Uranium Energy (NYSE: UEC) shares rose on Thursday after the company received state regulatory approval to increase the production capacity at its Irigaray central processing plant in Wyoming to 4 million lb. of uranium oxide (U3O8) annually, up from the previous capacity of 2.5 million pounds.
The Irigaray plant is central to the company’s hub-and-spoke production strategy in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, supporting four fully permitted uranium in-situ recovery satellite projects in the area.
Uranium Energy’s Powder River Basin ISR portfolio has an estimated aggregate resource of 62.3 million lb. of U3O8 in the measured and indicated category, with an additional 10.7 million lb. in the inferred category.
“The extraordinary growth in nuclear power in the U.S. is creating a new demand paradigm for uranium supply from stable domestic sources,” said Uranium Energy CEO Amir Adnani.
“Big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle are making significant financial commitments to nuclear energy to provide the electricity needed to power data centres. This approach, investing directly in nuclear generation infrastructure, reflects the realization that nuclear energy offers safe, highly reliable, economic, and clean energy.”
By 12 pm ET, Uranium Energy shares were up 6% in New York, giving the company a market cap of US$3.5 billion.
In September, Uranium Energy reached a US$175-million deal to buy Rio Tinto’s (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) assets in Wyoming, which include the fully-licenced Sweetwater plant and a portfolio of uranium mining projects.
The Sweetwater plant is a 3,000-tonne-per-day conventional processing mill with a licensed capacity of 4.1 million lb. U3O8.
Uranium Energy estimates the transaction will add about 175 million lb. of historic resources.
In addition to the two hub-and-spoke platforms in Wyoming, the company operates an ISR hub-and-spoke production platform in South Texas, centred around the Hobson Central Processing Plant, with a licensed capacity of 4 million lb. of U3O8 annually.
Be the first to comment on "Uranium Energy shares rise on US approval for Wyoming plant boost"