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Re: News Release - Monday, December 19, 2011
National Academy of Sciences Study road map for safe uranium
production at Coles Hill in Virginia
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NR 11-15
Virginia Energy Resources Inc.
(TSX.V: VAE) (OTCQX: VAERF) is pleased
to report that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study was
released today and concludes that by employing best practices that have
been in place in the uranium producing districts of Canada and the
United States for the past twenty years will provide sufficient
mitigation of environmental and health concerns in Virginia.
"The study provides a clear road map for creating safe uranium
production at Coles Hill," said Walter Coles Jr., President and CEO of
Virginia Energy Resources.
"The study shows that major technological
and regulatory advances over the past 30 years have dramatically
improved the environmental and public health performance of the uranium
mining and milling industry," Coles continued.
"We are committed to
adopting the best practices and regulatory requirements identified by
the NAS to ensure protection of the environment and public health."
The report, in particular, provides the road map for how Virginia can
design a regulatory structure to provide oversight for safe uranium
mining.
The recommendations rely heavily on the track record of modern
uranium mining operations in Canada and the United States, which have
been proven successful at managing many of the environmental and health
risks associated with the industry.
The report singles out the impact
of lined, below-grade tailings disposal and improvement of underground
ventilation as having a significant impact on preserving water quality
and worker safety.
"We fully intend to implement these state-of-the-art
practices at Coles Hill," commented Coles.
The NAS study recommends that Virginias regulatory program embrace the
stringent ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) standard for impacts
on public health and the environment.
The report suggests that adopting
such a standard would allow the states regulations to be continuously
updated and improved to reflect the most advanced practices available.
In addition to this broad recommendation, there are six specific
suggestions made by the study committee:
The NAS report acknowledges that after the moratorium is lifted it will
take a number of years before the Coles Hill project could receive all
the necessary permits to begin operating.
This proposed timeline in the
NAS study is not a set-back for the project but well within the normal
time-frames for a mining project of this nature.
"Our company is
confident that this lengthy timeframe will allow the General Assembly,
state and federal agencies and community residents to thoroughly
examine every aspect of this issue and make sure that regulations are
in place and best practices are fully adopted to protect the health and
well-being of our community," said Coles Hill Project Manager, Patrick
Wales.
Figure 8.1 from the NAS report identifies a potential timeline
for the project.
1.
Ensure that the life-cycle costs as well as long term stewardship
needs are reflected in the type of, and amount of, the financial surety.
2.
Ensure that inspection and enforcement tools are transparent,
practical, sufficient, available, independent and sustainable.
3.
While the development of this new regulatory structure could be
based on existing laws, the optimum approach would be for an
entirely new mining, processing and reclamation law or laws be enacted.
4.
Effective interagency integration and coordination.
5.
Active engagement in the regulatory processes of the U.S.
Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to
ensure good federal/state coordination.
Additionally, considerable
international expertise and knowledge in regulatory best practices
should be sought.
6.
Include the modern best practice of requiring an environmental
impact assessment prior to the commencement of any mining activities.
The NAS report comments that "tailings impoundment sites will be safe
for at least 200 years..." Wales added "that the underlying geology at
the Coles Hill site is a very hard granite rock, which has remained
unchanged for the last 400 million years.
This kind of setting will
help ensure the safety and maintenance of our tailings facilities
beyond the 200-1,000 year requirement specified by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission." The NAS study notes that "analyses of the Coles
Hill uranium deposit suggests it is relatively low in sulfide minerals
(0.04-0.05%)," thus the risk for acid rock drainage from the tailings
or overburden is substantially reduced.
The study findings were presented to the Uranium Mining Subcommittee of
the Virginia Coal & Energy Commission by the study committees chair,
Dr.
Paul Locke, Director of the Public Health Program and Department of
Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg
School of Public Health.
"It is clear from what we heard today that the committee took a serious
look at the lessons learned from the history of the uranium mining
industry around the world and sought to apply those lessons to the
direction Virginia should take in the future," said Coles.
"As a
company, we are dedicated to absorbing those lessons and ensuring that
the mistakes of the past are not repeated in Virginia.
That is why we
have committed our company to learning all we can about the best, most
effective practices used around the world to protect our workers and
safeguard the health of our community."
About Virginia Energy Resources Inc.
Virginia Energy Resources Inc.
is a uranium development and exploration
company that holds a 29% stake in the advanced stage Coles Hill uranium
project in Virginia.
The Company is also pursuing active exploration
programs in the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan and in the Otish Basin
of Quebec.
Virginia Energy Resources Inc.
trades on the TSX Venture
Exchange under the symbol VAE and on the OTCQX under the symbol VAERF.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
VIRGINIA ENERGY RESOURCES INC.
Walter Coles Jr., President & CEO
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory
Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under
applicable Canadian securities legislation.
All statements other than
statements of historical fact included in this release, including,
without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of
the Company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks
and uncertainties.
There can be no assurance that such statements will
prove to be accurate and actual results and future results, events and
objectives could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the Companys expectations include exploration and
other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the
Company with securities regulators.
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Copyright (c) 2011 VIRGINIA ENERGY RESOURCES INC.
(VAE) All rights
reserved.
For more information visit our website at
http://www.virginiaenergyresources.com/ or send
mailto:
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