Uranium Energy Adds Rio Tinto's Sweetwater Mine to U.S. Assets

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Uranium Energy Corporation (NYSE:UEC) (Corpus Christi, Texas) is responding to "unprecedented global growth in nuclear energy and demand for uranium" with the purchase of Rio Tinto's (NYSE:RIO) (London, England) Wyoming-based assets, including the Sweetwater Mine and related uranium-mining projects. Industrial Info is tracking more than $2 billion worth of Uranium Energy projects globally and about $9 billion worth of projects across the U.S. from Rio Tinto; the bulk of the latter is now attributed to copper-mining ventures.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Uranium Energy's active and planned projects across the U.S., by project type.

"U.S. nuclear energy will be a critical supplier of the carbon-free energy needed to fuel the artificial intelligence boom," Uranium Energy said in a press release. "The growing demand for domestically sourced uranium is further bolstered by recent geopolitical events, including the U.S. import ban on Russian uranium, the U.S. Department of Energy's recently issued Request for Proposal to purchase domestically sourced supply, and Russian threats to limit or ban exports to the western world."

The deal between Uranium Energy and Rio Tinto, which is expected to close before the end of 2024, is valued at about $175 million. Uranium Energy believes it will add roughly 175 million pounds of uranium resources to its portfolio; about half of these resources "appear amenable" to in-situ recovery (ISR) methods, which use fluid to recover material from the ground, and about half to conventional mining methods.

Uranium Energy plans to add an ISR circuit to the now-shuttered, 3,000-ton-per-day Sweetwater Uranium Mill in Rawlins, Wyoming, to adapt the facility to the recovery of uranium. The company says the property already "has considerable infrastructure in place, including well-maintained buildings and equipment, a wash bay, warehouse, workshop, offices, access road and utilities." Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project and Plant databases can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Uranium Energy's U.S.-based projects include two other proposals in Wyoming: an ISR operation near Wright, which could produce up to 2 million pounds per year of uranium yellowcake, and an ISR processing plant expansion in Kaycee, which could handle up to 4 million pounds per year. If approved, both projects could begin construction toward the end of the decade. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Wright and Kaycee projects.

Uranium producers have been enthusiastic over the past week, following comments from Constellation Energy Corporation (NYSE:CEG) (Baltimore, Maryland) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) (Redmond, Washington) that the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania could be reopened to provide energy for data centers. For more information, see September 24, 2024, article - Constellation, Microsoft Want to Restart Three Mile Island to Power Data Centers.

Rio Tinto Shifts U.S. Role Toward Copper
Following the sale to Uranium Energy, the bulk of Rio Tinto's U.S.-based projects, both active and proposed, will be oriented toward copper development. Much of the activity is centered around the copper-rich areas of Arizona and Utah, which are seeing significant interest from developers hoping to invest in ingredients needed for the energy transition.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Rio Tinto's active and planned projects across the U.S., by project type.

Rio Tinto is seeking permits to restart the Resolution Copper Mine near Superior, Arizona, which it co-owns with BHP Group Limited (Melbourne, Australia). The now-shuttered mine had been operated by Magma Copper Company until 1996. Rio Tinto says it believes it could extract up to 500,000 tons per year of copper concentrate from 43.2 million tons per year of ore over a 40-year mine life. The project is facing strong opposition from Arizona's Native American tribes, who say it will destroy a religious site. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for Uranium Energy projects globally and click here for a full list of reports for projects across the U.S. from Rio Tinto.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).