Daily Press Writer
URAVAN — Increased fuel costs and limited uranium and vanadium production forced the Cotter Corporation to close six mines on Montrose County’s West End this week.
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Powers said the company began mining ore three years ago at mines on the West End. Before the closure, Cotter Corporation had three mines producing uranium and vanadium, two mines close to production and one mine it leased from another company.
Once the ore was extracted from the mine, it was shipped to a processing facility in Canon City. Powers said the company will also close the mill once the remaining ore is processed.
“We are going to continue to operate the mill for 60 days,” he said.
Powers said despite the increased price for uranium and vanadium, the company was not able to make the mines profitable. He said the mines were small and could not produce enough material to make the operations viable.
“It’s an economic decision,” Powers said. “Trying to get the ore to a mill was difficult.”
Montrose County’s West End has been a longtime producer of uranium and vanadium. In the 1940s and 1950s, the area produced uranium used in nuclear power and weapons production. However, by the late 1970s, the price of uranium plummeted and all of the mines closed.
Over the last few years, there has been renewed interest in uranium mining. The price has nearly tripled, hovering around $33 per pound, due to decreased inventory and renewed interest in nuclear power around the world.
Powers said miner workers, foremen and clerical workers were impacted by the layoffs. He said the decision was not a “full closure,” but the company did not have a timeline for opening the mines or mill site.
Montrose County Commissioner Allan Belt, whose district includes the West End, said the company’s decision will be hard economically for the area.
“This may just be the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Belt said.
He said the county will not be able to provide much assistance given the recent failure of the county’s sales tax referendum.
“It’s an absolute economic disaster, potentially,” Belt said.
Down the road, Powers said the company will watch the Department of Energy’s decision on opening new uranium leasing tracts. The DOE leases uranium mines on federal lands and is studying the viability and impact of opening new mines on the Western Slope.
“We are actively going to look at those,” Powers said.
Tracy Plessinger, the DOE’s Uranium Lease Program Manager, said the agency is conducting an environmental assessment on the lease tracts. The agency has 13 active leases and must decide whether to open 25 other leases.
“Those we could reopen and put out to competitive bid,” Plessinger said.
She said she has heard about the mines closing but was waiting for a written statement from the company. If the company is closing the mines permanently, Plessinger said the company could be required to begin remediation work on the mines.
“I really need to see what they say is their business decision,” Plessinger said.
But she added that there is strong demand for uranium leases and she would be surprised if the mines will be closed permanently.
“There still seem to be companies that think it is economically viable,” Plessinger said.
The DOE will make a decision on the EA some time during the middle of next year.
The Cotter Corporation was founded in 1956. It was purchased by Commonwealth Edison and later sold to General Atomics in 2000.
The company has long been a source of controversy. During World War II, some of the uranium used in the Manhattan Project was processed in Canon City. During the transportation or processing, radioactive waste was released into the air and discovered around Canon City.
The company’s mill site was declared a Superfund Site in 1984, because of the large amount of toxic waste and nuclear material.
Some published reports have stated that the company wants to move away from uranium and vanadium production and into zirconium, a metal used in pottery.
Cotter Corporation President Richard Cherry said the company could not make the Western Slope operation economically viable, but he was optimistic about the future.
“Recent trials to increase mining and processing output from Colorado ore is showing promise, but cannot be implemented in the current production environment,” Cherry said in a released statement. “We hope as we move forward with these changes, the company will again be able to expand its employment in both locations.”
Contact James Shea via email at Jamess@montrosepress.com
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