The District Court of Arizona has denied a motion for a preliminary injunction put forward by several environmental groups and local Native American bands to shut down Denison Mines’ (DML-T, DNN-X) Arizona 1 uranium mine, 72 km southwest of Fredonia, Ariz.
Since the motion was denied, Denison is free to keep mining until the court issues a ruling on the merits of the matter. A ruling is expected by December 2010.
The groups together filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of the Interior of the United States and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), seeking an order that declares they have violated environmental laws in relation to the Arizona 1 mine.
The key merits of their claim is that Denison’s existing mining plan of operations was invalid and that BLM was obligated to provide a new mining plan of operations before mining could continue, and that BLM failed to supplement its prior review of the environmental impact from operations at the Arizona 1 mine.
The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Grand Canyon Trust, Sierra Club, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of the Kaibab Indian Reservation and the Havasupai Tribe.
Denison began mining in December 2009 and expects the mine to produce 21,100 tons of U3O8 this year. Arizona 1 is a part of the Arizona Strip where Denison owns four developed and partially developed mines, which were all shut down in the 1980s. Denison bought the mines in 2007.
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