The Nuclear Industry in Wyoming - 1968

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

Flanagan reported in 1968 that the increased demand for nuclear power plants (1968) is the primary reason for the new uranium rush. The outstanding success of nuclear power reactors in producing large quantities of electric power reliably and cheaply, has produced a growing nuclear power equipment business. The renewed demand for uranium is also caused by the broadening use of radioactive isotopes in such fields as food preservation and medicine.

Nuclear electric generating capacity in the U.S. is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 38 percent over the period 1965-80. The demand for U₃O₈ in this country is expected to increase from about $100 million a year in 1968 to about $450 million a year by 1980. By 1990, uranium mining and milling should be a billion-dollar business and one of the larger segments of the metal mining industry in this country.

Although a number of nuclear power plants have been in existence since 1962, the uranium industry has not been able to benefit directly, because up to 1964, only the Federal Government could own nuclear reactor fuels. In 1964, however, the United States Congress enacted legislation to change all of this. The stage was set for the gradual and complete withdrawal from the uranium business by the Federal Government. From 1964 to June 1967, nuclear powered generating equipment installed or on order had reached a total of 39,000 megawatts (39 million kilowatts). The Atomic Energy Commission estimates that by 1980, installed nuclear power capacity in the United States probably will be about 150,000 megawatts. Plants built or now on order will require about 175,000 tons of U₃O₈ for fuel throughout their lifetime. Those which are projected to be in service by 1980 will be on the same basis requiring an additional 500,000 tons. 

Besides extension of known ore bodies, additional reserves have been found in relatively new areas. These new areas have been discovered as a result of this new up-surge in uranium interest. Consolidated Oil and Gas has announced a low-grade ore body in the Poison Spider area east of the Gas Hills and north of the Rattlesnake Range. A new substantial ore body has been reported in the Green Mountain area southeast of Crooks Gap. New ore has also been found on the Farson side of South Pass. On the northern edge of the Wind River Basin in the Copper Mountain area, new reserves have been found. An old mining district, the Powder River Basin, has been given a new prominence by intense drilling activities. Kerr­ McGee has recently said that they have begun a feasibility study to determine building a mill in the city of Douglas, Wyoming.

Exploration is underway on the Wind River Indian Reservation and in the Muskrat-Hiland-Clarkson area north of the Gas Hills. South of the Gas Hills on Beaver Rim, there is exploration to determine if the ore bodies in the Gas Hills area continue southward. Miller Hill in Carbon County is getting renewed exploration interest. Much drilling should begin in the Split Rock syncline in the Sweetwater area of Fremont, Natrona, and Carbon Counties this summer. In the Red Desert area, south of Crooks Gap to Wamsutter through the Union Pacific right-of-way, all the criteria for a good uranium area are present. Most of this area has been staked, and there have been rumors of discoveries ranging in depth from 300 feet to 1000 feet.

Uranium exploration activity is occur­ring also on fringes of the Shirley Basin and on the flanks of the Granite Mountain range in the sedimentary rocks between the Gas Hills and Crooks Gap mining complex. In the Black Hills area of Wyoming and South Dakota where Homestake produces uranium from the Hauber mines near Hulett, new ore bodies have been defined and exploration has been revived.

Almost every major energy company in America is active in the search for uranium in Wyoming, the long-­timers like:
Utah Construction,
Western Nuclear,
Union Carbide,
Federal Resources,
American Nuclear,
Contin­ental Uranium,
Western States Mining,
Allied Nuclear (Shoni Uranium),
Western Standard Uranium,
Atlas Cor­poration,
Kerr-McGee,
Homestake,
Vipont Mining,
Getty Oil,
Mines Development,
Teton Exploration, and others, and the relative newcomers like:
Cleveland-Cliffs,
New­mont,
United Nuclear,
Gulf Nuclear,
Climax,
Atlantic­Richfield,
Humble,
Consolidated Oil and Gas,
Sinclair,
Rio Algom of Canada,
Mitsubishi Metals of Japan,
King Resources,
Continental Oil,
W. R. Grace Co. and Silver Bell mines (in the Red Desert),
Union Pacific,
American Smelting and Refining,
General Nuclear,
E!cor Chemical and others.

Most experts think that Wyoming uranium will command about 40 percent of the future uranium market between now and 1980, and some believe that with this accelerated rate of discoveries Wyoming could produce 50 percent of future uranium sales to domestic and foreign sources. If we assumed that Wyoming would get 50 percent of the uranium sales market between now and 1980, as the Riverton Ranger reported in their recent edition (June 20, 1968), these sales could reach $2.2 billion in value. In a "Confidential Report" by the Stanford Research Institute on the future of uranium, the annual sale value for u.o. was estimated to be $450 million by 1980. If Wyoming could capture 50 per­cent of this market, it would mean an annual business take of $225 million for the state.

This is the opportunity and the challenge that presented itself to the Wyoming uranium companies. Uranium is common in the earth's crust, and Wyoming sedimentary and tectonic history is ideally suited for uranium deposition. The opportunity is upon us now. The challenge is to find needed uranium to furnish the energy to keep this country great. The bonus is profit and a part in a multi-billion dollar industry of the future.