Uranium Energy is pleased to announce that the Company’s Goliad In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Project in South Texas has received a Draft Radioactive Material License (DRML) from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
The RML is the last state-level authorization needed by the Company to begin construction at its Goliad ISR project.
Amir Adnani, president and CEO, stated, “We are very pleased with this meaningful step toward the completion of permitting. When combined with the Company’s production from the Palangana ISR operation, this second South Texas project is expected to bolster overall production greatly. We are grateful to TCEQ for reviewing and advancing UEC’s applications.”
RMLs are initially issued in draft form to allow the Company the opportunity to review the license and provide TCEQ with comments or suggested changes to the license. Uranium Energy Corp has already begun its review of the license and will provide TCEQ its comments as soon as possible. Once UEC files its comments, TCEQ will complete its final internal review and prepare the Final RML. A 30-day public notice of the agency’s action will follow, providing the public with a chance to comment on the license before it is finalized.
As announced in the Company’s press release on February 14, 2011, all other state permits and authorizations have been received from TCEQ, including:
- a Class III Injection Well Permit (Mine Permit);
- two Class I Injection Well Permits (disposal well permits);
- a Production Area Authorization for its first production area (PA-1);
- a Permit by Rule (air permit exemption); and
- a state-approved aquifer exemption
Once the Final RML has been issued the Company will have all necessary permits to commence construction of the Goliad ISR satellite project. Before the Company initiates in-situ recovery of uranium at Goliad’s Production Area One, the regional EPA must concur with the Aquifer Exemption, which has been granted to the Company by TCEQ.
Under federal rules, Primacy States such as Texas, where all permits are reviewed and issued at the state level, a request for concurrence must be made to the regional EPA regarding Aquifer Exemptions. The TCEQ filed a request for concurrence regarding the Goliad Aquifer Exemption in late May. EPA formally acknowledged the receipt of TCEQ’s request on May 27, 2011.
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