Virginia OKs uranium mining study
13 February 2008
The Virginian Senate has approved legislation to set up a two-year study into the safety of uranium mining in a move that could herald the eventual demise of the state's uranium mining moratorium. In advance of the vote on the study, which was carried by 36 votes to 4, some senators reportedly stressed that although they did not support the concept of uranium mining they "thought it wouldn't hurt to study the issue." The 25-year old ban does not cover uranium exploration, and in November 2007 the state's Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy issued a permit for Virginia Uranium to carry out exploratory drilling in Pittsylvania County, which according to the Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, is home to a "world class" uranium deposit.