Ur-Energy (NYSEAMERICAN: URG) has shipped its first uranium-loaded resin from Shirley Basin, marking the start of full operations at its second Wyoming mine.
The company sent the first load from Shirley Basin to its Lost Creek processing plant on Wednesday. The shipment follows the start of uranium mining operations at Shirley Basin in April.
Wyoming regulators issued final authorization for full operations in late June. Consequently, Ur-Energy can now ramp Shirley Basin toward full production while continuing operations at Lost Creek.
The milestone turns Ur-Energy into a multi-asset US uranium producer after roughly two and a half years of development. President and CEO Matt Gili said the timeline demonstrated the company’s ability to move efficiently through permitting, construction and startup.
He also said the launch validated Ur-Energy’s hub-and-spoke development strategy.
Shirley Basin operates as a satellite mine connected to the company’s existing Lost Creek production hub. The project uses in-situ recovery, commonly called ISR, rather than conventional underground or open-pit mining.
ISR miners pump a solution underground through wells to dissolve uranium within the deposit. They then pump the uranium-bearing solution back to the surface for recovery.
At Shirley Basin, the operation captures uranium on ion exchange resin. Subsequently, Ur-Energy trucks that loaded resin to Lost Creek for processing, drying and packaging into uranium concentrate known as yellowcake.
This arrangement allows Shirley Basin to use infrastructure already operating at Lost Creek. Additionally, the company avoids building a separate processing plant for every new uranium deposit it develops.
Ur-Energy expects that approach to reduce capital costs and shorten development timelines for future satellite operations.
Read more: IsoEnergy, DISA launch DISA Uranium with USD$105M financing
Read more: US Energy Department selects five states for nuclear fuel campuses
The company shipped 150,000 pounds this quarter
Shirley Basin has licensed wellfield and toll-processing capacity equivalent to 2 million pounds of uranium oxide annually. Together, Shirley Basin and Lost Creek have licensed production and toll-processing capacity of 4.2 million pounds annually.
The new operation arrives as Lost Creek continues increasing production following its own ramp-up.
Ur-Energy produced 141,000 pounds of yellowcake at Lost Creek during the second quarter of 2026. That represented a 47 per cent increase from the previous quarter and 26 per cent growth year over year.
Meanwhile, the company shipped 150,000 pounds during the quarter, representing a 44 per cent sequential increase.
Ur-Energy also sold 215,000 pounds under existing contracts during the period. Those sales generated USD$14.4 million in revenue while the company reported cash costs of USD$40.20 per pound.
Furthermore, Lost Creek achieved those production figures before Ur-Energy fully commissioned a new sand filtration system in July. The company installed the system to remove fine particles that had restricted flow rates at the operation.
Ur-Energy finished the quarter with USD$95.3 million in unrestricted cash. In addition, it held 348,000 pounds of finished uranium inventory at the conversion facility.
Investors have increasingly taken positions as the company expands production. Hedge fund ownership climbed to 30 funds from 18 during the previous quarter.
However, short sellers still controlled 14.56 per cent of the company’s publicly available shares as of August 19.
Ur-Energy also traded at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 156.25 at that time. That valuation reflects expectations for substantial future earnings growth as the company brings additional production online.
Conversely, the large short position indicates some investors remain skeptical about how quickly that expected growth will materialize.
.
