In an America, where tens of thousands of autoworkers are being laid off (and according to an MSNBC report, a situation that is turning autoworkers into nomads), there is the state of Wyoming, where Chambers of Commerce and development associations are recruiting for workers at job fairs in other states. In an America, where states projecting the largest deficits for FY2006 were California, New Jersey and New York, and with combined state deficits of more than $30 billion, there is the sparsely populated state of Wyoming with a state surplus of nearly $2 billion, and probably more next year. In an America, where Americans are daily freaking out about gasoline prices and home heating or cooling costs, there is a Wyoming whose energy and minerals companies paid out royalties of $665 million to that state and another $500 million to the federal government. Those companies paid federal and state royalties of about $2,330 for every man, woman and child in that High Plains state.

Barren, desolate and certainly windy, there is little surprise why some of the younger residents of Wyoming transplant themselves into the front range of Colorado or into the Salt Lake valley area of Utah. Hopeful of a trendy high tech job, many are abandoning the high-paying minerals jobs for an alternate future. And for those who believe Chicago is the Windy City, well you’ve never been to Wyoming. Try driving above the speed limit on Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie on a sheet of black ice sometime. You learn to gently turn your steering wheel counter-clockwise into the wind to maintain a steady course. Where else have you seen an Interstate posting signs, every few miles, warning you to return from whence you came, if the lights are flashing? The StockInterview.com editorial team did, while driving from Cheyenne to Douglas, Wyoming on Interstate 25. Yes, wind tunnels were probably modeled after the gusting winds of Wyoming.

While other states’ politicians are wondering how to keep their voters employed, Wyoming’s mining companies are scrambling to find workers for their projects. According to Matt Grant, Assistant Director of the Wyoming Mining Association, “The mining industry has at least 700 job openings right now.” He added, “Those are direct jobs. If you include the service industry jobs, for which there is a ratio of three service industry jobs for every direct job, then the real number is closer to 2,800.”

Grant explained that an unskilled worker could start tomorrow with an annual salary of $44,000. “A skilled electrician can make up to $100, 000 per year,” Grant confided. Living in Wyoming isn’t expensive, and of course, energy costs are somewhat lower. Right now, Campbell County’s Chamber of Commerce, the Casper Area Development company, and Sweetwater County’s job recruiters are slugging it out to find laid off auto workers for the increasing number of job openings this state offers. As Wyoming’s Secretary of State Joe Meyers told StockInterview.com, “If the companies are going to build uranium plants, tell them to bring their own workers. There’s none here.”

With a rising spot uranium price, and Wyoming “suddenly” becoming in vogue again, Wyoming politicians are celebrating. Grant re-iterated the oft-quoted uranium oxide (U3O8) figure for Wyoming’s reserves: 300 million at $50/pound. In the intriguing, and yet confusing, method in which the Energy Information Agency calculates ore body reserves for uranium, the higher the price of uranium, the more the reserves. It doesn’t matter, though, because Wyoming has plenty of uranium.

State legislator, Dave Edwards, who represents Douglas, the nearest town to Cameco’s Power Resources’ operation at the Smith-Highland ranch, where uranium is ISR mined, remarked on the wild frenzy of staking for uranium claims in Wyoming, “We are already feeling the effects. It’s good for the real estate market.” But how does he feel about uranium mining for those who voted him into office? “It does provide high-quality jobs,” he responded. “If there were no uranium mining, there would be a big impact.” Edwards, a former Navy pilot with more than 1,000 jet landings on aircraft carrier, during the Vietnam War, doesn’t believe all the myths about the dangers of uranium mining, “I’ve not heard any talk from any of my constituents about how dangerous uranium mining is. I think people have common sense. I think people understand what nuclear power really is, and when properly taken care of, there is no need for hysteria. It’s just not going to blow up anybody’s brain or screw up any children. We’re at that point in mining and using uranium.”

That’s quite a contrast from those who say “not in my backyard,” as was sometimes heard by the less well educated in rural New Mexico, when talking about uranium mining. Edwards spoke frankly about the Smith Ranch uranium operation, “One of the best things in Converse County we have is the ‘in situ’ (ISR) mining uranium operation on the Smith Ranch. It’s done by Power Resources, and they do a very nice job of it.” Edwards has, from time to time, toured the Smith Ranch facility to inspect the uranium mining operation and gives Cameco the thumbs up, “The uranium metal never hits the air space. It is enclosed, virtually from the time it comes out of the ground until it is put in a barrel, loaded into a truck and hauled off.”

