".....as it seems more environmental friendly to restore the local ground water resources..."
How exactly does it seem more environmentally friendly ML? The chemistry suggests the complete opposite. Acid leaching is less selective and dissolves many more impurities than the alkaline chemistry - a well known fact. More impurities means more environmental limits to be complied with, more potential for precipitation within the ore zones and more technically demanding water treatment processes. Just because it is the major route for ISR in Kazakhstan and other FSU countries, does not mean it is more "environmentally friendly".
Further, the regulations in the USA are far more onerous than most of the current acid ISR examples (certainly in Kazakhstan and Russia) I would expect the regulatory process to be more difficult and time consuming than the original alkaline permitting process. That's not to say it won't be successful, just that it is unlikely to be any shorter than previously encountered. One could argue that it is mandatory for it to be longer since this is "new" for the NRC. Of course, time will tell.
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