Sweetwater Mill and Mine

The Sweetwater Mill and Mine is a uranium mine located in Sweetwater county, Wyoming at an elevation of 6,650 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Sweetwater Mill and Mine
Secondary: Sweetwater Uranium Project
Secondary: Kennecott Sweetwater Mill
Secondary: Rio Tinto Sweetwater Mill

Commodity

Primary: Uranium

Location

State: Wyoming
County: Sweetwater
District: Great Divide Basin

Land Status

Land ownership: Private
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.
Administrative Organization: Private

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Kennecott Uranium Company
Info Year: 2011

Owner Name: Minerals Exploration Corp. ( a subsidiary of Union Oil of California)
Home Office: P.O. Box 1500, Rawlins, Wy 83201
Info Year: 2011

Owner Name: Rio Tinto America, Inc.
Info Year: 2008

Production

Year: 2010
Mined: 2482166.000 mt
Material type: 2,736,120 st X .9071847 = 2,482,166 mt

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Plant Type: Beneficiation (Mill)
Operation Type: Surface
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: L

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Wyoming Basin
Physiographic Detail: Great Divide Basin

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Eocene

Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Eocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Uranophane

Comments

Comment (Ownership): Other owners might include Rio Tinto Energy America and/or Wildhorse Energy Ltd.

Comment (Location): Former MAS record 0560370523 listed the access as "PAVED ROAD JOINING U S 287 14 MILES NORTH OF RAWLINS"

Comment (Ownership): Ownership record (line 3) is from deleted MAS record 0560370523. Ownership comment from deleted record 0560370138 (dated 1983) says Minerals Exploration Co. is Owner/Operator.

Comment (General): Former MAS record 0560370523 listed the contact as R. Smolie, PO Box 1500, Rwalins, WY 82301, phone 324-6667.

Comment (Ownership): Kennecott Uranium Company appears to be owned by Kennecott Corp. USA, which is wholly owned by Rio Tinto. (as of 3/25/11, ABW)

Comment (Location): CENTER OF THE NORTH HALF OF THE TOWNSHIP

Comment (Workings): OPEN PIT

Comment (General): The Union Oil Company of California (later known as Unocal) was founded in 1890. The Minerals Exploration Company was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Union Oil Company of California. In 1979, all of the company's energy mining operations (including the Minerals Exploration Company) were consolidated into the Union Energy Mining Division. The central region office of this division was based in Casper, Wyoming and was responsible for the exploration and acquisition of coal and uranium. Offices in Casper closed in the mid-1990s. (Information is from American Heritage Collection, University of Wyoming website, http://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=wyu-ah10419.xml)

Comment (Geology): AREA OF URANIFEROUS COALS AND LIGNITES.

References

Reference (Deposit): WYO GEOL SURVEY OPEN FILES [from deleted record 0560370523 = 10254660]

Reference (General): http://www.ur-energy.com/company-projects-adjacent-to-l/ [accessed 06-JAN-2011]
URL: http://www.ur-energy.com/company-projects-adjacent-to-l/ [accessed 06-JAN-2011]

Reference (Deposit): http://www.wma-minelife.com/uranium/swtwtr.html
URL: http://www.wma-minelife.com/uranium/swtwtr.html

Reference (Location): http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/uranium/licensed-facilities/is-sweetwater.pdf [accessed 09-jan-2012]
URL: http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/uranium/licensed-facilities/is-sweetwater.pdf

Reference (General): www.fmshrc.gov/decisions/commission/86040477.pdf MINERALS EXPLORATION V. MSHA April 1, 1986 MINERALS EXPLORATION COMPANY v. Docket No. WEST 81-189-RM, SECRETARY OF LABOR, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (MSHA)

Reference (Deposit): Dahlkamp, F.J., 2010, Uranium deposits of the World--USA and Latin America, Ch. 2, Wyoming Basins, p. 149-207.
Pages: p. 186-191
URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/g357j7q110q44r5p/fulltext.html

Reference (Deposit): Gregory, R.W., Jones, R.W., and Cottingham, K.D., 2010, Uranium map of Wyoming: Wyoming State Geological Survey Map Series 94, scale 1:500,000.

Reference (Deposit): ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE INSPECTOR OF MINES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 12/31/80.

Reference (Deposit): GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WYOMING, 1966, BULL. 50, P. 218. [Information is not specific to this deposit]

Reference (Deposit): GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WYOMING, WYOMING MINES AND MINERALS MAP, 1979.

Reference (Ownership): Kyle, J.K., and Maxwell, D.K., 2008, NI-43-101 preliminary assessment for the Lost Creek Project, Sweetwater County, Wyoming: prepared for Ur-Energy USA. [NI-43-101 Technical Report available for download from www.sedar.com, Ur-Energy, file dated April 7, 2008.]

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