Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) has announced the start up of uranium production at its fully permitted and past-producing Christensen Ranch in-situ leach (ISL) operations in Wyoming.

Christensen Ranch Mine Unit 10, showing wells and two module buildings (Image: UEC)

Production commenced in the previously operated Mine Unit 10 at Christensen Ranch on 6 August, the company said. To date, uranium concentrations in the initial production patterns are meeting expectations and are anticipated to rise in the coming weeks, it noted.

UEC said all planned start-up milestones, including the hiring and training of the initial restart personnel for both the Irigaray Central Processing Plant and Christensen Ranch, have been achieved to ensure a successful ramp-up of uranium production.

Extensive preparations, including the re-installation of equipment, re-attachment of piping and a variety of electrical testing, repairs and upgrades to the existing facilities, were completed at the Christensen Ranch wellfields and satellite processing plant last year.

UEC's board of directors approved restarting the Christensen Ranch operation in January.

Uranium recovered from Christensen Ranch will be processed at the Irigaray plant, located about 15 miles (24 kilometres) northwest of Christensen Ranch. Irigaray has a current licensed capacity of 2.5 million pounds U3O8 (962 tU) per year, with a licence amendment currently under regulatory review that is expected to increase capacity to 4.0 million pounds annually. The Irigaray plant is the hub at the centre of the UEC's Wyoming hub-and-spoke project which includes eleven satellite ISL projects, four of which are fully permitted.

The first shipment of yellowcake is anticipated to occur in November or December this year.

"The Christensen Ranch ISL Mine has successfully restarted and we are in full growth mode with initial recoveries from Mine Unit 10 to be followed with Mine Units 7 and 8 in the coming months," said Donna Wichers, Vice President of Wyoming Operations. "Additionally, we have drilled, cased and completed 55 wellfield patterns to extend Mine Unit 10 that will commence production in 2025. Further production growth is being developed with delineation drilling and monitor well planning at Mine Unit 11."

UEC President and CEO Amir Adnani added: "I am very proud of the Wyoming team who have executed as planned to achieve the restart of production. This is the moment we have been working towards for over a decade, having acquired and further developed leading US and Canadian assets with an exceptional, deeply experienced operations team. Global uranium market fundamentals are solid, with prospects for extraordinary growth in nuclear power and uranium demand."

UEC took ownership of Irigaray and the orebodies in the Wyoming hub-and-spoke operation, 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 - have been on standby since last operating in 2018.

UEC's Wyoming projects contain total measured and indicated uranium resources of 66.198 million pounds U3O8, with total inferred resources of 15.54 million pounds.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News