Overview
Stage | Permitting |
Mine Type | In-Situ |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ... |
Mine Life | 9 years (as of Jan 1, 2021) |
Shirley Basin is fully permitted and construction-ready with a licensed wellfield capacity of one million pounds U3O8 per year. As of October 2023, the Ur-Energy Board estimates it will take up to 24 months to complete all procurement, development activities, and construction of the satellite facility and associated first mine unit to initiate production. This estimate is based on the long lead times seen for critical equipment; especially for electrical equipment. The decision to proceed with the construction of the satellite and first mine unit for production operations will be considered on an ongoing basis as the uranium market and contract book evolve.
The Ur-Energy Board is initiating procurement of long-lead items for the Shirley Basin Project and will advance other activities in the field, with the objective to shorten the time for construction and ramp up when the "go" decision is made for construction. |
Source:
p. 23
Ur-Energy USA has wholly-owned subsidiary Pathfinder Mines Corporation, a company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, which holds the Shirley Basin and Lucky Mc properties in Wyoming.
Contractors
- Subscription is required.
Deposit Type
- Unconformity related
- Sandstone hosted
Summary:
Uranium mineralization identified throughout the District occurs as roll front-type deposits.
In the Project area, the primary hosts for uranium mineralization are arkosic sandstones of the Eocene-age Wind River Formation. This formation was unconformably deposited on gentlydipping shales and sandstones of the Cretaceous-age Niobrara and Frontier Formations. The White River Formation unconformably overlies the Wind River Formation and outcrops on the surface throughout most of the Project, with thicknesses ranging from a thin veneer in the FAB Resource Area to over 250 ft. in Area 5,
The Wind River sediments in the Project area were deposited as part of a large fluvial depositional system. The lithology of the Wind River Formation is characterized by thick, medium to coarse-grained, arkosic sandstones separated by thick claystone units. Sandstones and claystones are typically 20 - 75 ft. thick. Minor thin lignite and very carbonaceous shale beds occur locally. These fluvial sediments are located within a large northwest-trending paleochannel system with a gentle 1° dip to the north,
The average thickness of the Wind River Formation within the Project area is approximately 230 ft.
The Lower Sand represents the basal sand unit of the Wind River Formation and in places lies directly above the underlying Cretaceous formations. The Main Sand typically lies approximately 15 - 25 ft. above the Lower Sand. Locally, the two sands merge wher ........
Summary:
The mining method is uranium In-Situ Recovery (ISR). There is no excavation of ore and no mining dilution with this method. Only minerals that can be taken into solution are recovered.
URE plans to use the ISR mining technique at the Shirley Basin Project.
ISR does not require the installation of tailings facilities or significant surface disturbance.
This mining method utilizes injection wells to introduce a lixiviant into the mineralized zone. The lixiviant is made of native groundwater fortified with oxygen as an oxidizer, sodium bicarbonate as a complexing agent, and carbon dioxide for pH control. The oxidizer converts the uranium compounds from a relatively insoluble +4 valence state to a soluble +6 valence state. The complexing agent bonds with the uranium to form uranyl carbonate, which is highly soluble. The dissolved uranyl carbonate is then recovered through a series of new production wells and piped to a processing plant where the uranyl carbonate is removed from the solution using ion exchange. The groundwater is re-fortified with the oxidizer and complexing agent and sent back to the wellfield to recover additional uranium.
Conceptual Wellfield Design
The most fundamental component of ISR mine development and production is the production pattern. A pattern consists of one production well and the injection wells which feed lixiviant to it. Injection wells are commonly shared by multiple production wells. Header ho ........
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
- subscription is required.
Source:
- subscription is required.
Projected Production:
Commodity | Units | Avg. Annual | LOM |
Uranium
|
lbs
| 1,000,000 | 6,358,337 |
All production numbers are expressed as U3O8.
Reserves at July 1, 2014:
The Mineral Resources as at 31th December 2021 at Shirley Basin are unchanged from July 01, 2014.
Based on grade cutoff of 0.020 percent eU3O8 and a grade x thickness cutoff of 0.25 GT.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Measured
|
1,366,572 tons
|
U3O8
|
0.275 %
|
7,520,682 lbs
|
Indicated
|
548,606 tons
|
U3O8
|
0.118 %
|
1,295,036 lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
1,915,177 tons
|
U3O8
|
0.23 %
|
8,815,717 lbs
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
- Subscription is required.
- Subscription is required.