Texas-based company expects delivery to conversion facility next week
Uranium producer Encore Energy has shipped its initial shipment of uranium from the restarted Rosita central processing plant in South Texas with expected delivery to the conversion facility next week.
Encore is one of a number of mining companies that have restarted operations as the price of nuclear fuel have increased, driven by renewed interest in nuclear energy.
The Corpus Christi, Texas-based company also confirmed it had executed the fifth commercial uranium sales contract, with a fourth US utility with deliveries from 2026 to 2032. It said the terms of the contract reflect the spot price at the time of delivery subject to pricing collars that ensure Encore’s revenue stream and allow for potential upside.
Encore restarted uranium production at its Rosita plant in November last year and is licensed to produce 800,000 pounds of uranium ore annually.
Uranium prices, now standing around $95/lb, have doubled from around $50/lb over the past year as top producers cut output targets as they failed to ramp up production despite reopening mothballed mines and a gap between supply and demand emerged.
“With Rosita underway, we are now moving aggressively to re-start the Alta Mesa Plant, which we expect will commence production as planned in Q2/2024,” said Encore chief executive officer Paul Goranson.
The company said future projects in its production pipeline include the Dewey-Burdock project in South Dakota and the Gas Hills project in Wyoming, along with significant uranium resource endowments in New Mexico.
