The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources is recommending conditional approval OF a ground water discharge plan connected to Powertech Uranium’s proposed uranium mine near Edgemont.

Powertech has leases on some 11,000-acres of land north of Edgemont, but plans to mine only about 200-acres as part of its Dewey-Burdock project…which would be an in-situ injection-well mine.

The in-situ mining method pumps a chemical solution similar to bicarbonate of soda into into the groundwater to dissolve the underground ore deposit at the molecular level.

The water is pumped to the surface and the uranium extracted. Powertech estimates the mine would produce 1 million pounds of uranium oxide a year for 20 years.

Petitions to intervene on the department’s recommendation must be filed with the department’s Ground Water Quality Program and postmarked by Jan. 18. If petitioned, a hearing on the department’s recommendation will be heard before the state Water Management Board sometime early in 2013.

The proposed Powertech mining system is very similar to the one used at the Crow Butte Resources uranium mine east of Crawford, and a group of government and civic leaders will tour the Crow Butte facility tomorrow to learn more about the process.