Uranium in the United States is used primarily for nuclear power; however, uranium mining originally had its roots in the production of uranium-bearing ore in 1898 with the mining of sandstone material on the Colorado Plateau in Colorado and Utah, for their vanadium content.
In the 1950s, the US permitted a great deal of uranium mining, promoted by federal subsidies and rising global demand largely driven by nuclear weapons procurement programs. This trend lasted until the early 1980s, when changing geopolitical circumstances as well as safety, environmental, and economic concerns over nuclear power plants reduced demand. Peak production levels reached a climax in 1980 with over 250 mines in operation producing 16,800 tonnes of uranium. Within four years this abruptly dropped to 50 mines producing 5,700 tonnes, leading to a steady decline. By 2003 there were only two small operations producing a total of under 1,000 tonnes, or about 5 percent of the uranium consumed by US nuclear plants.
Mining operations are currently undertaken by few companies on a relatively small scale; however exploration is being conducted by many companies and joint venture projects, often going over areas that were mined in the 1950s-80s.
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The US ranks ninth in the world for known uranium resources with 207,400 tonnes of uranium, behind Australia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Russia, South Africa, Namibia, Brazil and Niger.The global nuclear renaissance has prompted a revival in exploration and plans to reopen old mines. Exploration projects have increased in quantity and scope and there are now operating mines in Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Utah, Colorado and Texas.
The US has been steadily increasing its domestic uranium output in recent years, coming in eighth place in the top uranium-producing countries in 2014, producing 1,919 tonnes of uranium. This increase in production makes sense considering the US is the world’s largest generator and consumer of nuclear power.
Most production in the United States has been from Wyoming and New Mexico with known resources estimated to total 167,000 tonnes in Wyoming and 155,000 tonnes in New Mexico. Arizona, Utah and Colorado each have around 50,000 tonnes and Texas has about 2,000 tonnes of uranium resources. With that in mind, the Investing News Network put together a list of the uranium companies working in the US.
Uranium mining operations in the US
Cameco‘s (TSX:CCO) has two US uranium mines in operation, the Smith Ranch-Highland mine in Wyoming’s Powder River basin and the Crow Butte mine in Nebraska, both of which are in-situ recovery mines. In 2014, the annual production at the Smith Ranch-Highland mine, which is the largest US producer, was 2.1 million pounds of U3O8; during the same period, Crow Butte produced 600,000 pounds of U3O8.
Uranium Resources Inc. (NASDAQ:URRE) controls about 212,000 acres of uranium mineral holdings in Texas and New Mexico. In Texas, there are the Kingsville Dome and Rosita projects; the company had a third mine called Vasquez, which produced 590,200 pounds of uranium from 2004 to 2008 until the deposit was depleted. Uranium Resources also has five exploration projects in South Texas – Alta Mesa Este, Sejita Dome, Butler Ranch, Jack Pump and Nell. In New Mexico, the company has multiple properties including Churchrock/Mancos, Crownpoint, Nose Rock, Roca Honda, West Largo/Ambrosia Lake, Cebolleta (Cibola project) and Juan Tafoya (Cibola project). The company’s two processing facilities at the Kingsville Dome and Rosita projects are on stand by for a restart of production when there is a sustained improvement in the uranium market; the two projects have combined reserves over 600,000 pounds within 400,000 tons at an average grade of approximately 0.08 percent.
In June, Uranium Resources announced that it will be merging with Anatolia Energy Ltd. (ASX:AEK), which expands the company’s portfolio in Texas, including two 800,000 pounds per annum ISR uranium processing plants and associated infrastructure.
Also in Texas is Uranium Energy Corporation (NYSEMKT:UEC), with its Palangana mine operating since 2010, its Burke Hollow ISR project and its fully operational Hobson processing plant. In May, the company received permits for the planned expansion at Palangana and made further advancements in the development of Burke Hollow. The company also owns the right to quite a few other operations in Texas including the Goliad ISR project, the Salvo project, Nichols and Longhorn.
Energy Fuels (TSX:EFR,NYSEMKT:UUUU) is the largest supplier of uranium in the US and the owner of the White Mesa Mill, the only fully-licensed and operating conventional uranium mill located in the US. The company has various uranium properties in the US, including the Roca Honda project in New Mexico, Sheep Mountain in Wyoming, the Wate project in Arizona and Henry Mountains, La Sal and Daneros, all located in Utah. Energy Fuels also acquired Uranerz and all its assets in June, including the Nichols Ranch ISR mine and plant in Wyoming. The company increased output at Nichols Ranch in July, boosting total uranium production there by 25 percent after commencing production at the fifth header house at the facility. In March 2016, the company acquired the Mesteña uranium project in Texas, adding to the company’s low-cost ISR production profile.
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Also in Wyoming, Uranium One – acquired in 2013 by Russian state-owned enterprise Rosatom through its subsidary ARMZ Uranium Holding – has its Willow Creek ISR mine, which includes the licensed and permitted Irigaray ISR central processing plant, the Christensen Ranch satellite ISR facility and associated uranium ore bodies. Commercial production at Willow Creek began in 2012 and its current design capacity is 1.3 million pounds U3O8 per year.
Ur-Energy Inc. (TSX:URE,NYSEMKT:URG) also has two uranium projects in the Wyoming, Lost Creek and Shirley Basin. In May, the company announced a new and increased mineral estimate for Lost Creek, adding 2.308 million pounds of uranium, averaging 0.058 percent U3O8 which represented a 95 percent increase. The Lost Creek project, which has been producing since 2013, hit a major milestone recently when it shipped out its one millionth pound of uranium in the second quarter. In January, the company provided an update to their preliminary economic assessment, in which it highlighted that the mine life for the Lost Creek project has been extended to 2031. Ur-Energy also owns the rights to two other uranium projects in Wyoming, the Lost Soldier project and the Lucky Mc mine site.
One of the more recent uranium producers to the US uranium space is Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN), an Australian-based company that owns the Lance projects in Wyoming. The Lance projects, which has a current resource of 53.7 million pounds of U3O8 with the potential for more, and started producing uranium in December 2015. Peninsula currently has five sales contracts set up, which were made for prices higher than the current uranium spot price. The company has 7.9 million pounds of uranium slated for delivery to major utilities in the United States. According to a March 2016 press release, projected revenue for the long-term contracts now exceeds $440 million.
This article is an update to an article previously published September 7, 2015.
Securities Disclosure: I, Kristen Moran, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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