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NEW PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES

ISL SPILL OF THE DAY

Latest major spills and excursions reported from mines exploited by the in situ leach process

 


Crow Butte, Nebraska:
Mar. 15, 2023: Restoration and development pond liner leak
July 21, 2022: Injection well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test
Feb. 16, 2022: Evaporation Pond 1 liner leak
Dec. 14, 2021: Evaporation Pond 1 liner leak
Sep. 22, 2020: Injection well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test
May 29, 2020: Monitor well excursion
May 21, 2020: Monitor well excursion
Mar. 3, 2020: Production well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test
Jan. 31, 2020: Production well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test
Jan. 2, 2020: Evaporation Pond 1 liner leak
Aug. 22, 2019: Monitor well excursion
July 11, 2019: Production well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test
June 24, 2019: Production well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test
June 5, 2019: Monitor well excursion
May 29, 2019: Evaporation Pond 1 liner leak
May 2, 2019: Monitor well excursion
Apr. 18, 2019: Monitor well excursion
Apr. 9, 2019: Monitor well excursion
Mar. 27, 2019: Monitor well excursion
Mar. 25, 2019: Monitor well excursion
Nov. 28, 2018: Monitor well excursion
June 1, 2018: Monitor well excursion
Sep. 12, 2017: 27,287 gallon spill of injection solution
Aug. 29, 2017: Monitor well excursion
July 27, 2017: Production well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test
Mar. 14, 2017: Injection well fails 5-year mechanical integrity test

Ross, Wyoming:
post Sep. 30, 2018: withheld *)
Aug. 9, 2017: 4,316 gallon spill of injection fluid
July 27, 2017: 10,008 gallon spill of injection fluid
May 25, 2017: 800 gallon spill of injection fluid
Feb. 28, 2017: Samples taken from Pond 1 Monitor Well in exceedance of limits

Nichols Ranch, Wyoming:
post Sep. 30, 2018: withheld *)
Jun. 12, 2017: 4,500 gallon spill of injection fluid (< 1 mg/L U)

Lost Creek, Wyoming:
post Sep. 30, 2018: withheld *)
Aug. 16, 2018: monitor well on excursion
Jul. 28, 2018: 1,625 gallon spill of production fluid (84 mg/L U3O8)
Jun. 21, 2018: monitor well on excursion
Apr. 5-7, 2018: bleed rate lower than 0.5% requirement
Oct. 9, 2017: monitor well on excursion
Sep. 5, 2017: 10,000 gallon spill of injection fluid (1.1 ppm U)
Aug. 19, 2017: 188,000 gallon [712 m3] spill of injection fluid (1.2 mg/L U)
May 22, 2017: 1,100 gallon spill of injection fluid (1.5 mg/L U)
Feb. 6, 2017: 3,360 gallon spill of injection fluid (0.5 ppm U)
Jan. 9, 2017: 3,654 gallon spill of injection fluid (1.3 ppm U)

Smith Ranch, Wyoming:
post Sep. 30, 2018: withheld *)
Oct. 19, 2017: 533 gallon spill of restoration recovery fluid (4.2 ppm U)

PRI Highland, Wyoming:
post Sep. 30, 2018: withheld *)
Mar. 16, 2014: 8,916 gallon spill of injection fluid (1 ppm U)

North Butte, Wyoming:
post Sep. 30, 2018: withheld *)
May 7, 2018: monitor well on excursion
Nov. 17, 2017: two monitor wells on excursion

Willow Creek (ex Christensen Ranch/Irigaray), Wyoming:
post Sep. 30, 2018: withheld *)
Aug. 6, 2018: 4,130 gallon spill of recovery fluid (9.6 ppm U3O8)
June 29, 2018: Monitor well placed on excursion status
Aug. 9, 2017: 7,400 gallon spill of production fluid (8.9 ppm U)
Jul. 25, 2017: 5,000 gallon spill of injection fluid (1.1 ppm U) and production fluid (9.7 ppm U)
May 24, 2017: 3,600 gallon spill of injection fluid (0.41 - 0.81 ppm U)

Zarechnoye, Kazakhstan:
Nov. 12, 2024: sulfuric acid spill

Muyunkum (Moinkum), Kazakhstan:
Nov. 25, 2011: spill of 240 cubic metres of production solution, after pipeline was severed by truck

Beverley, South Australia:
Feb. 28, 2012: spill of 30 - 34 cubic metres

Beverley North, South Australia:
Feb. 20, 2016: 8980 L barren injection solution spill

Honeymoon, South Australia:
July 10, 2012: fumes observed emanating from the dry hopper in the Drying and Packaging controlled area
Jan. 6, 2012: 30 cubic metre spill of injection solution (2 mg/L U3O8)

Four Mile, South Australia:
Jan. 27, 2022: approx. 15 cubic metre spill of extraction mining solution

 

*) On September 30, 2018, Wyoming became an agreement state with the NRC, assuming regulatory authority over uranium in situ leach mining, uranium milling and mill tailings on its territory. Spill reports from Wyoming ISL sites, therefore, no longer appear in NRC's ADAMS document system, while the state has not set up a comparable document system of its own.

