More details from the Technical Report released by Santoy/VUI earlier in the week (see posts below). All they need to do now is get rid of that pesky moratorium. SB
By John Crane
Published: February 7, 2009
A report on the Coles Hill uranium deposit near Chatham says Southside Virginia has the skilled work force needed for mining and milling uranium.
Local workers’ comfort with farming and heavy equipment provides the attributes necessary for miners, according to the report, titled Technical Report on Coles Hill Uranium Property. It was conducted by Behre Dolbear & Co. LTD., Marshall Miller and Associates Inc. and PAC Geological Consulting Inc. The report, known as a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report, is required by the Canadian Securities Administrators. It was submitted by Virginia Uranium Inc.’s minority investor, Santoy Resources of Vancouver.
“We are all painfully aware of the unemployment figures in the city of Danville, Pittsylvania, Halifax and Henry counties, where we could expect to draw the bulk of our 400-500 workers, if the Commonwealth of Virginia decides to permit the development of the Coles Hill resource,” Norm Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of VUI, said in a statement.
The report is a reference tool for potential investors wanting to confirm VUI officials’ claims about Coles Hill. VUI wants to mine and mill the uranium deposit at Coles Hill.
“It’s sort of like an auditor auditing your books,” Reynolds said during an interview Friday.
However, Jack Dunavant, the chairman of Southside Concerned Citizens, said he is “highly skeptical” of the report, adding that farm work and mining are not the same. Dunavant, a civil engineer, said there’s a difference between driving a truck on a farm and maneuvering one in a circle around a vertical mine shaft at a steep angle.
“It’s a pretty dangerous type of job,” he said.
Patrick Wales, VUI spokesman and geologist, cited Danville’s double-digit unemployment and called the report good news for the Danville area. The report also states that the engineering and geology departments at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg can “provide high-quality employees.”
The report confirms old report data VUI had purchased from Marline Uranium, as well as data VUI had collected at Coles Hill, Reynolds said. The firms began work on the report in November 2007 and completed it in September 2008. The 81-page report was released Thursday. The report includes analysis of core samples from Coles Hill. Reynolds said VUI drilled nine samples, with some that Marline had drilled about 30 years ago re-drilled by VUI.
It confirms that the uranium ore deposit is 119 million pounds and that there are 1.5 pounds of uranium per ton of rock. The report also states that the deposit is “relatively clean,” and is absent of heavy metals typically found in uranium deposits in the southwestern U.S., Wales said.
Contact John R. Crane at jcrane@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7987.
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