UEC expands output at Wyoming mine, initiates conversion facility licensing process

Texas-headquartered Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) said it secured approval from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and commenced operating three additional header houses in wellfield 11 at Christensen Ranch. It said one additional header house is awaiting regulatory approval, and three more are under construction in wellfield 12 and 10-extension.

"We sincerely appreciate the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality for their cooperation, professionalism, and constructive engagement throughout the permitting process," said Brent Berg, Senior Vice President, US Operations. "With this approval, we have started uranium extraction at the new header houses enabling the planned increase in production volume at our Christensen Ranch operations."

UEC took ownership of the Irigaray Central Processing Plant and the 11 satellite in-situ recovery (ISR) projects across the Powder River Basin, including Christensen Ranch, through its 2021 acquisition of Uranium One Americas Inc from Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom. According to information from the US Energy Information Administration, Christensen Ranch and the Irigaray plant - together known as the Willow Creek project - had been on standby since last operating in 2018.

In January 2024, the company's board of directors approved the restart of the Christensen Ranch ISR operation, with recovered uranium to be processed at Irigaray, and in September the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality gave UEC the go-ahead to increase the plant's licensed production capacity from its current 2.5 million pounds U3O8 (96.2 tU) to 4.0 million pounds U3O8 per year. Uranium production at Christensen Ranch resumed in August 2024. In February 2025, the Irigaray plant - located about 15 miles (24 kilometres) northwest of Christensen Ranch - produced its first dried and drummed uranium concentrates since the resumption of operations at the project.

ISR - also known as in-situ leach, or ISL - recovers 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 two ISR hub and spoke platforms in South Texas and Wyoming, where a central processing plant forms the "hub" with several ISR uranium projects providing "spokes".

"In South Texas, the Burke Hollow mine is ready for operations and awaiting final approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that will enable its startup," UEC said. "Taken together, the company's Wyoming and Texas operations, including recent approvals and ongoing construction, are expected to drive significant production expansion."

Conversion facility

In September 2025, UEC launched a new subsidiary - called United States Uranium Refining & Conversion Corp (UR&C) - to pursue the feasibility of developing a new US uranium refining and conversion facility. The initiative responds to federal policy under recent executive orders from the White House calling for a fourfold increase of US nuclear generating capacity by 2050 and reducing reliance on overseas suppliers. Onshoring the nuclear fuel cycle is seen as a priority for national security.

The proposed facility - which UEC says will be the largest conversion facility in the USA and "amongst the most modern in the Western world" - is envisaged as having a designed capacity to produce some 10,000 tU per year as UF6, representing a "substantial share" of the USA's 18,000 tU per year demand.

UR&C has now received a docket number from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its planned uranium conversion facility. This follows the company's previously submitted Letter of Intent (LOI) to pursue a licence under regulation 10 CFR Part 40. The next step in the licensing process is the initial Pre-Application Engagement with the NRC.

The formal licence application is expected to be submitted once engineering and design activities, currently underway with Fluor, are complete and a site has been selected. UEC said the siting process has identified "several viable locations in various states" that are under consideration. "Multiple factors, including local incentives, workforce, utilities, highway, rail and port logistics and industry synergies, are evaluated in determining a preferred home for America's newest uranium hexafluoride conversion facility," it added.

"This step represents a significant milestone for UEC on its path to becoming the only American vertically integrated nuclear fuel supplier, from mining to conversion, and supports the resiliency of the US nuclear fuel supply chain," the company said. "The LOI outlines the company's plan to develop a state-of-the-art American uranium refining and conversion facility, building on nearly two years of pre-feasibility and planning."

Conversion is a chemical process to refine U3O8 to uranium dioxide, which can then be converted into uranium hexafluoride gas. Honeywell's Metropolis Works plant, built in the 1950s in southern Illinois, is currently the only uranium conversion facility in the USA. It was temporarily shut down from 2017 to 2023 due to poor market conditions, but was restarted in July 2023.