Uranium Energy Corp. was pleased to announce this morning that it has started uranium production using in-situ recovery (ISR) methods at the Palangana Project in South Texas.
The company reported successful completion of phase I of three separate development phases of the wellfield at Production Area 1 (PAA-1), with more than 45 injection wells and production wells drilled, cased and tested. Uranium Energy said it was very pleased with the water volume that each well yielded during the testing phase. Now the company is adding gaseous oxygen and carbon dioxide to the circulating ground water to activate the mining process of dissolving the uranium from surrounding sandstones.
Amir Adnani, President and CEO, exclaimed, “We are exceedingly proud that Palangana is the first new ISR uranium mine to achieve production in the U.S. in over 5 years. Kudos are due to our many professionals who have been working very hard to reach this important milestone. Palangana is one of the Company’s four projects in South Texas. This initial production is really just the first step in the Company’s regional strategy of greatly expanding resources and production in the re-emerging South Texas Uranium Belt, with the next project, the nearby Goliad ISR project, anticipated to join Palangana as a producing asset next year.”
Harry Anthony, Chief Operating Officer, commented, “The next milestone will be the start of regular deliveries of uranium-loaded resin beads to our Hobson processing plant, scheduled to commence before month-end. Shortly thereafter, we will be marketing and delivering yellowcake, the Company’s valuable final product. Hobson is a newly refurbished, state-of-the-art processing plant, and anchors the Company’s South Texas regional strategy with up to 3.0 million pounds of annual capacity.”
Phases II and III of the PAA-1 wellfield each will also contain 45 production and injection wells. According to today’s press release, all Phase II wells have already been completed and are targeted to commence mining in the first quarter of next year. Installation of Phase III wells is underway with three rigs actively casing and then completing each well. Uranium Energy anticipates these wells to come on-line and start production during the second quarter of 2011.
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