‘Meaningful step’ in fortifying US nuclear fuel supply chain
Uranium Energy Corporation (UEC) has completed the processing, drying and drumming of uranium concentrates at its Irigaray central processing plant in Wyoming, a milestone in the phased ramp-up of operations at the company’s Christensen Ranch project.
The milestone follows initial uranium production from the Christensen Ranch in-situ recovery (ISR) operation in August 2024.
UEC had been working since early 2023 to move the facility out of care and maintenance after increases in the price of uranium. According to the US Energy Information Administration, Irigaray last produced uranium in 2018.
In January 2024 UEC’s board of directors had approved the restart of Christensen Ranch, with recovered uranium to be processed at Irigaray.
The uranium concentrates produced at Irigaray will be transported to the ConverDyn conversion facility in Metropolis, Illinois. ConverDyn is a partnership between US multinationals General Atomics and Honeywell that provides uranium hexafluoride conversion and related services.
ISR – also known as in-situ leach, or ISL – is a method used to recover minerals by dissolving them from the orebody in the ground and pumping the resulting solution to the surface, where the minerals can be recovered at a processing plant.
UEC has ISR “hub and spoke” operations in South Texas and Wyoming, where a central processing plant forms the “hub” and several ISR uranium projects the “spokes”.
UEC president and chief executive officer Amir Adnani said UEC is six months into its phased ramp-up of operations at Christensen Ranch.
Adnani said: “With energy security continuing as a national priority and the White House’s newly established National Energy Dominance Council recognising uranium as an ‘amazing national asset’, this milestone represents a meaningful step in fortifying America’s nuclear fuel supply chain.
“We expect the constrained availability of US origin uranium to drive premium pricing, creating a significant competitive advantage for UEC as the largest and fastest-growing uranium company in the country.”
The Christensen Ranch in-situ recovery operation, where initial uranium production resumed in August 2024. Courtesy UEX/X.
