I noticed that one of the contributors to Kip Averitt this year is South Texas MIning Venture. here's from the Susan Combs at the State of Texas.
The Energy Report also examines the other facets of the nuclear industry including uranium mining. Mesteña Uranium, L.L.C. and Uranium Resources, Inc. (URI) are producing uranium; another company, COGEMA Mining, has a mine in reclamation; and a fourth company, South Texas Mining Venture, expects to be producing uranium by the end of this year.
Mesteña officials reported that the Alta Mesa project produced more than 1 million pounds of yellowcake, a refined uranium ore, in 2006. URI processes uranium at Kingsville Dome in Kleberg County and mines uranium at its Vasquez property in Duval County. URI reported that the two mines combined produced 260,000 pounds of yellowcake in 2006. There are plans to recommence mining and processing at a Rosita facility in northern Duval County this year.
South Texas Mining Venture has submitted an area permit application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for ISL mining at its La Palangana site in Duval County. Officials there expect to have all necessary permits by the fourth quarter of 2008, with production beginning by the end of the year
and this.
On February 28, 2007, South Texas Mining Venture, LLP, submitted an application to the Texas Department of State Health Services for a new Radioactive Material Handling License at La Palangana Uranium In-Situ Recovery Project in Duval County, Texas. South Texas Mining Venture, LLP, plans to recover uranium from the La Palangana Project at a rate of 1,000,000 pounds U3O8 (385 t U) per year beginning in the first half of 2008. The uranium loaded resin will be processed at the Hobson facility. (Energy Metals Corporation April 4, 2007)
On July 18, 2006, Energy Metals Corporation announced that EMC's 99% owned South Texas Mining Venture is in the process of permitting the La Palangana mine site for construction of an in-situ uranium operation to supply feed for EMC-STMV's already licensed Hobson processing facility in Karnes County, Texas. Required site characterization studies are underway at La Palangana to allow for the permitting of the mine facility.
So wonder what the Texas Railroad Commission has to do with this? Looks like because the RRC oversees mineral exploration in Texas, that they also oversee contamination issues from drilling. This is about Goliad.
The South Texas geology is host to many uranium deposits stretching from Houston to Brownsville. Every Texas county south of San Antonio possesses uranium deposits of various sizes and concentrations. The industry is highly regulated to ensure safety for employees, neighbors and the environment. Financial surety - money put aside by the companies to ensure proper restoration and closure of uranium mining areas - is a requirement before any mining can occur. Public meetings and public hearings are an important part of the development process so the community can understand the project and its safeguards, and the Company can address concerns.
The Texas Railroad Commission, the regulatory authority that oversees mineral exploration in the state of Texas, has issued two separate letters, one to the Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District, and another to the Goliad County Commission, regarding concerns that groundwater contamination might have resulted from exploration drilling in the Goliad area. The Railroad Commission stated:
‘To date, the Commission’s investigation of your complaint has not revealed any practice or activity at UEC’s Uranium Exploration Permit No. 123 that is out of compliance with the Texas Uranium Mining Regulations or the Uranium Surface Mining and Reclamation Act. We consider this investigation to be closed.’
The Company also confirms that it is in compliance with Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) surface drill-hole site restoration procedures. As reported in the Company’s release dated May 16, 2007, the RRC had issued a notice of violation to the Company regarding surface restoration procedures. A visit to the project site by RRC inspectors during the summer confirmed that all drill-hole sites are now in compliance with existing requirements.
So.. Somebody (or somebodies) complained about groundwater contaminiation and the RRC, not surprisingly, wrote back a nice note to tell Goliad that all looks well.
The Corpus Chrisit newspaper says that the RRC wants to keep the companies that are doing uranium mining secret.
In response to a verbal request by the Caller-Times for information on uranium permits, the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas and other mineral exploration, disclosed only the number of permits issued.
When the Caller-Times put the request in writing, making it official, an attorney for the RRC offered a compromise in which the RRC would seek permission from the uranium companies to allow the RRC to release their names. The other option was a legal battle with the newspaper that the commission expected to win easily.
South Texas was once a pioneer in the field of uranium mining. A collapse in world uranium prices forced the closure of many local mines in the 1990s. Between 2001 and today, the price of a pound of uranium has risen from $8 to $54, sparking a new round of exploration.
The level of secrecy troubles some critics of the resurgent industry, in part because it is couched in a larger debate over how far underground water moves, and what the risk of drinking uranium-contaminated water is.
Art Dohmann, president of the Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District, said the secrecy granted to the industry causes him concern. He knows the location of all of the county's 5,000 or so drinking wells and 500 oil and gas wells, but the location of uranium exploration wells is off limits to the district.
A dispute recently erupted between the groundwater district and uranium miners after community members discovered miners were using groundwater without a permit in the drilling process. Dohmann scheduled a hearing with the company to issue a permit for the type of water use. The company disclosed it was using nonpotable water, but didn't show up at the hearing. It later agreed to truck in water from outside the county.
And an article from SA Current
