Jul 17 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Lauren Donovan The Bismarck Tribune, N.D.

Prospectors want to shovel 300 to 500 scoops of dirt out of the Little Missouri National Grasslands in Slope and Billings counties and examine it for uranium.

The same company is talking about building a plant on a railroad siding near Belfield or Bowman to acid treat and burn coal to extract that uranium.

The U.S. Forest Service manages the grasslands and told about 30 people gathered at a public meeting in the Belfield hall Tuesday that it'll take 10 years before those shovels-full would escalate into open pits for uranium mining on public land.

Formation Resources, a Bismarck-based box-drop for an Australian company, Pacmag, wants to take the samples from 17,000 acres of public grasslands near private land, where it's already core drilling for uranium and molybdenum.

Uranium is used in nuclear reactors and molybdenum, related to uranium, is used to harden steel.

The state has mining rules so open pits on private leases could occur more quickly.

Mark Sexton, project manager for the Forest Service, said the prospectors will Geiger low-lying areas and then sample a grid if they find hot spots.

"Otherwise, they'd be digging holes from here to eternity," Sexton said.

North Dakota regulators have been gearing up for renewed interest in uranium mining by writing regulations for in-situ mining, which injects treated water to bring uranium up through wells.

This company plans to open pits, uncover coal down to 100 feet and shave off the top uranium-concentrated 2 feet instead. Southwestern North Dakota apparently doesn't have the right geology for in-situ mining, officials said.

The prospect of open uranium pits worried several at the meeting.

"It scares the hell out of me," said Anje Cymbaluk, who lives north of Belfield. "I told my husband, if they open mines here, I'll take the children and leave. He didn't like that real much."

Cymbaluk asked Forest Service staff if it was "for" the uranium mining and whether it thinks it will benefit everybody.

Ron Jablonski, Forest Service district supervisor, said it wasn't a matter of being "for" or "against."

"It's something we're obligated to take a look at," he said.

Wayde Schafer, of the Sierra Club, said the health risk from exposed uranium affects humans and wildlife.

"Can you imagine that uranium blowing around in the winds we had last weekend?" he said.

Cymbaluk said pits left open from the last uranium boom in the '60s and '70s should be covered before new pits are open.

"No wonder so many people are getting sick around here. So many people have cancer," she said.

The Forest Service said it has no old pits on federal land, though there may still be some left on private land.

Lonny Bagley, field manager for the Bureau of Land Management, said his agency would issue any uranium mining leases on the grasslands, if Formation and Pacmag get to that point.

"This is a request to look, not a request to lease," he said. On the other hand, the BLM has never turned down a mineral lease since federal lands are managed for multiple uses, including oil and gas development.

"We just can't tell 'em we don't like it," Bagley said. He said if Formation wants to lease for uranium, the BLM will set a minimum market-price bid.

Jablonski said like it or not, it won't go fast, if it does go.

He estimated from prospecting, which will commence later this summer, to mining would take a decade and require two comprehensive environmental studies, one for general mining and one for specific sites. The grasslands' management plan would also have to be amended because it doesn't include mining among approved uses.

That didn't appease everyone.

"So we don't have anything to worry about for 10 years, huh?" asked Eric Hodell.

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