From The Denver Post (Monte Whaley):
“Time is money,” said Richard Clement, president and chief executive of Powertech USA, which has plans for a huge in-situ uranium mine in Weld County. “And unless you are Exxon Mobil and can stand five or six years of review on a project, most mining companies can’t tolerate that kind of delay.” Clement spoke before the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board, which is considering rules for in-situ mining in Colorado. This week’s hearings are part of a year-long effort to frame mining regulations as stipulated by a law signed by Gov. Bill Ritter in 2008…
Several groups lobbied the board Tuesday in hopes of influencing the final draft of the rules. Industry representatives said in-situ extraction is already safe and heavily regulated by federal and state agencies. A proposed 10-working-day public-comment period about mining prospecting — as well as a review of those comments by the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety — would add another layer of bureaucracy that critics say could discourage any exploration for uranium.