SIC 1094 Uranium-Radium-Vanadium Ores
SIC 1094
This category covers establishments primarily engaged in mining, milling, or otherwise preparing uranium, radium, or vanadium ores.
212291
Uranium-Radium-Vanadium Ore Mining
Domestic uranium mining was essentially a dying industry, no longer kept afloat by the military demand that launched mining in the 1940s, nor the commercial nuclear power industry that provided the major source of more recent demand. In 1992, production of uranium ore from underground mines fell near zero, with any production of uranium coming from byproducts. As an indication of the collapse of uranium mining, total mine production peaked in 1980 at 21,850 tons of ore before declining to 1,550 tons in 1995; 1992 marked the first year since 1948—when uranium mining was initiated in the United States—that no new ore was mined from underground mines. In 2001, the United States mined 1,300 tons of uranium. Current U.S. demand for uranium is about 22,550 tons per year, of which less than 6 percent is met by new domestic production. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2001 only three commercial uranium mines were active. That trend continued into 2002, with uranium production falling to 919 tons. Total production in 2003 declined further to 846 tons.
According to a 2004 summary report released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States uranium industry resulted in favorable results across all aspects of production, including increased employment. This was significant for an industry that had been dormant since 1998.
During 2004 the total number of establishments primarily engaged in mining, milling, or otherwise preparing uranium, radium, or vanadium ores numbered fifty-four, employing about 554 workers. Uranium mining dominated the industry controlling 75 percent of the market. States representing the majority of mining or milling operations were Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas. Together, they shared about 60 percent of the market. Other significant states included New Mexico, Utah, Maryland, and Washington.
In 1987 approximately 101 establishments were engaged in the extraction of uranium, radium, and vanadium ores from mines in the United States. These establishments employed about 2,300 workers who produced approximately $268 million worth of ores. The number of employees had dropped to 1,200 by 1992 (48 percent below the 1987 total) and then to about 700 (70 percent below the 1987 total) by 1997. Value added through mining increased in 1997 to $90.0 million, as compared with $69.4 million in 1992; the 1997 figure was a substantial decline, however, from the 1987 value of $174.7 million. Furthermore, these figures were down sharply from the 1982 census, when output value was $223.9 million, value added was $578.8 million, and the industry employed 10,500 workers. Industry shipments totaled $103.2 million in 1997.
The collapse of uranium production in the early to mid-1990s was an intensification of the steady decline of U.S. uranium mining since the late 1970s. Import pressure remained strong. In fact, 83 percent of U.S. demand for uranium was satisfied through imports in 1998—imports as a share of domestic consumption rose from a low of 26 percent in 1983 to 51 percent in 1988, 45 percent in 1989, and 80 percent in 1990—mostly from low-cost producers, such as Canada and Australia. Net imports fluctuated around zero in the 1960s and 1970s, as the government tried to maintain self-sufficiency, but the U.S. market was swamped by imports in the 1980s. In 1998 Canada supplied 34 percent of the United States' foreign-origin uranium, while Russia supplied 14 percent, Australia supplied 13 percent, and South Africa and Uzbekistan both supplied 6 percent. The United States sold 15.1 million pounds of uranium to foreign suppliers and utilities in 1998, 11 percent less than 1997.
In addition to the relatively high cost of mining uranium in the United States, which has hurt the industry's competitive position worldwide, the U.S. uranium industry has always relied heavily on federal government subsidies and protection to keep its markets afloat. Thus, as federal support for the industry was gradually removed, the industry's viability quickly came into question. Because uranium is a one-market commodity, the fall in nuclear-powered electricity generation negatively affected the uranium market. Even uranium inventories held by U.S. utilities continued to fall in the early 1990s. This growing supply-demand gap has sent prices plummeting, creating, from the industry's perspective if not a social perspective, unwanted additions to inventories from nuclear disarmament.
The federal government remains a primary producer and purchaser of uranium ores. To counteract the import dependency, the United States instituted restrictions on imports from former Eastern Bloc countries—mainly Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Radium is a white metal that does not occur in a free state; it must be refined from pitchblende and occurs naturally only as a disintegration product in the radioactive decay of thorium, uranium, or actinium. Radium itself continues to decay into radon, bismuth, polonium, lead, or thallium. Radium was important for radiation treatment of cancer, but it has been replaced by other isotopes that can be produced at a lower cost and have greater effectiveness in treatment. It was also used for petroleum prospecting but has been replaced in this application. Radium coating of instrument dials and clock faces to make them glow in the dark ceased in the 1930s, when the toxicity of the paint was found to cause cancer and anemia in workers.
Vanadium, a mineral that is found in the same ores as uranium, is primarily a one-market commodity used as an alloy in iron and steel. Small amounts of vanadium can produce high-strength steel for bridges, buildings, pipelines, and automobiles due to the weight savings it brings to these applications. Steel production, which typically accounts for about 90 percent of vanadium demand, began its recovery in the first half of 1992. Vanadium consumption in the United States for the first half of 1995 increased about 10 percent over that in the same period of 1994. Though consumption in the tool steel sector fell 16 percent, consumption in the full alloy sector was up 9 percent. With the cost and mining of vanadium so intertwined with uranium, both industries are strongly affected by U.S. government policy. Vanadium is also seen as a strategic and critical mineral for defense, energy, and transportation industries, and thus import dependence is a perennial concern. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in 1998 carbon steel accounted for 38 percent of domestic vanadium consumption (an estimated 4,700 metric tons), high-strength low-alloy steel accounted for 20 percent, full alloy steel comprised 19 percent, and tool steel accounted for 10 percent.
Vanadium and uranium are mined together, then separated by liquid extraction techniques. Columbrium, manganese, molybdenum, titanium, and tungsten can be substituted for vanadium to some degree and in some applications. While it is difficult to establish specific reserves, the largest reserves of vanadium are found in South Africa, China, the former Soviet Union, Australia, and the United States. Vanadium resources in the United States are sufficient to satisfy domestic needs. Nevertheless, foreign suppliers met a substantial portion of vanadium demand. In 1998 South Africa controlled 89 percent of the vanadium pentoxide market, China held a 6 percent market share, and Russia had 4 percent of the market.
Eight U.S. companies mined or milled vanadium in 1998. Raw materials used in milling vanadium included Idaho ferrophosphorus slag, petroleum residues, spent catalysts, utility ash, and vanadium-bearing iron slab. End-use distribution of vanadium from U.S. plants goes to transportation, which used 30 percent, the machinery and tools industry bought 27 percent of output, and building and heavy construction, 22 percent, among others. Vanadium averaged $4 per pound in 1998.
In 1997, 29 operations employed about 700 people who were engaged in the production of uranium, radium, and vanadium ores. Per production worker, the average value added in 1997 was...
To continue reading
Request your trial