Mineral boom widening

Spurred by uranium prices that have more than doubled in two years, a handful of mining companies are beginning to give Nevada uranium deposits a second look.

The state never has been a big uranium producer like its neighbors to the east Utah, Colorado and New Mexico but geologists long have known of deposits that might be mined commercially if the price is right.

Now some companies believe the price is getting to that point.

Mecantile Gold Co., a Denver company, said a few days ago that it's begun a major program to stake uranium claims in Nevada.

The publicly traded company's press release was light on details, and executives didn't respond to a request for more information.

But the company said it hired a crew to stake at least 60 claims on federal land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

The BLM's Nevada office said last week it hasn't seen any uranium-related activity from Mercantile Gold or anyone else, for that matter for a number of years.

Mercantile Gold said new electromagnetic surveys and samples plus a fresh look at old U.S.

Geological Survey data gave geologists reasons for optimism about what it called "a significant area of open ground in Nevada hosting uranium mineralization." Mercantile Gold, formed only a year ago, is one of the many junior mining companies that hope to discover a sizable deposit of minerals usually gold in the state and sell it off to one of the major minerals-producing companies.

It's driven by steadily increasing prices.

Spot prices for uranium now stand at about $23 a pound, after reaching a low point of $7 in 2000.

In 1979, uranium prices peaked at $43 a pound.

While Nevada historically hasn't produced much uranium even when prices are at their highest, the long-closed Apex Mine south of Austin produced about 13,000 tons of uranium ore in the middle of the 20th century.

That's about half the state's total historical production.

Other deposits are known to exist near McDermitt along the Oregon border north of Winnemucca and in the Hog Ranch Mine area west of Gerlach in northern Washoe County, says Alan Coyner, administrator of the Nevada Division of Minerals.

In fact, the gold deposits at Hog Ranch which are getting a renewed look these days were discovered in 1980 by an exploration team looking for uranium.

Uranium isn't the only mineral getting a new look in Nevada as prices continue to rise.

Coyner says he's even heard some inquiries about renewal of iron mining in the Buena Vista Valley east of Lovelock.

Iron mining in that region has been largely dormant for decades.