Uranium Energy’s Sweetwater Uranium Complex has been selected by the US Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council for fast-track permitting.
This initiative, stemming from an Executive Order, aims to bolster US mineral production by expediting the federal permitting process for critical mineral projects.
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This move is expected to streamline the addition of in-situ recovery (ISR) mining methods, aligning with the nation’s goal of enhancing critical mineral production.
The company’s primary goal with this fast-tracking is to implement ISR mining within the current mine permit boundary and to expand the mine to include adjacent ISR-amenable deposits on federally managed lands.
The Bureau of Land Management, under the Department of the Interior, will oversee the federal permitting as the lead agency.
Uranium Energy Corporation President and CEO Amir Adnani said: “Sweetwater’s selection under FAST-41 reinforces its national importance as a key project to achieve the United States’ goals of establishing reliable infrastructure, supporting nuclear fuel independence.
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By GlobalData“Acquired from Rio Tinto in 2024, Sweetwater will be UEC’s third hub-and-spoke production platform, following operational advancements under way in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and South Texas. On completing this tack-on permitting initiative, Sweetwater will be the largest dual-feed uranium facility in the United States, licensed to process both conventional ore and ISR resin.”
The Sweetwater Processing Plant, a key component of the complex, is a fully licensed 3,000 tonnes per day conventional uranium mill.
With the completion of the ISR permitting initiative, Sweetwater is set to become the largest licensed uranium production facility in the US, boasting a dual-feed capability with a licensed capacity of 4.1 million pounds per annum of triuranium octoxide.
In December 2024, Uranium Energy finalised the acquisition of Rio Tinto’s Wyoming uranium assets including the Sweetwater plant and mining properties.
The $175.4m transaction was financed through Uranium Energy’s available liquidity. For this acquisition, it engaged financial advisors from Goldman Sachs & Co. and Rothschild & Co., with legal counsel from Holland & Hart and McMillan.
