Colorado-headquartered Energy Fuels (NYSE:UUUU) has inked a deal with the largest indigenous tribe in the US enabling it to truck uranium ore along federal and state highways crossing the Navajo Nation.
Ore transport from Energy Fuels’ Pinyon Plain Mine in northern Arizona to the company’s White Mesa Mill in southern Utah is now expected to resume in February 2025.
President Mark Chalmers says the Navajo Nation has suffered longstanding impacts from uranium mining conducted during the cold war era, resulting in numerous abandoned mine and mill sites on their lands.
“This has understandably caused mistrust toward the US Government and energy companies,” Chalmers says.
“I am personally honoured that the Navajo Nation was willing to work with us in good faith to address their concerns and ensure that uranium ore transportation through the Navajo Nation will be done safely and respectfully.”
Negotiation of the agreement began in August last year, after Energy Fuels voluntarily halted shipments of uranium ore, and has involved several in-person and virtual meetings between the company and the Navajo Nation’s senior leadership.
Stephen Etsitty, the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, says the agreement allows the Navajo Nation to monitor and inspect the haul trucks and also provides financial compensation for the expenses to improve safety and protect the environment.
The agreement stipulates that Energy Fuels will limit transportation to specified routes and hours of the day and will not transport ore on days involving celebrations or public events in respect of the Navajo Nation’s culture and traditions.
Energy Fuels has also agreed to obtain Navajo Nation transport licences, use cover systems to prevent fugitive dust from the trucks and make provisions for escorts and blessings at the discretion of the Navajo Nation.
The $1.1 billion uranium producer will also transport, at no cost to the Navajo Nation, up to 10,000 tons of uranium-bearing cleanup materials from abandoned uranium mines within the Navajo Nation.
Energy Fuels says this is an unfortunate relic of old US Government uranium programs that began in the 1940s, in which Energy Fuels had no involvement.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Energy Fuels
