U.S. REPORT (August 19, 1991)

North America’s largest gold producer, Newmont Gold (NYSE), reported pouring its 10 millionth oz. Aug. 1 from its mines on the Carlin Trend in northeastern Nevada.

Newmont brought its first Carlin Trend mine on stream in 1965 for US$10 million. During the past 26 years, its total investment there exceeds US$850 million. The company anticipates total gold production of 1.55 million oz. for 1991.

The National Mining Hall of Fame in the U.S. will enshrine 15 new members at its fourth annual induction banquet Sept. 29 at Salt Lake City, Utah.

Keynote speaker at the induction ceremony will be Chief Earl Old Person of the Blackfeet Nation who serves as chairman of the Blackfeet Indian Writing Co. of Montana.

The Hall honors its inductees, who generally must be deceased by at least five years to be nominated, by placing engraved photographs and biographies in the Leadville, Colo., facility of its National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum.

Persistence and patience appear to have paid off for Imperial Metals (TSE) which recently announced that the Crow Butte uranium mine in Nebraska was brought into commercial production “on time and substantially below budget.”

The company has a 17.6% beneficial interest in production from the in-situ leach operation which recently became North America’s newest uranium mine. The project is considered to have potential to be one of the largest in-situ projects on the continent. An independent review by an industry commentator projects that Crow Butte will also rank among the lowest-cost producers in the world.

Initial exploration work on the Crow Butte property dates back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. But once reserves were outlined, the project was slow in getting off the drawing boards because of hurdles thrown up by opposition groups.

To get the project moving, a pilot plant was set up to prove that the in-situ extraction process was technically and economically feasible, and to assure regulatory authorities and other interested parties of the environmentally safe performance of the project.

The pilot plant began operation in 1986 and was considered to be a success on all fronts. An application was made for a commercial operating licence at the end of 1987, with the licence issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Control at the end of 1989.

Construction of the 2,500-gallon-per-minute process plant began in March of last year. Continuous operation at about 1,200 gallons per minute started in April, and is now reported to have met or exceeded all operating targets. Mine life is considered to be in excess of 20 years, and total potential reserves are estimated to exceed 100 million lb. of uranium oxide. The operation’s production flexibility ranges from 500,000 lb. to two million pounds of uranium oxide per year.

Imperial Metals Chairman Hugh Morris said the in-situ leach technology is “an ideal approach to uranium mining” because of its uniquely low environmental impact.

The process does not involve mining in the traditional sense of removing ore from a mine and extracting the mineral from the ore. Instead, it involves extracting uranium from the ground water in a uranium deposit using a pattern of injection and production water wells.

The process plant extracts the uranium from the water which is then re-injected back into the deposit formation. The process is more cost-effective than traditional mining techniques, but does require a suitable orebody and the expertise to develop it safely and effectively. On the marketing side, Imperial Metals is currently concluding a substantial long-term contract with a major American utility company.

Morris said the company is confident the Crow Butte operation will provide “a substantial and rewarding participation in the uranium business,” as industry commentators are predicting price advances in the mid-1990s. The uranium industry has been hard hit by low prices during the past several years, and western world uranium production is currently around 60% of consumption levels because of production cutbacks.

Following the completion of a US$1-million surface program on the Blue Moon property in Mariposa Cty., Calif., LAC Minerals (TSE) does not intend to proceed with further work on the property.

LAC had an option to acquire a 50% interest in the property from Colony Pacific Explorations (TSE) by spending a total of US$11 million in a 2-stage exploration program.

Colony said the exploration program did not meet LAC’s objectives for the expansion of existing reserves.

Probable and possible reserves on the property were last reported at 3.8 million tons grading 0.067 oz. gold, 2.61 oz. silver, 1.03% copper, 0.48% lead, and 7.96% zinc.

The second stage of the program called for LAC to spend US$10 million including the development of a 1,400-ft. shaft, underground drilling and sampling, as well as a full feasibility study.

Uranium giant Cameco (TSE) of Saskatoon, Sask., made a presentation in support of a provincial “nuclear option” earlier this year to the Energy Options Review Panel at the public hearings of utility SaskPower Corp.

Cameco, with uranium- and gold-mining operations in Saskatchewan and refining and conversion operations in Ontario, was created in 1988 by the merger of provincial Crown corporation Saskatchewan Mining Development (61.5% ownership interest) and federal Crown corporation Eldorado Nuclear (38.5% ownership). A recent public offering took the company public. The producer claims that within the Western world, it supplies about 10% of electrical utility uranium requirements and 20% of the uranium conversion services.

