The mid-term elections will dominate headlines next week, but before the polls open, another issue important to western Virginia will be in the Washington spotlight.

On Monday morning, the Supreme Court will take up Virginia's ban on uranium mining.

The Justices agreed to hear Virginia Uranium's challenge back in May, but this case has been brewing since the late 70s.

That's when the Marline Corporation was testing what is now believed to be the largest deposit of uranium in the United States.

Those early efforts to mine the Coles Hill property in Pittsylvania County stalled, and Virginia's moratorium has precluded uranium mining ever since.

But now, the Supreme Court is weighing in.

"We feel optimistic the findings will be in our favor," Virginia Uranium CEO Walter Coles Jr. told us recently.

The company will argue that federal law pre-empts Virginia's mining moratorium, that concerns about uranium milling and tailings management are the responsibility of the federal government and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The state will argue that the ban is valid

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring addressed the issue during a recent visit to Danville.

"Virginia has always had the power whether to allow uranium mining within its borders," Herring said, "and the federal government should not trample on that right."

The oral arguments in the Virginia Uranium case are scheduled at 11 o'clock Monday morning. WDBJ7 plans to cover the hearing, and gather reaction afterwards.