts out there, but it probably safe to say that the state’s now 31-year-old ban on mining uranium stays….

 Virginia Uranium, which wants to develop the 119 million pound deposit near Chatham, had given thousands of dollars in donations, trips and gifts to many legislators. Anti-mining advocates, including the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach who feared for their drinking water sources, hired their own advocacy muscle. Ordinary folks down in the gently rolling hills of Pittsylvania County organized a strikingly tightly-disciplined and effective anti-mining campaign.

At the end of the day, however, the real reason uranium failed lurks behind the scenes far from the polished floors of the State Capitol.

The fact is that the dynamics of energy pricing are undergoing a huge change in this country. A flood of natural gas, some from controversial “fracking” drilling methods, is making other forms of electricity generation, notably nuclear, financially less attractive.  http://www.baconsrebellion.com/2013/02/the-unusually-short-half-life-of-virginia-uranium.html

Bill to allow uranium mining ij Virginia – doomed in the Senate

Opponents: Va. Uranium Bill Doomed in Committee
http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Opponents-Va-Uranium-Bill-Doomed-in-Committee-188934761.html
 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Opponents of uranium mining in Virginia say
they have the votes in a Senate committee to block legislation that
would effectively end a decades-old state moratorium on mining the
radioactive ore.

They said Tuesday the vote won’t even be close.

The predictions are coming from the Virginia Coalition, the Alliance
for Progress in Southern Virginia and the Southern Environmental Law
Center.

Sen. John Watkins’ legislation is scheduled to be heard Thursday by
the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. He did not
immediately return a message left with his office by The Associated
Press to respond to the dire predictions for his bill.

Virginia Uranium Inc. wants the General Assembly to end the 1982
mining ban so it can tap a 119-million-pound deposit of the ore in
Pittsylvania County.

Virginia Uranium poured money into lawmakers

Uranium firm pumps money into assembly BY MARY BETH JACKSON, The Register & Bee, 21 Jan 13,  The Senate bill proposing to lift the moratorium on uranium mining will be considered by a committee in which 80 percent of its members have taken money from Virginia Uranium.

Sen. John Watkins has said the legislation, filed Friday with the Senate Clerk, will be vetted through the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee; 12 of 15 committee members have accepted campaign money and trips from Virginia Uranium since 2008.

Virginia Uranium wants to mine a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit in Pittsylvania County, approximately six miles from Chatham. The company has been lobbying the legislature to write regulations for uranium mining and milling, which would effectively lift a 1982 moratorium on the industry.

After all the fuss in Virginia, the uranium mining may not be economic anyway

“The industry needs prices at $75 or $80 a pound for future mine production to be profitable.” Thus, the uranium market has a long way to go before the 119 million pound tract around Coles Hill Farm east of Chatham, said to be the largest in the U.S., can actually be profitable to mine.

This is a fact that Virginia Uranium hasn’t really advertised..

The Wobbly World of Global Uranium Prices, Bacon’s Rebellion, 
January 19, 2013 by Peter Galuszka

 Highly controversial plans to mine and mill a rich tract of uranium in Pittsylvania County are before the General Assembly. Plenty of studies, lobbyists and scads of money are being thrown about on both sides of the argument.

Yet a brief story on page B7 in today’s Wall Street Journal deals with a topic that may be the truly decisive factor in the project……

the piece notes that spot prices for uranium have slid from about $130 a pound around 2007 when the Virginia Uranium plan was announced to about $42.25 a pound today. It had been about $70 a pound when Japan’s Fukushima reactor disaster caused it to tank in 2011.

Virginia: uranium mining woukd bring flood risks

Flooding near proposed uranium mining site worries some, VUI says there’s no concern Keep the Ban,  January 16, 2013 A road closes near Coles Hill that runs through the Virginia Uranium Incorporated but getting home isn’t the only concern for one nearby farmer. PITTSYLVANIA CO., Va.—

Today’s heavy rain is bringing more attention to the proposed uranium mining site in Pittsylvania County.

A road on the Coles Hill site is flooded.

Opponents say the mining would contaminate streams and rivers……. “you can see what two and three inches of rain is doing it’s flooding the roads down here,” Motley said.

Motley believes the proposed mine could contaminate the water, which runs into a nearby water source.

“Any residue has the potential of washing down this way and going directly into the Banister River,” Motley said….. The Virginia Department of Transportation will keep the road closed until water levels are again below the road.

Article: http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-flooding-near-proposed-uranium-mining-site-worries-some-vui-says-theres-no-concern-20130115,0,1945578.story

Opposition to Virginia uranium mining, from Hampton Roads lawmakers

Uranium debate coming http://blog.vivianpaige.com/2013/01/07/uranium-debate-coming/  All Politics is local 

BY VIVIAN J. PAIGE , JANUARY 7, 2013

The debate on uranium mining in Virginia is destined to be a part of the General Assembly session, which opens Wednesday. The Virginian-Pilot had a front page story today about it. Included with the story is a list of the Hampton Roads lawmakers and their stances on lifting the ban, as follows:

Against mining	Undecided	No response
Sen. Kenny Alexander, D-Norfolk	Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake	Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton
Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth	Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach	Sen. John Miller, D-Newport News
Sen. Jeff McWaters, R-Virginia Beach	Del. Lionell Spruill, D-Chesapeake	Del. Algie Howell, D-Norfolk
Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk	Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach	Del. Bob Purkey, R-Virginia Beach
Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake	Sen. Tommy Norment, R-James City County	Del. Bob Tata, R-Virginia Beach
Del. Daun Hester, D-Norfolk	Del. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk
Del. Sal Iaquinto, R-Virginia Beach
Del. Matthew James, D-Portsmouth
Del. Lynwood Lewis, D-Accomack County
Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach
Del. Ron Villanueva, R-Virginia Beach
Del. Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth

This is not, as you can see, a partisan issue. Perhaps the most interesting part of this is that none are willing – yet – to admit support of lifting the ban.

Keep ban on uranium mining say black ministers of Virginia

it would be a tragic mistake for the Virginia General
Assembly to even consider allowing Virginia Uranium Inc., or whater
it’s called today, to open a uranium mine in our beautiful but
frequently flooded Southside Virginia

Seventeen black ministers signed a resolution requesting a permanent
ban on uranium mining in Virginia.

Roanoke pastor: uranium mining is bad news for Va.By Ralph Berrier
Jr.The Roanoke Times  January 4, 2013
A coalition of black ministers from the Roanoke Valley and Southside
Virginia spoke out today in Roanoke against lifting Virginia’s ban on
uranium mining, citing what they believe would be disproportionate
negative consequences on minority populations should the ban be
lifted.

State lawmakers are considering ending the 30-year moratorium on
uranium mining, as Virginia Uranium Inc. hopes to mine one of the
world’s largest known uranium deposits in Pittsylvania County.

“I feel … that it would be a tragic mistake for the Virginia General
Assembly to even consider allowing Virginia Uranium Inc., or whater
it’s called today, to open a uranium mine in our beautiful but
frequently flooded Southside Virginia,” said Roanoke city councilman
Sherman Lea, who spoke during a 35-minute press conference in
Roanoke’s council chambers……