Wyoming's uranium mining industry is making a comeback

One of the nation’s largest uranium companies, Uranium Energy Corporation, reports earnings on Wednesday. This comes as the uranium industry is seeing a boost in production.

The U.S. is looking to nuclear power to help meet growing electricity needs — and a key ingredient is uranium. Right now, we import most of it from countries like Canada and Kazakhstan, but that wasn’t always the case.

Back in the ‘30s in Wyoming, a few people called what is presently a ghost town “Home on the Range.” No, really.

“Yeah, believe it or not, if you got a letter postmarked there, it would be ‘Home on the Range,’” said Robert Gregory, a University of Wyoming geologist.

In the ‘50s, he said a uranium investor came to town. “His last name was Jeffrey, and so it became Jeffrey City.”

It became the epicenter of the nation’s uranium boom through the ‘70s. But then came the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island.

“When something like that happens, people rethink nuclear power,” Gregory said.

Uranium mining slumped for decades.

“There's been a huge resurgence in that mining, driven by this demand for AI data centers and the government policies,” said Morgan Bazilian, a professor of public policy at the Colorado School of Mines.

This year, the federal government invested billions into the uranium supply chain. "It does seem like the beginning of a boom,” he said.

Six mines are operating, up from three in 2021 — and much of it in Wyoming.

“We're in the expanding and restarting existing facilities phase,” said Ranie Lynds with the Wyoming State Geological Survey. “Prices would certainly have to be higher, I think, for most new projects to start up.

Uranium is around $85 a pound. Industry says it needs over $100.