Colorado company has uranium leases in northeast Weld

A company seeking to mine uranium in northeast Weld County stressed it is not to be confused with other companies which have been probing the region and representatives said it is a Colorado company with a long history of uranium mining.

John E. “Jack” Sherborne is the CEO of Geovic Mining Co., which has headquarters in Grand Junction. While is not presently mining uranium, Geovic is involved in a huge cobalt operation in the African nation of Cameroon. Five of the top executives with Geovic, however, have 30 years or more experience each in uranium exploration, he said. Geovic has 12 full time employees in the U.S. and about 20 others in Cameroon.

Earlier this year, Geovic spent $2.8 million in landowner and mineral rights on about 16,000 acres of land in northeast Weld and southeast Wyoming. The company, Sherborne said, did that quietly, as it didn’t want to alert competitors of its intentions.

That move came after Canadian-based Powertech Uranium Corp. announced intentions to mine uranium north of Nunn, in northern Weld which brought on a storm of opposition. It was also the basis for the Colorado General Assembly passing two bills designed to strengthen state oversight of mining, with House Bill 1161 aimed at uranium mining in particular. Industry representatives worked with legislators to make the measure more palatable, but said at the time it was too strict and would hurt the industry.

Sherborne said he was surprised by the by the reaction of the area to the intentions by Powertech, noting that in-situ mining, according to the U.S. Bureau of Mines, has major advantages compared to conventional uranium mining in the areas of health, safety and the environment.

Read more in Tuesday's Tribune.