Permit application in for Gas Hills

07 November 2012

Strathmore Minerals has submitted an application for a new open pit uranium mine at Gas Hills in Wyoming. The application was completed with financial support from Strathmore shareholder Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco).

Strathmore submitted its permit application to Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) and the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on 31 October. The application sets out an overall plan for the sequential development of shallow open pit deposits at Gas Hills, which Strathmore says it believes to be "one of the best undeveloped uranium districts in the United States."

Kepco took a 14% share in Strathmore through a strategic agreement concluded earlier this year, which saw the Korean company become Strathmore's largest shareholder. The first phase of the strategic agreement set a budget of $8 million for the exploration, development, permitting and upgrading of historical mineralised estimates at Gas Hills to NI 43-101 compliant resources. Kepco has an option to participate in a second phase of development that would allow it to take an interest of up to 40% in the project for an outlay of $32 million over the next three years.

Strathmore CEO David Miller said the mine permit submission represented a major milestone in the company's uranium development plans, consolidating areas permitted in the past by five different companies under six different mine permits.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News