Business and community leaders in Southside Virginia called Wednesday for a go-slow approach to uranium mining, even as key lawmakers suggested moving ahead by creating mining rules.

Raising concerns about a proposed Pittsylvania County mine's possible effects on health and economic development, two groups asked the General Assembly to retain the state's 30-year ban on uranium mining.

The groups also urged Gov. Bob McDonnell to appoint a commission to examine recent studies on uranium mining in Virginia and report back on mining's pros and cons.

The groups are the Virginia Coalition, representing the Halifax County-South Boston area, and the Alliance for Progress in Southern Virginia, representing the Pittsylvania County-Danville area.

Members of the groups spoke at a news conference in the General Assembly Building. Six Southside lawmakers participated in the presentation.

"Jumping too quickly toward uranium mining might lead to disastrous consequences for many Virginians," said Chris Lumsden, CEO of

A new coalition that wants to delay
This April 2008 photo shows equipment typically used in the mining industry to explore for uranium. (Associated Press) — maybe indefinitely — mining uranium in Southside Virginia is taking a different tact: They aren’t talking about safety as much as the potential effect on jobs.

The Virginia Coalition and the Alliance for Progress in Southern Virginia urged the General Assembly Wednesday not to lift the state’s ban this year because it could harm their employees and the ability to attract employees and companies to the region.

They were joined by a half-dozen Southside lawmakers including Sens. Frank Ruff (R-Clarksville) and Bill Stanley (R-Moneta) and Dels Danny Marshall (R-Danville), Don Merricks (R-Martinsville), James Edmunds (R-Charlotte) and Tommy Wright (R-Amelia).

“We want long-term high paying jobs for all our citizens,’’ Marshall said at a news conference.

Ben Davenport, chairman of First Piedmont Corp. in

The fear of the unknown is often seen as a negative thing, an emotional impediment to stretching beyond one's knowledge, the line where the light ends and the dark begins. When the Virginia General Assembly passed a statewide moratorium on uranium mining in 1982, it was largely for this fear. It wasn't that uranium isn't valuable, it is, or that it can't be mined safely, it can. The state lawmakers were, at the time, unsure what effects uranium mining would have on the Virginia landscape, or how it would react to the very wet Virginia climate. Now, following the recent completion of an independent study on uranium mining in the state and the beginning of another General Assembly session, lawmakers are expected to revisit

RICHMOND — A coalition of legislators, business leaders and advocates from southside Virginia on Wednesday asked the legislature not to act this session on lifting Virginia’s 30-year moratorium on mining uranium, and instead to study the issue further.

“As is usual, the devil’s in the details, and it’s details, or lack of details, that concerns me the most,” Delegate Donald W. Merricks , Pittsylvania Republican, said at a news conference. “We can’t take these things lightly. We’ve got to be sure.”

Mr. Merrick ’s district includes the Coles Hill site that contains a 119-million-pound deposit worth up to $10 billion that Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to tap.

A report from the National Academy of Sciences released last month and paid for by Virginia Uranium concluded that the state has significant hurdles to climb if it is to

Two groups representing business and community leaders in Southside Virginia asked the General Assembly today to retain the state's 30-year ban on uranium mining – at least for now.

Members of the groups spoke at a news conference in the General Assembly Building. Six Southside lawmakers participated in the presentation.

The groups are the Virginia Coalition, representing the Halifax County-South Boston area, and the Alliance for Progress in Southern Virginia, representing the Pittsylvania County-Danville area.

The groups urged Gov. Bob McDonnell to appoint a commission of experts to examine recent studies on uranium mining in Virginia and report back on mining's pros and cons.

"We seek the best environment to attract and grow world-class businesses," said Ben Davenport, a Chatham businessman. "In this regard, we worry about the stigma of uranium mining."

Virginia Uranium Inc. wants to mine and mill the radioactive metal from what it believes is a 119

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) —

Legislators, business leaders and medical professionals from Southside Virginia are asking the General Assembly to take no action in the 2012 session on a 30-year-old state ban on uranium mining.

Known collectively as the Virginia Coalition and the Alliance for Progress in Southern Virginia, they made the appeal Wednesday at a news conference in Richmond.

They said Virginia legislators have not had enough time to fully analyze a series of reports on uranium mining. They also asked Gov. Bob McDonnell to establish a study panel to review all the reports and make a recommendation.

Virginia Uranium Inc. has proposed mining a 119-million pound deposit in Pittsylvania County. The General Assembly is expected to consider lifting the ban but the bill-filing deadline for the 2012 session is days away.

Virginia Uranium responded to the Richmond News Conference with a statement from Project Manager Patrick Wales Wednesday afternoon.