Proposed Wyoming uranium facility clears final hurdle

A uranium mining project in northeastern Wyoming cleared its last regulatory hurdle Tuesday and should start operation next year.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality approved a deep disposal well permit for Uranerz Energy Corp.’s Nichols Ranch uranium facility, the final permit needed to begin production on the site, located about halfway between Gillette and Kaycee.

Nichols Ranch will become the company’s first active facility in Wyoming. The site will include in-situ recovery wells and a central processing plant. The company began construction on the site in August 2011.