Uranium Mill Near Bears Ears Turns to Rare Earths

 by Tim Peterson, Cultural Landscapes Director

We all use rare earth elements in our modern lives. While not actually rare, rare earth elements (the 15 elements on the periodic table known as the lanthanides, plus two others) are used in products ranging from electric car batteries to military weapons systems. China produces the bulk of the world’s supply, and investors and U.S. government officials would like to spur more domestic production. What does that have to do with an old uranium mill on the doorstep of Bears Ears National Monument and a few miles from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s White Mesa community? Glad you asked. 

To avoid closing down, uranium mill seeks out rare earths

Energy Fuels (the Canadian company whose American subsidiary owns the White Mesa uranium mill) is getting into the rare earth element business, having begun small-scale production of what it calls “an intermediate rare earth product” in March 2021. The new venture has received no specific environmental analysis, and regulators haven’t accepted public comment. The hype around the effort has grown primarily in publications aimed at investors, and an Energy Fuels executive explained why: 

[The] White Mesa [Mill] barely makes money. It’s always at risk of permanent closure. –Curtis Moore, VP of Marketing and Corporate Development for Energy Fuels Resources (USA)

The mill opened in 1980, having acquired permits based on a plan to process uranium ore from around the region for about 15 years then shut down and clean up. More than 40 years later, the mill is still operating. Why? 

Making millions by accepting low-level radioactive waste

When local uranium became too cheap to keep the mill running profitably, the mill’s owners began to seek new sources of income. In the late 1980s, the White Mesa Mill began accepting what it called “alternate feeds,” often for a fee. These feeds are, in reality, toxic and radioactive waste streams from around the nation and Canada that contain some uranium. These wastes have come from former defense production facilities, uranium conversion plants, and (you guessed it) from rare earth element processors. After Energy Fuels Resources extracts whatever quantity of uranium these waste streams contain, usually in small amounts, the company dumps the rest of the materials in waste pits near the mill. Energy Fuels disclosed in 2020 that this alternate feed business makes the company between $5 and $15 million per year.

Deals signed with companies in Georgia and Tennessee

Now, seeking to extend the working life of its old uranium mill even further, Energy Fuels Resources announced in 2020 that the mill would begin producing mixed rare earth carbonate from monazite sands shipped from Georgia. The company has also signed an agreement to purchase monazite sands from a yet-to-be completed mining project in Tennessee.

Energy Fuels Resources says it will process 5 million pounds of monazite sands in 2021 and ramp up to 30 million pounds a year if it can find the supply. The company has received taxpayer money from the U.S. Department of Energy to subsidize its rare earths business to the tune of $1.75 million.

Putting Utah’s environment at risk without public input

TIM PETERSON

Why haven’t you heard about an opportunity to weigh in on this new business? Because in addition to rare earths, monazite sands also contain uranium, and the mill’s owner has asserted that those sands are “uranium ore,” with Utah regulators’ blessing, as long as the mill extracts uranium from the sands. 

Before granting their blessing, however, state regulators raised an important point: the mill is licensed to produce uranium, vanadium, and, if profitable, copper, not rare earths. “The process of extracting a rare earth mineral concentrate has not been environmentally evaluated for the White Mesa Uranium Mill,” regulators said. Utah regulators ultimately acquiesced to Energy Fuels Resources’ plans without giving the public a chance to have its say.

There’s another wrinkle. An “intermediate rare earth product” is not actually what manufacturers need to make their products. Because the mill cannot separate individual metals from the concentrate, another facility must complete the process to produce useable rare earth elements. Where will that product go? Halfway across the globe to Estonia — to NPM Silmet OÜ, the same metals processing plant already looking to ship its radioactive waste to the mill. Energy Fuels Resources announced the first container (approximately 40,000 pounds) of an expected 15 containers holding rare earth carbonate was on its way to Estonia in July 2021. 

The mill owner says it is evaluating the potential to further refine its intermediate product “at the White Mesa Mill, or nearby,” and has hired a French consultant to help “begin designing rare earth separation capabilities at the White Mesa Mill.” But profitable American rare earth separation has proven elusive; much larger companies have tried and failed. Specific to White Mesa, Dr. Kristin Vekasi, a professor at the University of Maine who studies the geopolitics of supply chains, said, “it will be hard for Energy Fuels to justify building a facility to further process the metals without China limiting exports or new government subsidies.” 

Does this all seem like an elaborate house of cards? An investment website offered its take on the new rare earth endeavor: “Yes, we can think of this as an attempt at a Hail Mary pass by an old uranium mill.”  

Like the proverbial cat, the White Mesa Mill seems to have nine lives. The new rare earths venture may breathe more life into a uranium mill that should have closed long ago, and a longer life means even more waste for the mill’s pits. Transforming an old uranium mill into a new rare metals processor without substantial analysis or public comment deserves scrutiny, as does the potential impact of rare metals processing on groundwater and the White Mesa Ute community. Right now, the public has no say. But we should.