14 May 2024
US production of 82,533 pounds U3O8 (32.1 tU) in the first quarter of 2024 was the highest Q1 production since 2018 and almost 80% more than production for the whole of 2023.
The ion exchange plant at the Rosita facility (Image: enCore Energy)
According to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Domestic Uranium Production Report, US uranium production in the first three months of the year was from five facilities, all using in-situ leach methods rather than conventional mining and milling. Four of these – Nichols Ranch, Ross, Lost Creek and Smith Ranch-Highland – are in Wyoming.
The fifth facility, Rosita, in Texas, resumed operations in November, having last produced uranium in 2008. EnCore Energy Corp announced the first shipment of uranium from the plant, which has an annual capacity of 800,000 pounds U3O8, in March.
The EIA listed three US uranium mills as “on standby” in Q1: Shootaring Canyon and White Mesa, both of which are in Utah, and Sweetwater in Wyoming. Anfield Energy Inc has recently said that it is targeting a restart of the Shootaring Canyon mill in 2026 – it has been on standby since 1982. The Vancouver-based company has submitted its plans for reactivating the mill, which it acquired in 2015, to Utah state regulators for approval.
