Whirlwind [CO] Uranium Mine Temporarily Closed

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

GATEWAY, Colo. — The Whirlwind uranium mine near Gateway has been placed on standby, or temporarily closed, a result of plummeting uranium prices.

The move furloughed five miners temporarily, said Gary Steele, vice president of corporate marketing for Energy Fuels Inc., the owner and operator of the mine, which received its permit in September.

“We were never actually in production,” because the company hadn’t yet reached an agreement with the Denison Mine in Blanding, Steele said. “We had no mill outlet for our ore.”

After the price of uranium went from a peak of $138 a pound in early 2007 to $44 a pound recently, “Denison couldn’t read the tea leaves any better than we could,” Steele said. It’s now back up to around $55 a pound. “It’s difficult to make commitments in the face of a free-falling market.”

The move hasn’t affected the company’s stock price much, he said.

Tuesday, the stock traded at 17 cents. On Sept. 23, the stock hit a recent high at 71 cents, and on Dec. 2, shares traded at 11 cents.

“Uranium prices fell about the same time as the rest of the financial crisis,” with people selling uranium stock to raise cash, he said.

Energy Fuels plans to continue pumping and water treatment, environmental and compliance work and other operations by three people who maintain part-time work at the Whirlwind mine near Gateway, and the Energy Queen mine over the state border in Utah, Steele said.

The Whirlwind will be maintained so it can be opened and ramping up within 30 days of a decision to proceed, Steele said.

Plans to complete the Piñon Ridge mill to process uranium and vanadium are continuing, Steele said. The Piñon Ridge mill site is west of Naturita in Montrose County.

Energy Fuels plans to file for the mill radioactive materials license a year from now for the mill. If approved, the mill may open in 2011.

Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.

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