Company Says Uranium Mill Could Mean Up To 3,000 Jobs

GRANTS, N.M. (AP) – A Texas company today announced plans to open a new uranium mill in a move that could bring up to 3,000 jobs and reinvigorate the once vibrant mining industry in northwest New Mexico.

Uranium Resources agreed to buy a uranium mining company and a mill license from B-H-P Billiton for about $126.5 million in cash. The company says it will pay $110 million for Rio Algom Mining, whose assets include New Mexico properties with 20 million pounds of U-308 uranium ore.

The company also will pay $16.5 million for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to build and operate a conventional uranium mill at the Ambrosia Lake site, 20 miles north of Grants. The deal is expected to close before June.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)