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February 21, 2007 |
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Uranium Resurgence Adds Super |
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How important is a mining conference when two of the invited speakers are U.S. cabinet members: Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne? And upon which metal is the emphasis for this conference when another invited speaker is Cameco Corp chief executive Gerald Grandey? The theme of the conference is "The Power of Mining: Energy's Influence." Mining engineers, metallurgists and geologists will brush shoulders with government officials, academia and high net-worth investors in Denver next week at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Society of Mining Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) and the 109th National Western Mining Conference at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. “Over 4000 are expected to attend,” SME conference organizer Carol Cudworth told us. This will be Colorado's largest mining conference in decades. For the first time, SME will highlight a 5-part Uranium Symposium with 34 separate workshops. We asked Cudworth’s associate, Tara Davis, if this symposium was open the general public. Surprised, she answered, “It’s open to the public, but it’s not something the public would appreciate.” Davis explained this is a highly technical conference with the kind of workshops where metallurgists, academia and engineers would feel more at home than the cheerleading ‘resource conferences’ the retail investors often attend. Admission at $645 for the four-day conference may be sufficient to discourage the idle Looky Lou in search of glossy IR brochures and geegaw company giveaways. We talked with Courtney Young, professor of mining engineering at the University of Montana, about his role in organizing the largest assembly of uranium presentations in the history of SME conferences. Dr. Young organized about 60 percent of the presentations being made February 25th to 28th. Why, we asked, are so many workshops devoted to uranium this year? “We wanted to give support to the industry,” Young told us. “The public doesn’t know where their energy comes from.” The professor then related a story that had been bugging him for years, after teaching a class appropriately called ‘Energy’ at the University of Utah. “Some of the students thought that you just plug the ‘thing’ in and it works,” he explained. “The public reminds me of some of these students.” Having reviewed the four-day curriculum, we were amazed at the caliber of speakers and the breadth of presentations by these notables. “We wanted to get everyone in the industry together so they could see how it all works,” Young said. “That way, we can sell it better to the public.’ Young was referring to the uranium and nuclear renaissance. The 34 presentations cover nearly every vital aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle. Topics cover just about everything an investor would ever want to know about the uranium cycle, from mining to disposal and everything in between. How are materials selected for nuclear energy systems? Speakers from Idaho National Laboratories (INL) and the University of Wisconsin will discuss the power plant materials selection process. The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology will discuss Yucca Mountain, which could start accepting nuclear waste by 2017. Dow Chemical will explain the new technology of uranium mining resins – they manufacture the resin beads for the in situ recovery (ISR) process. Another INL speaker will discuss the latest technology advance for dealing with spent nuclear fuel. One of our favorite quotables, TradeTech’s Nuclear Market Review editor Treva Klingbiel, will discuss the outlook for nuclear power and demand. Various geologists from state bureaus will discuss everything from mineralization of the Grants Mineral District to Arizona’s breccia pipes. Numerous interviewees found on the StockInterview news service will present according to their specialties. Mark Pelizza of Uranium Resources will discuss the rigors of permitting and licensing a uranium mine. Bill Boberg of Ur-Energy will discuss U.S. uranium resources. Dick Clement of PowerTech will discuss the uranium revival of South Dakota’s Black Hills. John DeJoia of Strathmore Minerals will discuss what it takes to build a new uranium mill in the United States. Dennis Stover of Energy Metals will describe the ongoing work at renovating the old Hobson Central Processing Plant. Not only will company executives present, but several government geologists will compare various geologies of uranium deposits in North America. Asked about the selection process of the speaker, Tara Davis told us, “They were chosen on the basis of their expertise.” She added, “It’s a timely topic because of the resurgence of uranium as a commodity.” No kidding. The price of spot uranium is already being forecast for $80/pound (or higher), even before this conference begins, and some predictions for yellowcake reach to $US100/pound and beyond. This is the type of show where one finds many of the world’s largest mining companies and the top technical people from those companies mingling among some of the world’s top academic experts and government decision makers. This isn’t just about uranium, but for a number of commodities – everything from coal and copper to nickel and zinc. This is a conference where engineers and others can get continuing education credits, the workshops are 'technical courses,' and the emphasis is on education not hyping a stock. It is a perfect gathering for many of the technical experts, some of whom will be flying from Denver to Toronto for the PDAC, laden with the latest industry insights. |
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For more information on the SME Mining Conference, visit: http://www.smenet.org/meetings/annualMeeting2007/attendees.cfm |
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