Uranium Mine Set to Start Operating Again

Laramie, Wy – Rising uranium prices are prompting two
companies to team up to reopen a uranium mine in southern Fremont County.
Production of uranium oxide, or yellowcake, could begin around the middle of next year.
The two companies are Riverton-based U.S. Energy, and Vancouver-based Bell Coast Capital Corporation.
Keith Larsen is president of U.S. Energy. He says the closing of a couple North American uranium mills and less blended-down weapons-grade uranium from the former Soviet Union have contributed to rising prices.
Prices that had been around seven dollars per pound in 2000 have recovered to around 21-dollars per pound on the spot market.
Uranium mining in Wyoming peaked in 1980, when the industry employed 53-hundred people in the state and produced about 12 million pounds per year.