Uranium Mining in the United States - Mid-Year 2016

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Exploration, Mining, Marketing, & Acquisitions

Date posted: 09/14/16

Kristen Moran reports that uranium in the U.S. is used primarily for nuclear power, of course. However, uranium mining originally had its roots in the production of uranium-bearing ore in 1898. At that time, sandstone material on the Colorado Plateau in Colorado and Utah was mined primarily for its vanadium content. Then, in the 1950s, the U.S. permitted a great deal of uranium mining promoted by federal subsidies and rising global demand largely driven by nuclear weapons procurement programs. The trend lasted until the early 1980s, when changing geopolitical circumstances created by media-hyped safety, environmental, and economic concerns over nuclear power plants reduced demand and new plant construction. Peak production levels reached a climax in 1980 with over 250 mines in operation producing 16,800 tonnes of uranium. But within 4 years, this abruptly dropped to 50 mines producing 5,700 tonnes, leading to a steady decline. By 2003 there were only two small operations producing a total of under 1,000 tonnes, or about 5%t of the uranium consumed by U.S. nuclear plants. Mining operations are at present undertaken by few companies in Wyoming and Texas, Nebraska and Colorado. However, exploration is increasing by many companies, often going over areas that were mined in the 1950s-80s, looking for deeper deposits. 1. Cameco is the U.S. largest uranium producer. It has two uranium mines in operation: the Smith Ranch-Highland mine in Wyoming Powder River basin and the Crow Butte mine in Nebraska, both of which are in-situ recovery mines. In 2014, the annual production at the Smith Ranch-Highland mine, which is the largest U.S. producer, was 2.1 million pounds of U3O8, during the same period, Crow Butte produced 600,000 pounds of U3O8. However, times have been tough for the powerhouse uranium producer. In July, the company reported its worst quarterly performance since 2005. All are anticipating on predicted price hike for late 2016 or 2017.