Uranium mining operations began at Shirley Basin, an in-situ recovery operation which is being run as a satellite mine of Ur-Energy’s Lost Creek hub operation, in April. The State of Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality issued the final authorisation to advance to full operations in late June, and on 19 August, the first shipment was made from Shirley Basin to the Lost Creek processing plant. The operation will now ramp up to full production.
“This first shipment is not only the start of full operations at Shirley Basin, it also marks Ur-Energy’s transition to a multi-asset, domestic US uranium producer,” Ur-Energy President and CEO Matt Gili said, noting that the project moved from construction decision to production in just two and a half years. “This is a clear demonstration of our team’s ability to progress through permitting, construction, and startup in a highly effective manner. Crucially, this milestone also validates our capital-efficient, hub-and-spoke development model and further strengthens Ur-Energy’s position as a leading US uranium producer,” he added.
In-situ recovery – or ISR – is a method of mining uranium by dissolving and recovering it via wells. It is also known as in-situ leaching. At Shirley Basin, uranium is captured on ion exchange resin which is then shipped to Lost Creek for final processing, drying, and packaging. This hub-and-spoke model avoids duplicative infrastructure, improves capital efficiency, and can be scaled at an accelerated pace, the company says.
Shirely Basin has a licensed wellfield and toll processing capacity of up to 2.0 million pounds U3O8 (769 tU) equivalent, while the Lost Creek and Shirley Basin operations together have a combined annual licensed production and toll-processing capacity of 4.2 million pounds U3O8.
