Thorium Energy, Inc. Announces Inclusion in the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Update

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ — Thorium Energy, Inc., a Utah based company, is pleased to announce its inclusion in the recently updated U.S.G.S. Thorium Minerals Yearbook released in October 2008.

The publication reflects a sharp increase in United States reserves to 915,000 tons of thorium ore existing on properties currently held by Thorium Energy, Inc. This compares to the previously published U.S.G.S. estimate of 160,000 tons for the entire United States as stated in the U.S.G.S. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2008.

This confirms that Thorium Energy, Inc.’s total Idaho and Montana thorium resources and reserves are the largest in the United States. Furthermore, the company is not aware of any larger, professionally documented reserves of high-grade thorium in the world. According to the current U.S.G.S. statistics, the next highest estimates of thorium ore are for Australia with 300,000 tons and India with 290,000 tons.

Mining thorium in the Lemhi Pass is immediately feasible as the identified mining sites are close to roads, water, and power as well as to long established towns and cities in Idaho and Montana. Thorium Energy, Inc. believes that its existing reserves could be as much as three times the 915,000 tons that have been geologically proven on its properties. However, already identified and economically extractable and accessible deposits of highly concentrated thorium are large enough to supply the power needs of the entire U.S. for centuries through thorium-fueled nuclear reactors.

Thorium is an alternative to uranium when used to power nuclear reactors. Thorium has recently received global attention as a safer, greener fuel, which produces significantly less waste than uranium. Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have recently introduced legislation that would pave the way for U.S. based thorium nuclear-fuel reactors. In a press release dated October 2, 2008 titled “Senators Hatch and Reid Push for Thorium Nuclear Fuel Cycle,” it states in part: “The Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008 would establish offices at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy to regulate domestic thorium nuclear power generation and oversee possible demonstrations of thorium nuclear fuel assemblies.”

“Our nation has focused mostly on mixed oxide nuclear fuel cycles, and our regulatory structure reflects that,” Hatch said. “With the growing interest in thorium nuclear power in the world and in the U.S., it’s time we made sure our government has a regulatory infrastructure in place to accommodate this new generation of nuclear power.”

The October 2008 U.S.G.S. update states that, “The thorium and rare-earth deposits in the region were initially studied by the U.S. Geological Survey (Sharp and Cavender, 1962; Staatz, 1972, 1979) and others, including the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology, Idaho Energy Reserves Company (IERCO), a subsidiary of Idaho Power Company, the Idaho Geological Survey (Gillerman and others, 2003), Tenneco Oil Company, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, and the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The Last Chance claims in Lemhi Pass, ID, are held by Thorium Energy, Inc….Total reserves of the Last Chance vein deposit are 915,000 tons of ore.”

SOURCE Thorium Energy, Inc.