French Multinational Agrees to Buy Uranium From Round Top
The world’s largest nuclear-energy company has agreed to purchase uranium from Texas Rare Earth Resources, if TRER succeeds in launching a mining operation at Round Top Mountain, west of Sierra Blanca.
A French multinational, Areva operates its own uranium mines and secures fuel for nuclear power plants in Europe and elsewhere. Under the terms of a binding contract, which TRER announced Monday (April 6), TRER would supply Areva with up to 300,000 pounds of “natural uranium concentrates” a year, beginning in 2018, “or soon thereafter,” if the Round Top mine is launched.
TRER is seeking to mine at Round Top Mountain, 10 miles west of Sierra Blanca, primarily for the heavy metals known as rare earth elements. However, rare earths at Round Top are found in conjunction with the radioactive elements uranium and thorium. In addition to isolating rare earths, the processing of ore at the Round Top site would produce concentrated amounts of these radioactive elements.
In a press release, TRER CEO Dan Gorski said the agreement with Areva was a sign that industry leaders regard TRER’s project in Hudspeth County as a viable one.
“This offtake agreement with Areva demonstrates industry confidence in the potential commercial viability of the development of our Round Top heavy rare earth project and the marketability of our byproducts,” Gorski said. Gorski said TRER is seeking buyers for other potential byproducts of a Round Top mine; those byproducts include lithium, potassium and beryllium.
Uranium could be a significant revenue source for TRER. According to the company’s press release, Areva will pay TRER based on the price of uranium concentrates at the time of delivery. At the end of March, uranium concentrates were selling for almost $40 a pound. TRER’s test drilling and research suggest that almost 100 million pounds of uranium concentrates are present in Round Top Mountain.
TRER board member Jack Lifton said the agreement with Areva was “a major step forward for Texas Rare Earth Resources.” He said uranium could be recovered from Round Top ore using the same techniques the company would use to isolate rare earths.
TRER conducted test drilling at Round Top, on land leased from the Texas General Land Office, in 2011. At that time, interest in new rare earth projects was high, as China, the world’s primary rare-earth exporter, was threatening to limit supplies of the metals, which are crucial to a range of consumer-electronic and military technologies. Chinese exports continued, however, and TRER has struggled to secure the investment necessary to move its Round Top project forward.
The company has said that securely storing and disposing of uranium and thorium – which pose significant risks to the environment and to human health – would be one of the primary challenges of a Round Top operation. Selling the uranium byproduct might eliminate one element of that challenge.