QUOTE OF THE DAY


In an email, Laramide CEO Marc Henderson told ABC News that the technique they hope to use is "more akin to [a] water treatment plant than what most people would think of as 'mining.'"
(on proposed uranium in situ leach mine at Crownpoint, New Mexico, in: ABC News Dec. 7, 2023)

'In its defense, Invap pointed out that the Pilcaniyeu plant did not work with enriched uranium but with natural uranium "and for this reason there were no possible harmful effects on health."'
(Employer's statement in court case of worker who contracted kidney cancer at Pilcaniyeu enrichment plant in Argentina, in: Río Negro Sep. 11, 2023)

"After recovery of uranium in the mill, bulk of the material processed emerges as tailings. Its radioactivity content is very low. It is not correct to state that radioactive matter, which is highly toxic in nature, is present in the tailings pond".
(Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) on the radioactivity content in the tailings pond at the UCIL uranium mine at Tummalapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India, in: New Indian Express, Sep. 12, 2021)

"It is a misunderstanding that uranium mining can cause radioactivity. It is not true because uranium gets radioactive only when it is enriched. Otherwise, uranium is just like any other soil as it has got no radiation"
(TP Sreenivasan, former Governor for India of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in The Shillong Times, Sep. 25, 2017)

"We extract ... uranium from the formation and send it to atomic reactors, so we are actually purifying the subsoil from heavy metals."
(Kazatomprom senior manager Kalilallo Baytasov on groundwater impacts of uranium in situ leaching in Kazakhstan, in: Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 28, 2013)

"Two thirds of the earth's surface is water... the rest we can process"
(Motto of MDM Engineering Group Limited , contractor to gold/uranium miners Gold One International Ltd and Gold Fields Ltd)

"Interviewed, URANEX Public Relation Officer Nyero Godwin denied the allegations, contending that the type of uranium that would be extracted was in “salt form”, insisting that no person would be affected."
(referring to health problems, in particular from dust, attributed to uranium exploration performed by Uranex NL in Bahi and Manyoni districts, in: The Guardian, Tanzania, Oct. 8, 2011)

"the deputy minister for Energy and Minerals, Mr Adam Malima, said the mining activities would not have any impact on the people since the minerals would only be produced in their raw form"
(referring to uranium mining projects in Bahi and Manyoni districts in Tanzania, in: The Citizen, August 15, 2011)

"With regard to tailings, tailings are in fact a potential future resource so I think there's a considerable incentive to manage the tailings in a very good way with that in mind."
(Michael Angwin of the Australian Uranium Association referring to the uranium mill tailings from a proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium mine, ABC Aug. 5, 2011)

"Another woman said Arizona Mine Inspector Joe Hart of Kingman told her the mining process would make the environment cleaner."
(Mohave Daily News, July 7, 2011, reporting on meeting of Mohave County Board of Supervisors, before it voted to support rather than ban uranium mining near the Grand Canyon)

"No, that's not radioactive, you can't say that. This is water that indeed contains radium, a certain number of products [...]"
(François Sublime, technical director of Areva's subsidiary COMUF responsible for reclamation of the Mounana uranium mine site, Gabon, referring to the water covering the uranium mill tailings dam; RFI May 28, 2011)

"Mining is a 24 hour operation and cannot be stopped as a result of a shortage of available dust masks"
(Johan De Bruin, geology superintendent of Paladin's Kayelekera uranium mine in Malawi, Nyasa Times Sep. 25, 2010)

"at the mine we focus on production matters"
(Mr. Werner Duvenhage, Managing Director Langer Heinrich, Paladin Energy Africa, September 2010, in an email communication with WISE Amsterdam, denying request for information and site visit)

"This is like a water clean up project, and we are going to sell the by-product on"
(Powertech project manager Mark Hollenbeck on the Dewey-Burdock in situ leach uranium mining project, South Dakota Public Broadcasting Apr. 5, 2010)

"We're taking the uranium out of the ground, we're exporting it to be used for productive purposes, so we should be getting a medal for cleaning up the environment."
(Neville Huxham, Malawi country director for Paladin Energy Africa, operator of the Kayelekera uranium mine, IPS Aug. 24, 2009)

 

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