Reports related to this article:
Project(s): View 4 related projects in PECWeb
Plant(s): View 4 related plants in PECWeb
Released September 09, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
en
Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Last week, enCore Energy Corporation (Dallas, Texas) announced that its Dewey Burdock uranium mine in South Dakota has been chosen by the federal government for inclusion in the FAST-41 program, which was created by the government to help support coordination among various permitting agencies in order to speed a project's path toward construction.
The Dewey Burdock uranium project, near Edgewood on the southwestern edge of the Black Hills, has been in planning for nearly two decades, requiring numerous federal, state and local permits--red tape that the FAST-41 process is expected to lighten.
The FAST-41 process is named for Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, which was signed into law by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015. While coverage originally focused on transportation infrastructure, it was expanded to cover mining projects in 2021 in the closing days of U.S. President Donald Trump's first term. In March of this year, Trump signed an executive order prompting agencies to speed permitting for minerals-extraction projects.
While administration and state leaders often use the term "critical mineral" to describe uranium, uranium actually is not on the official list of "critical minerals" established by the U.S. government, as the Energy Act of 2020 defined these minerals as non-fuel minerals. The primary purpose of uranium, obviously, is to fuel nuclear power plants. This lack of "critical mineral" designation for uranium potentially could change, however. In February, U.S. Representative John McGuire (R-Virginia) introduced the Uranium for Energy Independence Act of 2025, which seeks to officially designate uranium as a critical mineral. The legislation is currently awaiting discussion by the House Natural Resources Committee.
The Dewey Burdock project received its source and byproduct materials license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2014. That permit is currently in the renewal process. Under the FAST-41 process, the U.S. Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council will help speed the process and facilitate coordination among the NRC and other agencies in order to shave substantial time from the overall permitting process.
EnCore's project will use in-situ recovery (ISR) technology to extract uranium, which creates less surface disturbance as the uranium is obtained by injecting a water-based solution into the wellfield, which will dissolve the uranium minerals. Pumps are then used to bring the uranium-bearing solution to a processing plant for recovery. According to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Database, the Burdock deposit is expected to yield 14.3 million pounds of yellowcake uranium over a 21-year mine life. GMI Database subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.
The Dewey Burdock project isn't the only U.S. uranium project being given a leg up in the permitting process by the federal government. In August, the Trump administration submitted Uranium Energy Corporation's (UEC) (Corpus Christi, Texas) Sweetwater ISR uranium project in Wyoming for the FAST-41 process. UEC is seeking approval to use ISR extraction methods within the existing permit boundary of Sweetwater but now hopes to expand that area to include ISR-amenable deposits on nearby federal lands. UEC is seeking to outfit an existing ore-processing plant to have dual-feed capability to process uranium obtained from both conventional and ISR mining processes. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports on the original mine site and three satellite areas being considered for development.
While not part of the FAST-41 process, the administration earlier this year announced that the environmental-approval process for another uranium development, the Velvet-Wood project in Utah, would be fast-tracked.
The Velvet-Wood project is a previously active uranium mine in Utah that produced approximately 4 million pounds of uranium between 1979 and 1984, when the facility entered care and maintenance. The administration's announcement that it would fast-track the Velvet-Wood project's environmental review came in May, and the review was completed within a 14-day period that month, although this expedited approval received some criticism as it bypassed a public-comment period. Noting that only about three acres of new surface disturbance would occur, the Interior Department issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), clearing the way for the project to proceed.
Canada's Anfield Energy (Burnaby, British Columbia) now is seeking to restart uranium extraction and update and restart the nearby Shootaring Canyon uranium processing facility. Anfield intends to increase the processing facility's capacity to 1,000 tons per day from its previous 750 tons a day.
Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for several of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
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) 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 over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
The Dewey Burdock uranium project, near Edgewood on the southwestern edge of the Black Hills, has been in planning for nearly two decades, requiring numerous federal, state and local permits--red tape that the FAST-41 process is expected to lighten.
The FAST-41 process is named for Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, which was signed into law by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015. While coverage originally focused on transportation infrastructure, it was expanded to cover mining projects in 2021 in the closing days of U.S. President Donald Trump's first term. In March of this year, Trump signed an executive order prompting agencies to speed permitting for minerals-extraction projects.
While administration and state leaders often use the term "critical mineral" to describe uranium, uranium actually is not on the official list of "critical minerals" established by the U.S. government, as the Energy Act of 2020 defined these minerals as non-fuel minerals. The primary purpose of uranium, obviously, is to fuel nuclear power plants. This lack of "critical mineral" designation for uranium potentially could change, however. In February, U.S. Representative John McGuire (R-Virginia) introduced the Uranium for Energy Independence Act of 2025, which seeks to officially designate uranium as a critical mineral. The legislation is currently awaiting discussion by the House Natural Resources Committee.
The Dewey Burdock project received its source and byproduct materials license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2014. That permit is currently in the renewal process. Under the FAST-41 process, the U.S. Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council will help speed the process and facilitate coordination among the NRC and other agencies in order to shave substantial time from the overall permitting process.
EnCore's project will use in-situ recovery (ISR) technology to extract uranium, which creates less surface disturbance as the uranium is obtained by injecting a water-based solution into the wellfield, which will dissolve the uranium minerals. Pumps are then used to bring the uranium-bearing solution to a processing plant for recovery. According to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Database, the Burdock deposit is expected to yield 14.3 million pounds of yellowcake uranium over a 21-year mine life. GMI Database subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.
The Dewey Burdock project isn't the only U.S. uranium project being given a leg up in the permitting process by the federal government. In August, the Trump administration submitted Uranium Energy Corporation's (UEC) (Corpus Christi, Texas) Sweetwater ISR uranium project in Wyoming for the FAST-41 process. UEC is seeking approval to use ISR extraction methods within the existing permit boundary of Sweetwater but now hopes to expand that area to include ISR-amenable deposits on nearby federal lands. UEC is seeking to outfit an existing ore-processing plant to have dual-feed capability to process uranium obtained from both conventional and ISR mining processes. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports on the original mine site and three satellite areas being considered for development.
While not part of the FAST-41 process, the administration earlier this year announced that the environmental-approval process for another uranium development, the Velvet-Wood project in Utah, would be fast-tracked.
The Velvet-Wood project is a previously active uranium mine in Utah that produced approximately 4 million pounds of uranium between 1979 and 1984, when the facility entered care and maintenance. The administration's announcement that it would fast-track the Velvet-Wood project's environmental review came in May, and the review was completed within a 14-day period that month, although this expedited approval received some criticism as it bypassed a public-comment period. Noting that only about three acres of new surface disturbance would occur, the Interior Department issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), clearing the way for the project to proceed.
Canada's Anfield Energy (Burnaby, British Columbia) now is seeking to restart uranium extraction and update and restart the nearby Shootaring Canyon uranium processing facility. Anfield intends to increase the processing facility's capacity to 1,000 tons per day from its previous 750 tons a day.
Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for several of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
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) 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 over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
