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•- INTRODUCTION <br />Energy Fuels Resources Corporation (EFRC) proposes to reopen two underground <br />uranium mines as a combined operation called the Whirlwind Mine. The two mines, the <br />Packrat Mine and Urantah Decline, were previously permitted with the State of Colorado <br />and BLM. The Packrat Mine operated from the 1950s up to 1990 while the Urantah <br />Decline was started in 1979, but ceased production in 1981 shortly after accessing the ore <br />body. Both mines shut down due to depressed uranium prices and were later reclaimed in <br />2002 by their respective operators, Umetco Minerals Corporation (Umetco) and Cotter <br />Corporation (Cotter). The reclamation was successful and the reclamation bonds on these <br />properties were released in 2005. <br />The Whirlwind Mine is located approximately 5 miles southwest of Gateway, Colorado in <br />Mesa County. The Whirlwind property, which straddles the Colorado/Utah state line, <br />• consists of 206 unpatented claims in the Beaver Mesa Mining District of the Uravan <br />Mineral Belt. In Mesa County, Colorado, the claims lie in: Protracted Block (PB) 52 <br />(Section 31), TS1N, R19W; Section 6, TSON, R19W; Section 35, PB 41 (Section 25), PB <br />42 (Section 26) and PB 43 (Section 36) of TS1N, R20W; and, Sections 1, 2, 11 and 12 of <br />TSON, R20W, New Mexico Principal Meridian (NMPM). In Grand County, Utah, the <br />claims lie in: Sections 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21; and PB 37 (Section 4), PB 38 (Section 5), <br />PB 40 (Section 7), PB41 (Section 8), and PB 42 (Section 9) of T25S, R26E, Salt Lake <br />Based Meridian (SLBM). The claim block encompasses approximately 4,890 acres. The <br />unpatented claims are on public land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land <br />Management (BLM). The mineral rights are controlled by Energy Fuels through long- <br />term lease agreements with the claim owners. <br />The Beaver Mesa Mining District has seen production of radium, vanadium, and uranium <br />ores since early in the 20th century. Numerous underground mines on the Whirlwind <br />property and surrounding land within one mile of the claim group perimeter have <br />produced in excess of 7,000,000 pounds U308 and nearly 24,000,000 pounds Vz05. In <br />• <br />Whirlwind Mine 07 (rev. April 08) i-1 <br />