The uranium mineralization is composed of amorphous uranium oxide, sooty pitchblende, and coffinite, and is deposited in void spaces between detrital sand grains and within minor authigenic clays. The host sandstone is composed of quartz, feldspar, accessory biotite and muscovite mica, and locally occurring carbon fragments. Grain size ranges from very fine- to very coarse sand but is medium-grained over all. The sandstones are weakly to moderately cemented and friable. Pyrite and calcite are associated with the sands in the reduced facies. Hematite or limonite stain from pyrite, are common oxidation products in the oxidized facies. Montmorillonite and kaolinite clays from oxidized feldspars are also present in the oxidized facies (Uranerz NRC Application, 2010).

The mineralized zones at the Nichols Ranch Unit, Jane Dough Unit and the Hank Unit will be divided into individual production areas where injection and recovery wells will be installed. As typical with the above mentioned commercial operations, the wells will be arranged in variations of 5-spot or 7-spot patterns. In some situations, a line-drive pattern or staggered line-drive pattern may be employed. Horizontal and vertical excursion monitor wells will be installed at each well field as dictated by geologic and hydro-geologic parameters, and as approved by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality - Land Quality Division and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The facilities will be constructed according to acceptable engineering practices.

The Nichols Ranch Unit processing plant is licensed and designed to have three major solution circuits: 1) the recovery/extraction circuit, 2) the elution circuit, and typically 3) a yellowcake slurry production circuit. The Nichols Ranch Unit processing plant is currently constructed and operated with only the first solution circuit installed. Currently, Uranerz maintains a “Processing Agreement for Uranium Concentrates” (toll resin processing agreement) with Power Resources Inc., (d/b/a Cameco Resources), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cameco Corporation. This toll resin processing agreement allows for processing of solutions for second and third solution circuit at Cameco Resources’ Smith Ranch Highland facility.

The recovery/extraction circuit includes the flow of lixiviant from the wellfield to the sand filters, or directly to the ion exchange columns and back to the wellfield. The uranium, that is liberated underground, is extracted in the ion exchange system of the p ........