Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN: UEC) has announced an agreement to acquire Rio Tinto’s Wyoming assets, including the fully licenced Sweetwater Plant. The US$175M transaction is set to cement UEC as the leading uranium developer in Wyoming and the US, according to Amir Adnani, UEC president and CEO.
Amir explains that the acquisition marks the creation of UEC’s third US hub-and-spoke production platform. With 12 uranium projects already under its belt in the Great Divide Basin, the addition of Rio Tinto’s assets is a strategic move to unlock the full potential of UEC’s growing portfolio. The Sweetwater Plant, a 3,000tpd processing mill with a licenced capacity of 4.1Mlbs per annum, stands at the centre of this transformation.
One of the major attractions for the acquisition is that it saves substantial time and costs compared to building a new facility from scratch. The transaction also adds approximately 175Mlbs of historic uranium resources to UEC’s portfolio, with about half amenable to ISR mining methods.
In an industry where licenced facilities and permitted uranium mining properties are rare, this acquisition is a golden opportunity. The extensive land package of over 53,000 acres, combined with UEC’s existing 54,615 acres in the Great Divide Basin, creates a vast portfolio of mining and exploration prospects.
The timing of this acquisition comes at a pivotal moment, with the planned restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1 and Microsoft’s long-term power purchase agreement with the facility, the demand for carbon-free energy is on the rise. Further, geopolitical events, such as the US import ban on Russian uranium, further bolsters the US’s desire for domestically sourced uranium. UEC states it is poised to meet this growing demand, positioning itself as a critical supplier of the uranium needed to fuel the artificial intelligence boom and the broader clean energy transition.