“The uranium mining sector has been and will continue to be a significant contributor to the Saskatchewan economy,” President B.M. Michael told the panel.

“In the late ’70s, the question was `Should we mine uranium?’ The response was positive. It was a good decision. In the early ’80s the question was `Should we refine uranium?’ The response was negative. It was a bad decision. In the early ’90s the question is `Should we consider a nuclear reactor?’ The response is unknown. The facts are in front of us.

“Nuclear energy is reliable, proven, efficient and safe. Its waste is small and manageable and it requires a small land area. Nuclear energy is environmentally preferable and, once the reactor is built, it is relatively inflation proof. It offers unique economic benefits and spinoffs. There is growth potential with worldwide visibility for Saskatchewan. The nuclear option provides an opportunity for technical excellence and offers unique career opportunities.

“Saskatchewan’s economy has relied on the development of our natural resources. The future remains the same. The only thing that can change is the nature, the extent and the timing of that development. Do we continue to supply the world with some of the finest raw materials available or do we move into the next logical phase where we process or finish those materials prior to export?

“In the example of the province’s outstanding uranium resource, do we remain forever the `hewers of wood and drawers of water’ for the world’s nuclear industry? Do we once again export not only the product but the jobs that go with it as we did in 1980 when the Warman refinery was rejected? In that case we exported jobs to northern Ontario that will never be regained here. Can we afford to be, or should we be, that generous a second time? Cameco believes we should not. . .

“As we look forward to the next century, some things are clear. The world will continue to choose the nuclear option. Reactors will be built. They will be fuelled and the waste will be managed. The question for the panel and for SaskPower is, `Will Saskatchewan be a part of the decision-making process or will we remain a spectator?’ The world will not wait for us; it will move on and find solutions. It is up to us to make Saskatchewan a participant in the world energy scene in the next century.”

Nuclear power, the Cameco presentation pointed out, is an accepted technology worldwide. In 1989, more than 400 nuclear power plants generated about 17% of the world’s electricity. Total electrical generation is expected to grow at an annual compound growth rate of about 3.2% from 1989 to 2000. Nuclear is expected to maintain this share of a growing electrical market through 2000. The world’s largest producer of nuclear generated electricity is the U.S., where 112 plants produce nearly 20% of the country’s total electrical output. In France, 55 nuclear plants currently generate about 75% of the country’s electricity. In Canada, three provinces — Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec — generate electricity from nuclear power. Ontario receives about 50% of its electricity from Candu reactors; New Brunswick and Quebec get 30% and 3%, respectively.

Ontario Hydro has proposed a 25-year energy plan that favors, among other steps, building 10 nuclear power plants at three station sites. The proposal estimated that nuclear power would account for about 67% of Ontario’s electricity by the year 2014. However, the New Democratic Party government in Ontario has placed a moratorium on further nuclear expansion subject to an extensive public review scheduled to begin this year and to continue for about two years.

Several countries have shown their support for the nuclear option by announcing expansion plans for their nuclear programs, Cameco said. In the Far East, significant growth is expected to take place between 1991 and 2000. According to Cameco, Saskatchewan is at a turning point today and a critical energy decision must be made. That decision, the company said, is parallel to the one that government, business, industry and individuals faced in the 1970s when the province resolved to proceed with development of the uranium mining industry.

The question for the 1990s, Cameco said, is should or should not Saskatchewan consider building a nuclear reactor?

The province has sufficient fuel supply for hundreds of years, it said. Ontario Hydro’s Candu reactors are consistently among the best in the world in terms of their lifetime capacity factors. Of the top 10 reactor units in the world rated on lifetime performance, four are Ontario Hydro Candus; of the top 20, eight are Ontario Hydro Candus.

A small quantity of waste is produced which existing technology can impound and control; Saskatchewan has experience handling radioactive wastes. For example, Cameco said, if Ontario Hydro had used coal instead of nuclear for the past 16 years, it would have released seven million tonnes of acid gases (SO2, NO2, NO3) into the atmosphere and produced 18.6 million tonnes of ashes. In New Brunswick, the Point Lepreau nuclear station has avoided the release of 335,000 tonnes of acid gas and 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. All the used fuel from Canada’s nuclear reactors fit into an Olympic-size swimming pool. Using coal would have required 25,000 times more space for ashes, while nuclear fuel waste could be reprocessed to produce more energy.