A report by the National Academy of Sciences suggested it would take five to eight years to develop the regulatory framework to allow uranium mining in Virginia, home to potentially the largest undeveloped deposit in the U.S.
Released on Monday, the report comes in time for next year's state legislative session, in which Virginia politicians will consider lifting a uranium mining ban in place since 1982. With uranium prices more than five times higher than a decade ago, state leaders commissioned the $1.4 million study in 2009 to gather information on the feasibility and potential environmental impacts of mining and processing. Lifting the moratorium would require drafting a range of environmental regulations and processes from scratch.
According to the report, only the deposits at Coles Hill in Pittsylvania County appear to be economically viable. The site's geology makes it unsuitable for in-situ leaching/in-situ recovery. The report outlines a number of environmental impacts that would require mitigation, although, per instructions from the state, it does not make a recommendation on the mining one way or the other.
The Coles family that originally proposed the mine in the 80s joined with neighbors and Canadian investors to form Virginia Uranium Inc., which is pushing to overturn the moratorium. According to Virginia Uranium, the deposit lies 1,500 feet below the surface on 200 acres near the state's southern border. It is believed to contain 119 million pounds of uranium oxide worth more than $7 billion.