Spurred by record prices for the radioactive metal, International Uranium Corp. of Vancouver said this week it intends to begin reopening its mines in the western United States, including its Henry Mountain property west of Blanding in southeastern Utah.

"We've been considering reopening our mines for a couple of years now," said Ron Hochstein, president of International Uranium. "And with uranium now trading around $43 a pound - the highest it's ever been - the economics are right for us to start producing again."

International Uranium holds properties on the Colorado Plateau, the Arizona Strip between the Grand Canyon and Utah's border, and in the Henry Mountains.

The company will begin mining immediately on the Colorado Plateau. Production on its Henry Mountain property is expected to start late next spring, after the company acquires necessary permits from the state, Hochstein said. "Once we have the Henry Mountain property in full production we'll probably be employing about 500 miners there," he said.

International Uranium anticipates its properties in Arizona will be online by late summer 2007.

Ore from International Uranium's mines will be stockpiled at its White Mesa mill until late next year, when processing can begin. The White Mesa mill, six miles south of Blanding, is one of only two operating uranium mills in the country.

Although there has been a lack of raw ore to process in recent years, International Uranium kept its mill operating by periodically processing "alternative feeds" - or radioactive waste containing small quantities of uranium. Much of that feedstock material comes from the cleanup of old nuclear-weapon research and production sites.

"Most of the uranium mines closed in the 1980s when the price fell below $20 a pound," said Ken Krahulec, a Utah Geological Survey metals geologist. "And even though prices have now gone up, when you consider inflation, prices now are only a little better than those [prices] that closed the mines 20 years ago," he said.

Still, Krahulec said many people in the uranium mining-and-refining industry make a good case that the lack of ore production in recent years has resulted in tight supplies of the metal just as the world is becoming more enamored with producing power at nuclear generating plants.

During the first year of mining and milling, International Uranium projects it will produce approximately 3.4 million pounds of refined uranium and 5.9 million pounds of vanadium, which is often alloyed with steel and also has nuclear applications.

This year, the company expects to produce more than 500,000 pounds from one "alternative feed contract," Hochstein said.

Susan White, mining program coordinator at the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, said International Uranium has worked diligently to secure its "large mine permit" from the state and could have the certificate within six months.

In the past year, she noted, the state has granted six permits for uranium exploration on state, federal and private lands in Utah. In addition, nine more applications for exploration permits are under review.

"Prior to those permits, there hadn't seen much activity for years," she said.

steve@sltrib.com