Overview
Stage | Permitting |
Mine Type | In-Situ |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Processing |
- Resin adsorption
- Elution
- In-Situ Recovery (ISR)
- Ion Exchange (IX)
|
Burke Hollow is a part of the Texas Hub and Spoke ISR Project. Burke Hollow is the Newest & Largest ISR Wellfield Being Developed and Discovered in the U.S.
The Texas Hub and Spoke ISR Project The Project consists of five project areas: Hobson Central Processing Plant (CPP), Burke Hollow, Goliad, Palangana and Salvo and is located in Karnes, Bee, Goliad and Duval Counties, Texas, USA. The Hobson CPP will process all the mineral mined on each of the other project areas.
Burke Hollow, July 2023: Advancing development of two Production Areas (PA-1 and PA-2) towards the extraction phase.
The final authorization application to begin production has been prepared and submitted. |
Source:
p. 12
Uranium Energy Corp. holds various mining lease and surface use agreements having an initial five-year term with extension provisions, granting us the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine for uranium at its Burke Hollow Project, a 19,335-acre property located in Bee County, Texas, subject to a fixed royalty amount based on the net proceeds from sales of uranium.
Source:
Summary:
Uranium mineralization at the Burke Hollow Project Area is typical of Texas roll-front sandstone deposits. All mineralization at the Burke Hollow Project Area occurs in the Goliad Formation. Uranium mineralization occurs along oxidation/reduction interfaces in fluvial channel sands of the Goliad Formation. These deposits consist of multiple mineralized sand horizons which are separated vertically by confining beds of silt, mudstone, and clay.
The uranium-bearing sands of the Goliad Formation at the Burke Hollow Project Area occur beneath a thin layer of Pleistocene-aged Lissie Formation gravels, sands, silts, and clays, which overlie much of the Burke Hollow Project Area. The Goliad Formation uncomfortably underlies the Lissie Formation. Uranium mineralization discovered to date occurs within three of the four sand members of the Goliad, designated as the uppermost Goliad A, Goliad B and the lowermost Goliad D.
The Goliad sand is one of the principal water-bearing formations in South Texas and is capable of yielding moderate to large quantities of water. All of the project areas included in this Burke Hollow Project Area target the Goliad Formation, which is a proven aquifer with characteristics favorable to ISR.
There are two northeast-southwest trending faults at the Burke Hollow Project Area that are likely related to the formation of uranium mineralization. The northwesterly fault is a typical Gulf Coast normal fault, downthrown toward the coast, while the southeastern fault is an antithetic fault downthrown to the northwest, forming a large graben structure. The presence of these faults is likely related to the increased mineralization at the site. The faulting may have served as conduits for reducing waters and natural gas to migrate upward from deeper horizons, as well as altering the groundwater flow system in the uranium-bearing sands.
Source:
Summary:
ISR mining involves circulating oxidized water through an underground uranium deposit, dissolving the uranium and then pumping the uranium-rich solution to the surface for processing. Oxidizing solution enters the formation through a series of injection wells and is drawn to a series of communicating extraction wells. To create a localized hydrologic cone of depression in each wellfield, more groundwater will be produced than injected. Under this gradient, the natural groundwater movement from the surrounding area is toward the wellfield, providing control of the injection fluid. Over-extraction is adjusted as necessary to maintain a cone of depression which ensures that the injection fluid does not move outside the permitted area.
Source:
Processing
- Resin adsorption
- Elution
- In-Situ Recovery (ISR)
- Ion Exchange (IX)
Source:
p.6,21
Summary:
The Texas Hub and Spoke ISR Project The Project consists of five project areas: Hobson Central Processing Plant (CPP), Burke Hollow, Goliad, Palangana and Salvo and is located in Karnes, Bee, Goliad and Duval Counties, Texas, USA. The Hobson CPP will process all the mineral mined on each of the other project areas.
The Hobson CPP is located in Karnes County, Texas, northwest of Karnes City, within the GMB and approximately 100 miles northwest of Corpus Christi and 40 miles southeast of San Antonio. This facility represents the ‘hub’ of UEC’s ‘hub-and-spoke’ business model, which comprises a central processing facility supplied with uranium-loaded ion exchange resin from ISR mining at one or more of the project areas. The Hobson CPP was constructed in 1978 when the project area was mined. In 2008, the plant was refurbished. The Hobson CPP has previously processed uranium from the Palangana satellite facility (i.e., the first UEC ‘spoke’) and UEC plans to also process uranium from the Burke Hollow, Goliad and Salvo satellite facilities in the near future.
The CPP consists of a resin transfer circuit for loading/unloading ion exchange resin from tanker trucks, an elution circuit to strip uranium from the ion exchange resin, a circuit to precipitate uranium oxide solids, a yellowcake thickener (if necessary) and a modern, zero-emission vacuum dryer. Other facilities and equipment include an advanced laboratory with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), office building, yellowcake and 11e.(2) byproduct material storage area, chemical storage tanks and one permitted and constructed waste disposal well. Another waste disposal well is permitted but has not been drilled, because additional disposal capacity is not needed at the current time. The Hobson CPP is permitted for 1 million lbs per year of uranium concentrates (yellowcake or U3O8 ). With an average dryer cycle time of 40 hours and a current dryer loading capacity of 8 to 10 drums, the plant appears capable of yielding up to 1.5 million lbs per year without requiring physical modifications. However, an increase would require a license modification, which UEC is currently pursuing with an amendment to their current license being under review for an increased capacity of up to 4.0 million lbs per year.
Reserves at July 31, 2023:
GT Cutoff = 0.3 m% eU3O8
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Measured
|
70 k tons
|
U3O8
|
0.082 %
|
114.7 k lbs
|
Indicated
|
1,337 k tons
|
U3O8
|
0.087 %
|
2,209 k lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
1,407 k tons
|
U3O8
|
0.083 %
|
2,324 k lbs
|
Inferred
|
2,494 k tons
|
U3O8
|
0.095 %
|
4,859 k lbs
|
Total Resource
|
3,901 k tons
|
U3O8
|
0.092 %
|
7,183 k lbs
|
Mine Management:
Job Title | Name | Phone | Email | Profile | Ref. Date |
VP, Corporate Development
|
Bruce Nicholson
|
(866) 748-1030
|
bnicholson@uraniumenergy.com
|
|
Dec 13, 2023
|
VP, Health Safety and Environment
|
Craig Wall
|
|
|
|
Dec 13, 2023
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations: