RAPID CITY - A Rapid City judge has ruled that drilling exploration holes for uranium can continue north of Edgemont.

Circuit Judge Jack Delaney upheld the exploration permit issued to Powertech Uranium Corp. by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Defenders of the Black Hills, a Rapid City-based environmental group, had challenged the permit, arguing that the DENR did not follow its own procedures issuing the permit and that exploration holes might put groundwater at risk.

Circuit Judge Jack Delaney wrote in his decision that Defenders of the Black Hills had taken a "flock-shooting philosophy common to groups which do not want a proposal to proceed under any circumstances whatsoever."

Delaney said none of the group's arguments were valid.

"We knew these allegations had no merit, but it's nice to have that knowledge affirmed so strongly by Judge Delaney," Powertech spokesman Mark Hollenbeck, who also lives in the area, said.

"We're not surprised," Defenders of the Black Hills spokeswoman Charmaine White Face said. White Face said she hadn't seen the ruling yet. "It will always be an uphill battle going against a mining company in South Dakota. However, we're not through yet."

Powertech's exploration permit allows the company to drill 155 exploration holes near the tiny ranch communities of Dewey and Burdock.

Hollenbeck said about half the exploration holes had been drilled.

Powertech might apply for a mining permit as early as next fall, Hollenbeck said. That will require approval from the state, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The company plans to use a mining method called "in-situ recovery," in which a solution of water, bicarbonate and oxygen is pumped into the ore body through injection wells. The solution bonds with the uranium, then the "pregnant solution" is pumped out through recovery wells. The uranium is extracted from the solution, which is then re-used.

Powertech could employ 70 to 100 people in the Dewey-Burdock area, Hollenbeck said.

Powertech also is exploring two eastern Wyoming sites, near Aladdin and on the Dewey Terrace. The company also recently acquired rights to explore for uranium near Plum Creek, 8 miles south of Edgemont.

Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com