DENVER—In a July 31 story about a lawsuit over uranium mining, The Associated Press erroneously described the upsurge in requests submitted to the federal Bureau of Land Management involving uranium reserves on federal land in Colorado controlled by the BLM.
The 10,730 requests submitted to the BLM in 2007, 5,205 in 2006 and 120 in 2003 were claims to permit individuals or companies to use a parcel of federal land to explore for uranium and possibly build a mine. These were not applications to begin development of mines.
In 2004, the BLM received one application for commercial-scale uranium development, known as “mining plans of operation.” It received no such applications in 2003 or in 2005-2007.
In 2007, the BLM received 25 “mining exploration notices of intent,” indicating someone may plan noncommercial mining on fewer than five acres. It received five such notices in 2006, eight in 2005, and none in 2003 and 2004.
