Smith Ranch-Highland

Overview

Smith Ranch and Highland uranium operations are located in Douglas, Wyoming, USA.  They operate as a single facility even though they have separate processing facilities with annual production capacity of 2 million pounds U3O8 each.

The uranium deposits are hosted by sedimentary rocks and they employ the environment-friendly in situ recovery (ISR) mining method.

Smith Ranch facility was completed in 1997 and employs state-of-the-art technology.  Cameco acquired Smith Ranch in 2002 and to date it has produced 15 million pounds U3O8.

Cameco is the largest uranium producer in the US through its in situ recovery (ISR) mining operations in Wyoming and Nebraska.  The company is working to expand production at its US operations to 3.8 million pounds U3O8 annually by 2014.

Smith Ranch-Highland operation has 8.0 million pounds U3O8 in mineral reserves (2010).

Location

Smith Ranch-Highland uranium operations are located 210 km north of Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA.

Wyoming, at the big flat river' in Delaware language, is the tenth largest state in the U.S. It is sparsely populated. Cheyenne is the state’s capital and its most populous city.

The mineral extraction industry and travel and tourism sector are the main drivers behind Wyoming’s economy. Agriculture is still an important component of Wyoming’s economy.

Geology & Mineralization

Uranium occurs in aquifers hosted by permeable and porous sandstone beds as coatings on the constituent sand grains. These formations are located up to 300 meters underground.

The mechanism for deposit formation is dissolution of uranium from the formation or nearby strata and the transport of this soluble uranium into the host unit. When the fluids change redox state, generally in contact with carbon-rich organic matter, uranium precipitates to form a 'front' which is a crescent shape ore body that transects the host lithology.

December 2010, mineral reserves were estimated at 3,951,000t grading 0.09% U3O8 for 8.0 Mlbs U3O8.

Mining & Operation

Uranium is removed using a grid of injection and production wells. It is extracted by pumping natural groundwater mixed with small amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide into the ore zone to dissolve the uranium. 

 Uranium-bearing solution is pumped to the surface and piped or trucked to processing plants where the uranium is recovered.

Processing

The Smith Ranch and Highland properties in Wyoming share a common border and operate as a single facility even though they have separate processing facilities with annual production capacity of 2 million pounds U3O8 each. 

Uranium is passed through a resin bed which captures uranium. It is then eluted with a salt solution and is then precipitated in another process.  Uranium is then further purified, concentrated and dried to produce the yellowcake powder, which is packed in 55-gallons drums and transported to a uranium conversion facility. 

 ISR mining produces no waste rock or tailings and results in minimal disturbance to the surface and underground areas being mined. It also minimizes workers’ exposure to radiation. 

Water used in the process is recycled back into the operation. 

Cameco is working to expand production at its US operations. The company expects to receive approval from regulators to proceed with the Reynolds Ranch expansion, which is a property adjacent to Smith Ranch-Highland.

Environment & Community

Cameco's US operations employ the environment-friendly in situ recovery (ISR) mining method. 

Water from the production wells is reintroduced in the injection wells. Slightly less water is injected than withdrawn to ensure the fluids are confined to the ore zones intended for extraction. Monitor wells are installed to allow testing of groundwater quality above, below and around the target zones to ensure fluids do not move outside those areas. 

ISR mining produces no waste rock or tailings and results in minimal disturbance to the surface and underground areas being mined. It also minimizes workers’ exposure to radiation.