Regulator approves US uranium mill transfer

The Utah Division of Radiation Control has conditionally approved the transfer of the radioactive materials licence for the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill from Uranium One to Anfield Resources, and has given Anfield an extra year to prepare a licence renewal application for the plant.

The Utah Division of Radiation Control (UDRC) has conditionally approved the transfer of the radioactive materials licence for the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill from Uranium One to Anfield Resources, and has given Anfield an extra year to prepare a licence renewal application for the plant.

Shootaring Canyon (Image: Anfield Resources)

The UDRC's approval is conditional on Anfield submitting a surety with the regulator to ensure that adequate funds are available for the eventual decommissioning of the mill, and on the completion of the acquisition. Utah is a so-called Agreement State, meaning that uranium mining and milling in Utah is regulated by the state rather than the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Anfield will formally request that the name on the licence be amended. That request will be then be open to a 30-day public comment period and possibly a public hearing.

The UDRC has also granted Anfield's request to extend the deadline for it to submit a licence renewal application for the mill to 31 October 2015. The mill's current licence had been due to expire on 31 October 2014. Shootaring Canyon has been on standby since 1982, and according to UDRC will need to be modified to "best available technologies" before it can restart. "[A]n extension of 12 months for the submission is reasonable for Anfield to determine necessary modifications to the facilities and operations," the regulator notes.

Anfield CEO Corey Dias welcomed the news as a "critical step along the path to both full ownership of and, ultimately, operation of the Shootaring Mill". Anfield has also received conditional regulatory approval for the transaction from the Toronto Stock Exchange and federal approval for the transfer of a radio communications licence connected with the mill.

Shootaring Canyon is one of three licensed uranium mills in the USA. The mill has been owned Uranium One since 2007, but the Canadian-based and Russian-owned company's mining operations are focused on in-situ leach production methods. Anfield agreed in August to acquire the mill plus a portfolio of uranium assets from Uranium One in a deal worth $5 million. All of Anfield's uranium assets, including those in the Shootaring acquisition, are located within a 125-mile radius of the mill.

Although no date has been given for the expected closing of the acquisition, Dias said his company was "expeditiously working" to complete all the pre-closing conditions. "We look forward to closing the transaction and beginning the process of restarting the Shootaring Mill," he said.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News