Mississippi County hopes proposed uranium mining will jump-start economy

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, Mo. — Commissioner Martin Lucas believes proposed efforts to mine uranium in Mississippi County could put millions of dollars into an economy in need of revival.

"If mining is successful here, it would be a boon for the county," Lucas said. "Is it a make or break? We'll survive one way or another. But it would help."

Boulder, Colo.-based Water Research and Development recently announced the start of the mining test program in the county. Company founder and geologist John Gustavson said mining would begin in north Mississippi County in wells that will be 500 feet deep. Farther south, wells may be as deep as 1,300 feet. The cost for each well is estimated to be about $100,000, though Gustavson said his company will pay for the construction of the wells.

His company plans to spend $1 million on exploration in the next 12 months and an additional $4 million the next year. It would be five years before mining operations could be started. The recovery operation could take between 15 to 25 years.

"So it's not any cost to the landowner for us to test for uranium on his land," Gustavson said. "While we're testing and recovering the uranium, they'll continue to be able to farm on their land. It's a win-win situation."

If uranium is found, the deposits would be recovered by injecting water into the deposits and forcing it back up through the wells. The water would then be filtered through aquifers to recover the ore.

The end result is yellowcake, a uranium powder that is used in the preparation of fuel for nuclear reactors. It would then be sold in Paducah, Ky., for further processing. At Paducah it would be converted to uranium hexafluoride and then enriched by the U.S. Enrichment Corp. at gaseous diffusion plants.

The company plans to eventually build a chemical plant for yellowcake production, which could take up to three years.

Gustavson said yellowcake sells for $60 a pound, which could result in as much as $60 million a year from a landowner's property.

He said landowners would receive 4 percent of that, with the remaining costs covering operating expenses such as local taxes, labor, maintenance, electricity, chemicals and transportation. The balance is the company's profit.

Uranium was first found in traces of water in Mississippi County wells when Gustavson visited the county in 1978 as part of the National Uranium Resource Evaluation Program. Based on that visit and the county's location on an earthquake fault line, Gustavson said it is likely uranium deposits are in the area.

"The remnants of volcanic ash from millions of years ago left behind deposits of uranium that have been trapped in faults," Gustavson said. "We're taking a risk, but I have enough confidence to invest a million dollars with faith that a uranium source is there.

"But not everyone will have uranium on their land," he said. "It's like oil, where some places one landowner may have lots of it and his neighbor may not have any. But for the ones who do, it could change their lives for the better."

But first he must get approval by landowners to mine on their property.

Already Gustavson has received permission from 20 landowners to begin geological examination. This will allow his company to use the land to sample existing water wells and drill new ones.

In return, his company gives landowners data and geological interpretation. The landowners have also agreed to give the company the option to lease their mineral rights toward possible mining.

"This is the Show Me State, and landowners want to have all their questions answered," Gustavson said. "We need to have enough support from the community in order to go through with this. And I think we're getting to that point."

McIvan Jones of East Prairie, Mo., was the first landowner to allow Gustavson's company to build wells on 1,000 acres of his 2,500-acre property. If uranium is found, Jones said, his life could be changed forever.

"For me it's a no-lose situation because it won't cost us farmers anything," he said. "Plus, raising crops have been difficult for farmers in this area. If uranium is discovered and mined, the revenue from that would be enough where we wouldn't have to worry about that anymore. It would boost revenue for our county, which hasn't had much going for it lately."

Bruce Domazlicky, an economist and business professor at Southeast Missouri State University, said while it is difficult to accurately forecast the effect of the uranium project, the additional money created would be welcome news for a region that reported second-quarter unemployment figures of 6.6 percent.

"With higher income in the region, more spending would occur, which would lead to higher sales tax receipts," Domazlicky said. "But these are just general impacts; without more information, it is not possible to estimate the ultimate impact."

Lucas said farmers are looking for hope and believes uranium could be their answer.

"If uranium is found, it'll bring in a tremendous amount of revenue here in a time when we desperately need industry," Lucas said. "With the way the farm economy is here and just about everywhere else in the region, this would be another source of income for the beleaguered farmer.

"Our farmers are facing a bleak economic picture right now," he said. "They're grasping to something else right now, and we hope this is successful."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628

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