White Mesa Mill Math
Is pleased to announce that the company has produced a rare earth element carbonate concentrate on a pilot scale at its 100 owned white mesa mill located near blanding utah.
White mesa mill math. Central to the highest grade uranium mines and deposits in the united states. The white mesa mill has a long history of recovering other metals along with uranium from uranium ores. What happens at the mill. Curtis moore with energy fuels said the company s white mesa mill is perfectly positioned to help since these elements can occur alongside uranium.
Licensed capacity of 8 million pounds of uranium per year. Moore said his company will continue refining the process over the next two months before deciding whether to move forward with commercial production. Many of our ores from the colorado plateau contain vanadium and the mill has recovered over 54 000 000 pounds of vanadium as a co product with uranium from these ores over the life of the mill making energy fuels the largest conventional vanadium producer in the u s in recent years. Twenty four of the company s 79 employees in southeast utah lost their jobs with the bulk of the cuts taking place at the white mesa mill the last conventional uranium mill still operating in.
The silmet rare metals processing plant in estonia is more than 5 000 miles from san juan county but the white mesa mill south of blanding could soon be receiving radioactive waste from the. The mill was able to produce a substance with a high concentrate of the metals this week by milling something called monazite sand which also contains uranium. Usa based uranium producer energy fuels has achieved pilot scale rare earth concentrate production at its white mesa mill in utah the. Similarly the mill has recovered tantalum and niobium from uranium ores in the past.
Many of the ores from the colorado plateau contain vanadium and the mill has recovered more. The white mesa mill is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the u s. The mill is located a few miles north of the ute mountain ute tribe s white mesa ute community and six miles south of blanding utah. Today has a licensed capacity of over 8 million pounds of u 3 o 8 per year and has the ability to produce vanadium.
The white mesa mill has a long history of recovering other metals along with uranium from uranium ores. Extensive controls in place to ensure protection of air water wildlife and the. The mill was built in 1979 to process uranium ore from the surrounding region.