Federal regulators are off to a running start on their expedited review of energy projects, greenlighting a uranium mine expansion in just 11 days. 

The Velvet-Wood site in southeastern Utah produced about 4 million pounds of uranium and 5 million pounds of vanadium from 1979 to 1984. Significant additional deposits are believed to remain in the ground, and owner Anfield Resources Holding has sought a modification of the existing plan of operation for the site that would result in 3 acres of surface disturbance. 

The Department of the Interior on April 23 implemented emergency permitting procedures for uranium, oil, gas, coal, critical minerals and other materials judged relevant to addressing Trump’s Jan. 20 declaration of a national energy emergency. 

Analysis of these proposals would take 14 or 28 days depending on their complexity, Interior declared, rather than the typical one or two years. 

On May 12, Interior announced it would start, conduct and complete the environmental review of the Velvet-Wood project within 14 days. 

On May 23, Interior announced it had found there would be no significant impact from the proposal, and that Interior has given Anfield all needed clearance to move ahead. It was the first expedited review of its kind, and possibly the first of many. 

“This approval marks a turning point in how we secure America’s mineral future,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in the official announcement. “By streamlining the review process for critical mineral projects like Velvet-Wood, we’re reducing dependence on foreign adversaries and ensuring our military, medical and energy sectors have the resources they need to thrive. This is mineral security in action.” 

The accelerated permitting protocol was met with dismay by environmental advocates worried about the impact of rushed reviews. Uranium mining is a particularly sensitive issue for tribal nations in the U.S. Southwest that historically have suffered the effects of such operations. 

The May 23 announcement about Velvet-Wood came on the same day Trump issued executive orders easing the regulatory burden on nuclear developers and attempting to expand the supply chain in hopes of bringing new nuclear generation online, and quickly. (See Trump Orders Nuclear Regulatory Acceleration, Streamlining.) 

Reactor fuel is an important part of this vision, as almost all the uranium used for commercial purposes in the United States today is imported. Vanadium has strategic value as well, given its importance in steel alloys. 

Atlas Minerals extracted 400,000 tons of ore from the Velvet Deposit between 1979 and 1984. At grades of 0.46% and 0.64%, that yielded 4 million pounds of uranium and 5 million pounds of vanadium. 

Anfield bought the mines and the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill from Uranium Ore in 2015. It estimates the Velvet and Wood mines can yield enough ore to produce 4 million and 552,000 pounds of uranium, respectively, at grades of 0.29% and 0.32%. Roughly 1.4 times as much vanadium would be expected. 

Anfield CEO Corey Dias welcomed Interior’s decision in a May 27 news release: “This confirms our view that Velvet-Wood was well-suited for an accelerated review, given that it is a past-producing uranium and vanadium mine with a small environmental footprint. The company will now pivot to advancing the project through construction and, ultimately, to production.” 

The Shootaring Canyon Mill operated only briefly in 1982 due to depressed uranium prices. It is one of only three licensed, permitted and constructed uranium mills in the United States, Anfield said. 

Its radioactive source materials license is on standby, which would have to change to allow mill operations to resume, Anfield said, but the facility stands in what historically was one of the most productive U.S. uranium mining regions.