Denison Mines announced plans to start operations at their "Arizona #1" mine in north-central Arizona in the first quarter of 2010. The mine is the first of four that the company hopes to develop sequentially. It is expected to produce 856,763 pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) over 3 years. [right, headframe, Arizona #1. Credit, Denison Mines]
The mine will be an underground operation of a breccia pipe, using an existing 1252 foot deep 2-compartment shaft. Mining will be done 4 days per week, at a rate of 335 tons per day. The ore will be hauled by truck to the companies White Mesa mill near Blanding, Utah. The mine will employ 32 people.