The mine is a project of Australian owned Energy Ventures and its subsidiary Oregon Energy. Because uranium is a hardrock mineral and the claims are located on BLM lands, the mining comes under provisions of the 1872 Mining Law. Under the antiquated mining law any uranium that's mined on the public's land would be given away free to the mining company.
However, the resulting impacts of mining in the United States are often socialized. Some mines become Superfund cleanup sites where remediation runs into the billions of dollars. The federal government abandoned mine webpage states:
"The uranium mining industry began in the U.S. in the 1940s primarily to produce uranium for weapons and later for nuclear fuel. Although there are about 4,000 mines with documented production, EPA, with information provided by other federal, state, and tribal agencies, has identified 15,000 mine locations with uranium occurrence in 14 western states. Most of those locations are found in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming, with about 75% of those on federal and tribal lands."See Abandoned Mine Lands Portal for more information. See also the Environmental Protection Agency's home page for the cleanup of abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation.
Death Metal
Uranium mining may start in Oregon
Eugene Weekly - September 29, 2011
The Denver Post - November 11, 2011:
"... the results of Oregon Energy’s test drilling at the Aurora uranium deposit in southeast Oregon has encouraged the company to go ahead with its plans for an open-pit mine at the site, and Reynolds says Oregon Energy is willing to drop $200 million to establish the mine.
The deposit was first discovered in the 1970s, Reynolds says. The company acquired the rights to the deposit from Uranium One for $2 million in cash, according to the Energy Ventures website. The proposed uranium mine is in Malheur County, a couple miles north of the Nevada border and about nine miles west of the town of McDermitt, near the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes’ reservation. Reynolds says the company has talked with “the local Indian reservation. Our impression is that they are very interested in the job possibilities.” He says he expects the mining to last from eight to 12 years."
Eugene Weekly - October 13, 2011
See also these articles on the problem uranium mines in the United States:
Uranium sifted from groundwater piles up inside mine west of Denver
"Nearly three-quarters of a ton of concentrated uranium removed from groundwater to protect metro-area drinking water is piling up at Cotter Corp.'s defunct mine west of Denver.
Cotter workers are storing it in plastic tanks inside a building at the Schwartzwalder mine, which is staffed by day but unguarded at night.
State environmental overseers were notified last month of the mounting uranium. On Thursday, state officials could not address disposal, whether the uranium could be sold or whether there are security concerns."Read full article.
The Denver Post - October 4, 2011:
Colorado demands Cotter Corp. clean up mine that's leaking uranium
"Wearied by a two-year standoff, state mining regulators and Denver Water officials on Monday demanded that Cotter Corp. clean up a mine leaking uranium into a creek that reaches a drinking-water reservoir.
State officials also said a $1.2 million bond posted by Cotter is insufficient to clean up the Schwartzwalder mine should the company walk away...
Uranium contamination from Schwartzwalder reaches Ralston Creek northwest of Golden, which flows into a reservoir that supplies drinking water for 1.3 million metro residents."Read full article.
