Utah town and mill part of the package in the sale to subsidiary of Russian nuclear agency.
The Salt Lake Tribune
Uranium company deal nearly done
JUDY FAHYS | The Salt Lake Tribune Shootaring Canyon Uranium Mill, which has been shuttered for much of its life, will be owned by a subsidiary of Rosatom, the nuclear arm of the Russian government, under a deal that is expected to be completed by the year’s end.
Ranch has seen rangeland improve
Rangelands at Deseret Land and Livestock are supporting more domestic and wildlife species.
By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune
· December 13, 2010 11:40 am
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Canadian mining company is close to finalizing a deal that will give a Russian company controlling interest in its uranium operations, which include a Utah town, a uranium mill and thousands of acres of claims.
In October, four members of Congress urged the U.S. Treasury Department to block plans by Uranium One to sell majority ownership to the mining company, Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), whose parent company is Rosatom, the Russian nuclear agency, to protect national security. Since then, the Treasury Department has approved Uranium One’s plans, as has the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Utah Division of Radiation Control.
“Uranium One has now received all necessary approvals to proceed with the closing of the ARMZ transaction,” said Rob Buchanan, head of investor relations for the Canadian company, “and we are on track to close the transaction before the end of the year.”
The Canadian mining company has said operation of its U.S. assets won’t be affected by the deal. That includes the Utah town of Ticaboo near Lake Powell, the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill a few miles north of the town and more than 10,000 acres of uranium claims in Utah, plus additional holdings in South Dakota, Wyoming and Texas.
Rusty Lundberg, director of the Utah Division of Radiation Control, said his agency’s decision to sign off on the change of ownership was based on the company’s assurances in correspondence that there would be no changes in operations.
“Day-to-day decisions with regard to the operations at the Shootaring Mill will be made by the management of Uranium One Exploration U.S.A. Inc. in coordination and consultation with Scott Schierman as the Corporate Radiation Safety Officer for the Shootaring Canyon Mill,” the company’s attorney said in an e-mail to Utah Assistant Attorney General Denise Chancellor. “Strategic decisions with regard to investment and development of the Shootaring Mill will be made by Uranium One Inc.”
And that e-mail also said: “Any attempt by ARMZ to exercise control over the license would constitute a change of control under NUREG-1566 that would require the prior written approval of” Utah regulators.
Part of the concern about the deal is that Rosatom has sent highly radioactive reactor fuel to Iran.
Podesta Group represented Rosatom in the deal. This article kind of sums it up. “Justice officials involved in the “silent” 2009 to 2015 investigation of Rosatom include Robert Mueller, James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, and Andrew McCabe – all intertwined in the ongoing investigation of President Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia. The failure of this “gang of four” to blow the whistle on Rosatom means they must recuse themselves from any Russian investigations, Robert Mueller included. The attempts in Washington to link Trump with Russia may turn out to shine light on much bigger scandals. It is time to investigate the investigators.”
One piece said Podesta and Manafort facilitated the exchange of uranium. Then this about Podesta: “In 2011, John Podesta joined the executive board of a small energy company called Joule Unlimited. Two months after he joined the board, the Russian government invested one billion rubles (approximately $35 million) into the company. The money came from a Russian government investment fund called Rusnano.” http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/03/03/peter-schweizer-trump-vs-clintons-russia-ties-guess-who-always-got-free-pass.html