Utah uranium mine first in nation to benefit from Trump-ordered speedy environmental review
The Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium mine in San Juan County’s Lisbon Valley could be producing uranium soon as its environmental review is due to be completed as part of the accelerated permitting process mandated by the Trump administration. Photo: Anfield Energy.
A promising uranium mine in Utah has been selected as the first in the nation to undergo an accelerated permitting process as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to shorten environmental reviews and speed the construction of certain types of energy projects.
On inauguration day in January, Trump declared a national energy emergency, paving the way for the speedy review process
The beginning of an environmental assessment of the Velvet-Wood mine, about 30 miles from Monticello in the Lisbon Valley area of San Juan County, was announced on May 12. The U.S. Department of the Interior said it had directed the Bureau of Land Management to complete the assessment in 14 days, allowing the mine owner, Anfield Energy of British Columbia, Canada, to begin site work and eventual production from the site.
Industry sources said a normal timetable for an environmental assessment of a new mine by the federal government is at least a year and has taken as much as five years in the past.
The Velvet-Wood project aims to produce uranium, which is used as a fuel in nuclear power plants, as well as vanadium, used in the production of steel alloys. It is being built on the site of an older mine that closed in the 1980s. Anfield also plans to restart its Shootaring Canyon uranium mill, 45 miles south of Hanksville in Wayne County — one of only three licensed, permitted and constructed conventional uranium mills in the country — to extract uranium from Velvet-Wood ore.
Anfield acquired the Velvet-Wood mine from Uranium One in 2015. Between 1979 and 1984, Atlas Minerals mined approximately 400,000 tons of ore from the Velvet deposit at grades of 0.46 percent uranium U3O8 and 0.64 percent vanadium V2O5, recovering approximately 4 million pounds of U3O8 and 5 million pounds of V2O5.
In a statement, Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, said the expedited process had been established to fix what he called an “alarming energy emergency because of the prior administration’s climate extremist policies. The expedited mining project review represents exactly the kind of decisive action we need to secure our energy future. By cutting needless delays, we’re supporting good-paying American jobs while strengthening our national security and putting the country on a path to true energy independence.”
“Today’s actions will greatly accelerate the permitting review of the Velvet-Wood project. By fast-tracking this process, we are driving American energy dominance and ensuring our nation’s energy security,” added Adam Suess, acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management.
The Interior Department said the project would result in just three acres of land disturbance, but did not define what land disturbance looks like. Environmental groups like Utah-based Uranium Watch have expressed concern over effects on water resources, as well as the disposition of radioactive waste from mining operations.
Corey Dias, Anfield’s chief executive, called the fast-track permits “a game-changer for us.” He said he expected the company to be able to recover 4 million tons of uranium and nearly 5 million tons of vanadium over the life of the project.
“The fact that we’re being recognized as an advanced asset to be put into operation by the government, I think, is a big thing for us,” Dias said. “It also reflects the nature of the importance of uranium for domestic production.”
Anfield Energy is a uranium and vanadium development and near-term production company headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, with its U.S. office in Nucla, Colorado. The company holds mineral claims — mostly uranium and vanadium — in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
“As a past-producing uranium and vanadium mine with a small environmental footprint, Velvet-Wood is well-suited for this accelerated review,” Dias concluded. “This marks a major milestone for Anfield as we look to play a meaningful role in rebuilding America’s domestic uranium and vanadium supply chain and reducing reliance on imports from Russia and China.”