Uranium sampling to begin Dec. 1 in Mississippi County

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, Mo. -- Gustavson Development Co. plans to begin uranium sampling Dec. 1 in Mississippi County, the company's president said Wednesday.

The Boulder, Colo.-based company announced in September plans to invest $5 million in uranium testing in the area. If the mineral is found on land in the area, Dr. John Gustavson and other community leaders said it could pump millions of dollars into the area economy.

Over the past few months, Gustavson has met with landowners in efforts to educate them on his effort. Gustavson's company plans to sample existing water wells and drill new ones. In return, landowners receive geological results.

Landowners also have agreed to give the company an option to convert promising areas into conventional mineral leases for which annual rentals and ultimately royalties from any production will be paid. Gustavson said uranium found on the landowner's property could bring in as much as $60 million, of which the owner would receive a 4 percent cut.

To date, Gustavson has received permission from 25 landowners to begin geological examination.

"It wasn't too difficult to get them to agree," Gustavson said. "It was a matter of communication. Once the landowners understood the project, then things moved along swiftly."

About 200 wells will be tested for uranium, Gustavson said.

After 10 minutes of pumping each well, a sample of the water will be placed in a bottle and shipped to a laboratory. Once in the lab, each bottle will be tested for any evidence of uranium, as well as 35 other elements.

"This will benefit not only our company but others as well," Gustavson said. "The farmers can tell what kind of minerals are in their water and the health department will be able to gauge if any harmful minerals are present in the area's water. So it benefits a lot of people."

Gustavson expects to receive lab results in January and begin analyzing them a month later. If uranium is found, Gustavson said drilling could begin shortly afterward. The uranium recovery operation could be complete by 2011.

Even though he has an adequate number of landowners who have agreed to participate, Gustavson would prefer more.

"One immediate effect is our need to show the potential for larger deposits, which again means that we must increase our acreage positions in the county," Gustavson said. "And here we sincerely appeal to those farmers who have been sitting on the fence. We are going forward, but we need your participation now in order to cover all bases in our water well campaign and not miss the wispy, chemical signatures of a possible deposit at a greater depth."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628

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