Senator says, “There’s lots of uranium left”

Senator Robert Peck, who represents the Riverton area, and also publishes the Riverton Ranger newspaper, is savvy to the uranium industry. One acquaintance told StockInterview.com that it was Senator Peck’s earlier successes in the uranium business that paid for his house and his nest egg. He believes there is still growth ahead for Wyoming’s uranium industry. Responding to whether there is any uranium left in Wyoming after the massive extractions of the past 50 years, Peck answered, “There’s lots left.”  He remarked upon Cameco’s Power Resources subsidiary, “Their largest resource of their many holdings, around Wyoming, is in the Gas Hills. That was the center of uranium production for over a thirty year period. There were three uranium mills there and they still show 50 to 60 million pounds of recoverable uranium in the Gas Hills proven by previous drilling.”

How does Peck envision the uranium industry in Wyoming playing out, over the next decade? “I think we are going to see three or four companies that are comfortable with, and knowledgeable about, uranium and nuclear power running the show in the uranium resurgence.” He likes Cameco, that’s for sure. “I see Cameco just becoming better and better positioned with uranium mining, and uranium fabrication of fuels. They are in the entire cycle, as well as having big operations in Kazakhstan, where they will be producing a significant amount of uranium there. In the mean time, they think they’ve got the best uranium reserves in Wyoming already with what they picked up during the down period, including the Gas Hills remaining reserves.”

Peck also has kind words for Strathmore Minerals (TSX: STM). “Strathmore Minerals has got properties all around the country and the world, too, but they’re not in production yet,” Senator Peck said. “They are gathering capital and deciding where to best invest this capital, where it will have the best chance of a successful payoff. They’re getting in from the ground up for uranium production.”

Wyoming could become a relatively steady uranium producer, but it won’t be the good old days. “We’re not going to be up to where we were at the peak, when we produced 150 million pounds,” Senator Peck admitted. “We’re going to be up to 4 million pounds per year, which is going to make a solid, but significantly smaller industry. I don’t think we’re going to see the days when we used to have the greatest collection of Caterpillar scrapers in the world, out here moving millions of yards of dirt in the Gas Hills to go down 300 or 400 feet, to get to the roll fronts.”

Senator Peck is very clear about his views on nuclear power, “I think the future of the nuclear industry is very bright. I see the utilities are gaining courage. We’re going to see the next generation nuclear power stations stepping forward and getting permitted right alongside existing power plants, where people are used to them and comfortable with them.” And what is his take on the spot uranium price? “We’re seeing the emerging nations like India, China, Korea, and others looking to nuclear for a significant portion of their energy needs,” he said. Senator Peck’s uranium price forecast? “As the price keeps rising, we’ll see $40 to $45/pound uranium.”

The first stop, after a junior uranium company assembles its claims package and begins getting down to serious business, is Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). That’s what John Corra of Wyoming’s director of that state agency told StockInterview.com it should be, “Come see us early. We think we can help people a lot. The permitting process can be frustrating as all get out. Communicating with the DEQ early and often will help us help them.” Those were the advices rendered by both John Corra, and Wyoming’s Administrator of the Land Quality Division, Rick Chancellor. Both clearly announced they were eager to work with every uranium development company desiring to put an ISR operation into place in Wyoming.

We mentioned that companies, such as UR-Energy (TSX: URE), Energy Metals (TSX: EMC) and Uranerz Energy (OTC BB: URNZ), were hoping to have an ISR permit between 2008 and 2010. “For those companies who say they may have a permit by 2008, it behooves them to come and talk to us before they start gathering the baseline to make sure they got it right,” Chancellor cautioned. “Otherwise, they may waste the whole year gathering baseline and find out they didn’t sample for the right stuff.” Chancellor explained a company needs to have full disclosure of about a year of baseline data. “You want to know the quality of the water inside and outside the ore zone so that water can be properly classified,” Chancellor said. “We’re looking for all the constituents, the physical properties, chemical properties, whatever metals are in there.”

For companies desiring guidelines or the ISR mining permit application, they should visit Wyoming’s DEQ website

Chancellor, who has served in Wyoming’s DEQ for the past 25 years, outlined the baseline study process, “We classify the groundwater, based upon the baseline studies. We have regulations on how that is done. They have to restore that water to reach that class of use that was pre-mining.” But he also warned all uranium companies, “They should make sure their plan for baseline gathering meets our requirements. We stress they can save a lot of time by coming in and letting us know what their operation is about. So when someone comes in, we already have an idea of what they are planning to do.” How long does it take before the frustrating process of permitting comes to closure? Chancellor responded, “It takes about a year to go through that part of the permitting process. It depends upon how responsive a company is to our request for information. Sometimes, they may take 3 months to respond back to our comments. That just drags out.” He quickly added, “The permitting process could be faster at the Powder River Basin, or in areas where there has been ISR mining.” John Corra agreed, chiming in, “Anywhere where there has been existing activity, or existing exploration, and there’s a fair amount of data for us to make our decisions, then it will go faster.”

