Uranium production

The domestic uranium industry is in a state of stagflation. Costs continue to rise while the market for the product remains stagnant. During the last 12 months, curtailments and closures of mines and mills have eliminated over 5000 jobs in the industry, plus many more in those industries that furnish supplies and services. By January 1982, operations at four mills and the mines that furnish them ore will have been terminated. Other closures may follow, depending on cost trends, duration of current contracts, the degree to which mills have been amortized, the feasibility of placing mines on standby, the grade of the ore, and many other factors. Open-pit mines can be placed on standby without much difficulty, other than the possible cost of restoration before all the ore has been removed. There are a few small, dry, underground mines that could be mothballed; however, the major underground producers are wet sandstone mines that in most cases could not be reopened after a prolonged shutdown; mills can be mothballed for several years. Figure 8 shows the location of all the production centers in operation, as well as those that have operated or are on standby. Table 1 lists the same production centers plus those that have been deferred, showing nominal capacity of conventional mills in tons of ore per calendar day, and the industry production rate for those mills as of October 1, 1981