Uranium Mining In Texas: Energy Metals Corp.

Energy Metals Corp (EMU) Chief Operating Officer Dr. Dennis Stover told StockInterview.com, “At this point, 2008 remains very realistic for the Texas operations.” Stover was referring to the company’s uranium mining at the La Palangana deposit in South Central Texas’s Duval County. He explained, "The permitting process is well underway. We're on track to submit the application for a permit to mine to the state of Texas before the end of this year. We believe it's realistic to have that approved by the end of next year so we can put that area into production.”

Dr. Stover also described progress at the company's processing facility, where Energy Metals hopes to increase production capacity from 500,000 pounds U3O8 (uranium oxide) to 1 million pounds, “The reclamation and renovations of the Hobson Central processing plant are well underway. The office complex has been completely renovated and put back into service. A lot of obsolete equipment has been stripped out of the processing plant, and we've begun the engineering design work for the renovation and revamping of that facility.”

Into the next decade, Dr. Stover remains optimistic about his company’s future uranium mining in Texas and on the company's other projects in Wyoming, telling StockInterview.com,” We have, from day one, an aggressive program to get into production as quickly as possible and then to ramp that production up as quickly as possible into the range of 5 million pounds a year by 2012. We remain on track to do that.” The entire U.S. uranium production for 2006 may total about three million pounds, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Energy Metals Corporation became the first pure play uranium company to begin trading on the NYSE Group's NYSE Arca system on Wednesday, November 28th. The only other uranium company trading on the NYSE is Cameco (CCJ). The company has uranium mineralized properties of various grade thickness, grades and sizes in the Western United States. Its primary target locations for future uranium mining include Texas, Wyoming, New Mexico and other western states.

At this time, the company plans to focus on the In Situ Recovery [ISR] uranium mining method. It differs from conventional uranium mining in that it leaves a small footprint on the ground. Most of the "mining" is done beneath the surface, often 300 to 1500 feet below ground, using carbonated water. It is considered one of the most environmentally friendly method of uranium mining, but the method is not completely lacking in criticism from some in the environmental movement. ISR, often called ISL (in situ leach) mining is currently being done in the United States in Wyoming, Nebraska, Texas. ISL operations are in full production in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan, and ISL operations may soon commence again in Australia.

Comments

[Spock]

The water coming out of the taps and shower heads in our home at Port Lavaca, Texas is radioactive, registering an average of 50 Roentgens per month on dosimeters. One month, a radiation spike of 120 Roentgens was recorded. Before moving here, we lived in Kingsville, Texas, where similar radiation readings were recorded (none as high as 120 Roentgens, however). I'd very much like to hear from anyone about the matter