Does Wyoming’s DEQ move fast? “We may respond in 45 days because of our in-box stack. It may only take 3 days to review it, but it may take 42 days to work down to it. It depends upon the work load at the time, but we try to get back to them within 45 days, 60 days at the most.” Corra helpfully offered, “If some operation has an issue, and a tight timeline, we will always sit down and talk to them to understand what that is. We’ll try to work with them. Otherwise, it is first come, first served. That’s the only fair way.” He added, “The DEQ is always trying to find a way to make things happen, to enable things without sacrificing the environment.  And we’ll try to help.”

What additional advice does John Corra have for the growing number of uranium companies, hoping to develop an ISR operation in Wyoming? “The other thing we encourage them to do is get ahold of local governments: the county and the municipalities in the area,” he counseled. “Just make contact with those entities. Do the on-the-ground stuff and be a good neighbor. If you can be a good neighbor, your life is going to be a lot easier.” Corra explained how recently one overly ambitious uranium exploration company had begun staking a sub-division near Douglas, Wyoming, without having the mineral rights. That had been causing a laugh around Cheyenne in the latter half of February. Secretary of State Joe Meyer, whose office had investigated the incident said, “It was a good thing they left and don’t plan to return.” Corra repeated his advice, “It is important for these companies to make sure they know what else is going on in the area where they are proposing to put their operations.”

Having spent his life working in the minerals industry, and only recently having joined the DEQ, John Corra stressed, “We have some of the cleanest air and cleanest water in the nation. We intend to keep it that way.” But his voice mellowed, saying, “As an agency, we have some pretty stringent requirements. It is doable, but it’s pretty serious business. It’s a tough, but doable process. We don’t want to scare anybody off.”

Who will scare away the frauds and malcontents who swoop into every decent minerals area play to exploit naïve investors? Secretary of State Joe Meyer, that’s who! Some of these projects may have unforeseen bugs – something more than having an incomplete claims package or the inability to persuade a private rancher to set up an ISR operation on his property. For those who’ve not visited the Smith Ranch uranium ISR operation owned by Cameco’s Power Resources, it is, after all, a sheep ranch.

When told that several publicly traded uranium companies have plans to put in place ISR operations in Wyoming, Meyer shot back, “This re-starting business sounds great.” But he quickly added, “It takes a hell of a lot more money to re-start these projects.” His pulse on the labor market, he told StockInterview.com, “We have an incredible shortage of construction workers right now. Construction projects coming in 35 to 40 percent overbid, because there is so much work, no one can handle them.”

Meyer advised investors to investigate who’s in the stock, “If it is just the Joe-and-Betty investors who are in the stock, you have to wonder about the company. I would want to know if there was an institutional investor behind the company. If there wasn’t, I would want to know why not.” [StockInterview.com pointed out that two of the more aggressive claims stakers, Strathmore Minerals (TSX: STM; Other OTC: STHJF) and Energy Metals Corporation: TSX: EMC), had strong institutional investor backing.] Securities Division Director, Thomas Cowan explained to StockInterview.com, “In Wyoming’s history, there have been a lot of companies that were not legitimate. These companies go out and stake the minerals, whether it is gold, uranium or whatever. They don’t have any money, anything of substance, claiming they have ore value in the ground. It’s really a good guess as to what that’s worth.” Joe Meyer added, “Or really if it is a valid claim. If you fly from here to Lander (Wyoming), you’ll see a lot of little tractor scoops from fifty years ago – that’s their discovery work. They filed a mining claim. You don’t know if they found anything. You don’t know if they done their annual assessment work. You don’t know if the claim is valid.”

“We’re like a tiny SEC for the state of Wyoming, the state’s securities regulator,” said Cowan. Often, Cowan will get together with his counterparts in other states. “We might get a call from California. Recently, we had promoters bringing in bus loads of California investors to see a coal bed methane operation with a fake Christmas tree rig. We got a call on that, had our expert investigate it, and he pushed it right over. It wasn’t connected to anything. We reported it to the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI because it was interstate fraud, but not under our jurisdiction.” How will he protect investors with companies trying to fake their uranium properties? Cowan answered, “We would do the same thing with uranium mining if there was fraud. We would hire an expert, who knew about solution mining and have him investigate to see if the injection and production wells were actually hooked up to something or just there for show.”