Anfield Energy advances JD‑8 permit after Colorado sets US$620K warranty
Colorado completed its review on Sept. 29; permit issuance requires verified warranties, and DOE mine-plan approval remains pending.
Theo Marchetti
Colorado's Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety completed its review of a reclamation permit application for the JD-8 mine on Sept. 29, according to the company's Oct. 1 release. Anfield Energy Inc. CVEAEC NASDAQAEC said Colorado must receive and verify a US$620,000 financial warranty from its subsidiary Highbury Resources Inc. before issuing a reclamation permit for the 28.30-acre site.
The decision covers the 112d-1 Hard Rock Reclamation Permit Application filed by Anfield subsidiary Highbury Resources Inc. under file M-2025-056. The state review is complete, but the permit awaits receipt and verification of financial and performance warranties. Anfield's target to restart production by the end of the second quarter of 2027 also depends on federal approval.
In Toronto, Anfield shares CVEAEC were lower at C$4.73 as of 10:25:34 a.m. EDT on Thursday.
Anfield said the U.S. Department of Energy found Highbury's draft environmental-assessment template acceptable on Sept. 29, allowing federal review of the JD-8 mine plan to proceed under the National Environmental Policy Act. Anfield says DOE mine-plan approval remains a separate condition for the restart.
Colorado Permit Still Awaits Warranties
The decision is for a past-producing underground uranium and vanadium mine in Montrose County, Colorado. Highbury's financial warranty is the reclamation surety the state set at US$620,000; a performance warranty must also be provided. Anfield's Oct. 1 release says the division will issue the reclamation permit once it receives and verifies both.
Anfield says JD-8 will not be on the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board's Oct. 14-15 meeting agenda because the application is no longer contested. The permit still requires the division to receive and verify Highbury's warranties.
"JD-8 is a past-producing mine with existing underground workings and is intended to be another spoke feeding Shootaring, similar to Velvet-Wood," Anfield chief executive Corey Dias said in the Oct. 1 release.
Federal Mine Plan Still Needs Approval
Anfield plans to use infrastructure at the nearby JD-7 mine as the operations base for its Monogram Mesa complex, which includes JD-8. Once the Colorado permit is issued and DOE grants mine-plan approval, the company expects to mobilize, rehabilitate the underground workings and begin restart work. Acceptance of the draft environmental-assessment template lets the federal review continue; it is not mine-plan approval.
Anfield's Oct. 1 release describes the Shootaring Canyon Mill in Utah as a processing hub with a target capacity of 1,000 tons a day in the company's preliminary economic assessment. That plan draws on several mines, including JD-8, so its projected production is not a stand-alone estimate for this mine. Anfield cautions in its Oct. 1 release that the assessment includes inferred resources and that its development decision was not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves.
A U.S. uranium peer is further along in its own production cycle. Uranium Energy Corp. NYSEAMERICANUEC says on its company website that it has commenced production at Burke Hollow, an in-situ recovery project. Anfield's JD-8 restart still depends on state permit issuance, DOE's mine-plan decision and operational readiness.
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Anfield targets a JD-8 restart by the end of the second quarter of 2027. Before then, Colorado must verify the warranties and issue the reclamation permit, and DOE must decide whether to approve the mine plan.
