The lifecycle of a mine is long, often with decades of preparation before production begins, so it is an occasion worth celebrating when mining successfully begins production. In December, it was announced that Energy Fuels commenced production at three of its permitted and developed uranium mines in Arizona and Utah. In addition, two more Energy Fuels mines are expected to begin production in 2025 in Colorado and Wyoming.
Nuclear energy, which relies on mined uranium, is one of the many necessary pieces of our energy portfolio. Energy Fuels operates a number of mines, and the Pinyon Plain Mine project in Arizona alone has an estimated reserve and resource of 2.3 million pounds of uranium. Energy Fuels also operates the White Mesa Mill in Utah, the only fully-licensed and operating conventional uranium mill in the United States, which is also about to begin producing separated rare earth oxides. By supplying the uranium fuel for nuclear energy, Energy Fuels is an important piece of the national energy picture.