The Trump administration is advancing a contested uranium mining project in South Dakota, reviving a proposal that has faced years of opposition from the Oglala Sioux Tribe and environmental groups.
The Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday it will prepare an environmental assessment for the Dewey-Burdock project. The proposal comes from enCore Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: EU), a Texas-based uranium developer.
Additionally, the company plans to use in-situ leach mining, a method similar to fracking. The technique pumps water underground to dissolve uranium and bring it to the surface.
The project would span about 10,580 acres near Dewey in Fall River County. However, only around 240 acres of that land are public.
Furthermore, initial construction would disturb roughly four public acres, according to federal officials. Crews would build access roads, monitoring wells and a power line during early stages.
Meanwhile, regulators have already taken key steps toward approval over the past decade. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a licence and environmental review for the project in 2014.
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency approved injection wells needed for the mining process last year. That decision followed a legal challenge from the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
However, the tribe continues to raise concerns about groundwater contamination and long-term environmental risks. Environmental groups have echoed those concerns and opposed the project for years.
The Trump administration has since pushed the project forward after classifying uranium as a critical mineral. Consequently, officials added the mine to the FAST-41 permitting program to speed up reviews.
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FAST-41 sets timelines and requires agencies to publish progress reports
Additionally, the streamlined process aims to reduce delays for major infrastructure and resource projects. EnCore did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest developments.
The FAST-41 program is a U.S. federal initiative designed to speed up approvals for major infrastructure and resource projects. Congress created it in 2015 under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.
The program improves coordination among federal agencies reviewing large projects. Additionally, it sets clear timelines and requires agencies to publish progress on a public dashboard.
FAST-41 does not remove environmental laws. However, it forces agencies to work in parallel instead of sequentially, which reduces delays that can stretch for years.
The government introduced FAST-41 to address slow permitting that was seen as limiting economic growth. Furthermore, officials aimed to attract private investment by making timelines more predictable.
The program now plays a growing role in the U.S. mining sector. Companies involved include Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RIO), Perpetua Resources Corp. (TSE PPTA) (NASDAQ: PPTA), and Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE: LAC) (TSE: LAC).
Additionally, FAST-41 now covers a range of critical minerals tied to energy and defence supply chains. These include lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements.
Uranium has also gained prominence after being classified as a critical mineral. Consequently, more nuclear fuel projects are entering the FAST-41 pipeline. Meanwhile, the program increasingly supports projects tied to electrification, battery production and renewable energy systems.
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