Uranium Energy Corp. Finalizes $175M Buyout Of Wyoming Processing Plant

Link to Cowboy State Daily article Dec. 10, 2024: https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/12/09/uranium-energy-crop-finalizes-175m-buyout-of-wyoming-processing-plant/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=ku18iP7TTP_UKDSqNsCv0LuhMaMwtigIGUr5XOa2B1JzKEVMcLRf7xDxKlsMXHpO.UXPtrV
Uranium Energy Corp. has finalized a $175 million buyout of Rio Tinto’s Wyoming assets, which includes its Sweetwater County processing plant. The sale gives Uranium Energy the nation’s largest production capacity of uranium.
It’s official. Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) has finalized its acquisition of global mining company Rio Tinto’s former Wyoming uranium assets. The move makes UEC’s production capacity the nation’s largest.

UEC can now produce up to 12.1 million pounds of uranium annually, the company says, including 8.1 million pounds that can be produced in Wyoming. Its remaining U.S. capacity comes fromits Texas holdings. It also has assets in Canada.

Uranium Energy used $175.4 million in cash to finalize the sale, which, in addition to mining and exploration rights on thousands of acres of land, included one of the nation’s only licensed processing mills.

The mill, located 40 miles northwest of Rawlins and 75 miles northeast of Rock Springs, has a production capacity of 3,000-tons of uranium per day with a licensed capacity of 4.1 million pounds of uranium oxide annually.

UEC already has a memorandum of understanding with TerraPower, to potentially mine uranium for its $4 billion Natrium power plant in Kemmerer. Uranium yellow cake is a key raw ingredient to manufacture enriched fuel rods for TerraPower’s novel nuclear plant.

TerraPower is backed by Bill Gates, who announced that he was choosing Kemmerer for the first Natrium plant, after Rocky Mountain Power said it would be closing its 60-year-old coal-powered plant there within the next decade.

TerraPower has promised to hire the workers from Rocky Mountain Power’s coal-powered plant, which would give them jobs that company officials say will pay as much or more than Kemmerer’s coal power plant jobs.
Old, But Well Oiled And Ready To Go
Acquiring an already licensed asset — one of few available in the nation — will help boost Uranium Energy’s production timelines, helping them to achieve their goals more rapidly, according to UEC President and CEO Amir Adnani.

“The transaction presents a rare opportunity to acquire U.S. licensed facilities and uranium mining properties from a leading global miner,” he said. “These assets will significantly enhance and accelerate UEC’s production capabilities in Wyoming’s Great Divide Basin.”
The mill can be used to process uranium oxide from both in-situ recovery – injected solution mining — and conventional mining.

The mill only operated from 1981 to 1983, but Rio Tinto was diligent about maintaining the mill, and it is in excellent condition, UEC company officials say. It’s the only conventional processing mill in Wyoming, and it includes a lot of associated infrastructure, including a wash bay, warehouse, workshop offices, access roads and utilities.

Because the mill can also be used for in-situ as well as conventionally mined uranium — assuming acquisition of necessary modifications to permits and licenses — that gives Uranium Energy flexibility.

But the pre-licensed status and the flexibility are not the only thing about this purchase that helps strengthen Uranium Energy’s position.
Included in its Rio Tinto purchase is the Red Desert Uranium Project, which, according to historical data, has 20,005 acres of pre-existing exploration and mining rights in the Great Divide Basin. Of that, 17,750 are unpatented mining claims, while 1,975 acres are patented lands and 1,280 are state uranium leases.

Between them, these three deposits are estimated to have 42 million pounds of uranium oxide, but there’s also a good chance of finding even more minerals at the site, particularly near the Sweetwater plant, which appears to have minerals that will be favorable for in-situ recovery, UEC officials say.
Then there’s the Green Mountain Project, 22 miles north of the Sweetwater plant, which, according to historical data, covers 32,040 acres of exploration and mining rights. Of that, 29,400 are unpatented mining claims, 640 acres are patented lands and 2,000 are state uranium leases. There are five deposits in all, with an estimated 133 million pounds of uranium oxide.

Two large areas, Desert View and Whiskey Peak, are likely candidates for in-situ mining, while the others would be more likely conventional mining candidates, according to UEC officials.

The estimates are all historical in nature. The company will work to verify these figures through a qualified person to the standards required by federal regulators, which involves an SK-1300 form.
Huge Global Demand, Partly Because Of AI
UEC already owned about 20 sites with uranium in Wyoming, including the Christensen Ranch, which also has the Irigaray central processing plant, for in-situ recovery of uranium in the Powder River Basin.

In-situ recovery of uranium is a process similar to drilling an oil well. Water derricks drill down far into the earth, tapping into uranium deposits. The uranium is brought to the surface in solution using an ion-exchange resin.

At the processing plant, uranium is stripped from the resin, then dried and processed into yellow cake, a method of uranium mining that produces less mining waste. Yellow cake would then be shipped to a different location for enrichment. The enriched uranium could then be used to manufacture the fuel rods that plants like TerraPower would need.

TerraPower has signed multiple agreements to secure the supply chain for its nuclear power plant in Kemmerer. The abundant supply of uranium in Wyoming is not just in demand for Terra Power, though.

UEC officials say they are seeing a huge demand for uranium right now, from multiple players, thanks to the rising use of artificial intelligence.

“I mean, that’s all you hear lately,” UEC Vice President of U.S. Operations Brent Berg has told Cowboy State Daily previously. “How all the big tech companies continue to dominate the news flow for nuclear. Amazon did three deals recently for small modular reactors. Google has made a commitment for reactors to power a data center by 2030.”

In fact, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta have all said they expect nuclear power to run the huge data centers they foresee needing as they incorporate advances in artificial intelligence to their operations. TerraPower is backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The trends for artificial intelligence and nuclear power are putting Wyoming front-and-center, and not just because it has the largest uranium reserve in the United States and its climate is conducive to artificial intelligence centers.

Wyoming has been working to innovate in the nuclear space for some time now, and it’s also working with a major submarine power plant maker to evaluate tiny nuclear reactors as one way to help augment the stability of electrical grids.

Wyoming Energy Authority recently announced a big cost-share contract with BWX Technologies to design small modular reactors that could help industries like Wyoming’s trona mining operations.

The two-year $10 million contract will assess the viability of small-scale nuclear reactors in the Cowboy State. These modular, factory-fabricated systems would be small and light enough to transport by rail, ship or truck. Each would generate about 50 megawatts of nuclear power, which can light up about 9,000 homes.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
🐸 Sarah Snyder Trusts The Plan Info (SSTTP):
🚨 Q Posts: qalerts.pub
💥 Q'd in post #2105 (My family and I): https://qalerts.pub/?q=%232105
🙄 X: https://x.com/SSTTP777
💯 Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@SarahSnyderTrustsThePlan
💅 Rumble Main Channel: https://rumble.com/c/SarahSnyderTrustsThePlan
🕯Quantum EnTarotment Rumble Channel https://rumble.com/c/QuantumEnTarotment
🐀 Quantum EntAnimals Rumble Channel: https://rumble.com/c/QuantumEntAnimals
💰 PayPal: paypal.me/SarahSnyder777
📩 E-Mail: sarahsnyder888@gmail.com
Fair Use Notice: This video contains some copyrighted material whose use has not been authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this not-for-profit, educational, and/or criticism or commentary use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Fair Use notwithstanding, I will immediately comply with any copyright owner who wants their material removed or modified, wants me to link to their web site, or wants me to add their photo.