By Leah March
Santa Fe/Las Cruces Reporter
Albuquerque Business First
In defiance of a near-total dependence on foreign uranium, the White House has turned to New Mexico’s reserves to reclaim U.S. energy security. Since May 14, the federal government has placed four New Mexico uranium mining projects on a national priority list, with three of them flagged for expedited permitting.
Mining projects in the region, shuttered since the end of the Cold War, carry a tarnished legacy: spiking cancer rates in the region and contaminated local aquifers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency — contamination that some people contend has not yet been cleaned up.
Now, after 50 years, mining projects are back on the table, as the White House looks to New Mexico uranium to anchor a domestic supply chain.
Together, the New Mexico projects targeted by the current administration could generate over 500 jobs, at least $400 million in local economic impact and a 30-year domestic uranium supply, the mining companies estimate.
Northwestern New Mexico is a historic leader in uranium mining, producing more than any other district during the Cold War, according to data by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. The agency estimates the region to be the seventh in total world uranium production, behind East Germany, the Athabasca Basin in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Russia and Kazakhstan.
But since the Cold War’s end, the U.S. has tilted its uranium portfolio toward foreign imports. As of 2023, nearly 99% of uranium used in nuclear energy generators was imported, data from the U.S. Energy Administration shows.
The four mining projects that have been highlighted by the White House to “advance President Trump’s bold agenda to make America energy dominant again,” according to a recent executive order, are: the Grants Precision In Situ Recovery Project, added on May 14; La Jara Mesa and Roca Honda, two more uranium mining projects near Grants, added to the list on May 22; and the Crownpoint and Church Rock uranium mines — near the Navajo Nation, added May 30.
Don’t miss the latest Albuquerque business headlines! Sign up here for ABF newsletters and make sure to download the app.
Inclusion on the list places the projects on a federal permitting dashboard, tracking progress and streamlining communication between stakeholders, which is expected to expedite the permitting process.
One project that was formerly on the list, Utah’s Velvet-Wood mine near Moab, was permitted in a record 11 days in response to a “national energy emergency,” declared by President Trump. The Utah mine produces a fraction of New Mexico’s uranium deposits.
‘Mine,’ or yours?
Despite placement on the list, some of the mining projects still must win state permitting approval — a process that could take years — and requires extensive review by the New Mexico Mining Minerals Division (NMMMD). The agency also reviews the projects’ reclamation plans, which determine mine cleanup after the minerals have been extracted.
The federal permitting process does coordinate, and thereby, expedites, U.S. Forest Service and National Environmental Protection Agency permitting, according to Kim Casey, Investor Relations manager at Energy Fuels Inc, the company in the process of permitting the La Roca Honda mine.
But, “Even with the federal fast-tracking, the state of New Mexico has indicated that it will require the same processes it always has, and will rigorously review all permit applications,” said Maslyn Locke, senior attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, in an email exchange with Business First. “On (the) Navajo Nation, for example, under the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act, new uranium mining is not allowed on tribal land. Any attempt to do so would likely be challenged.”
Another challenge could be that some of the mining projects would require transporting uranium or mining equipment over Navajo lands, which is forbidden by a statute enacted in 2012, said Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protections Agency in an interview with Business First. Other Navajo statutes include a moratorium on mining and processing uranium on Navajo lands.
Read more.