Project Purpose

America’s Flagship Uranium Project

The Grants Precision In-Situ Recovery (Grants ISR) Project proposes to build and operate an innovative uranium extraction and processing facility. This facility will create a critical new uranium supply from the largest contiguous uranium resource in the United States, located in the State of New Mexico.

This Project combines In-Situ Recovery (ISR), a widely used method of uranium extraction, with horizontal wells, a method used in oil and gas extraction. By successfully combining these two technologies for the first time, Grants ISR will implement a cleaner and more efficient way to extract uranium ore and, potentially, other mineral deposits.

In 2023, imports accounted for 99% of the uranium consumed by U.S. nuclear generators used to make nuclear fuel. The Grants ISR Project would provide over 30 years of secure uranium supply, bolstering domestic energy security goals.

ISR is far more environmentally friendly with significantly less environmental impacts than conventional mining, generating less surface disturbance, consuming far less water, and has no waste tailings. Like oil and gas, ISR uses wellfields to extract uranium from underground ore deposits without the need for open pits or underground mines which generate undesirable tailings and exposure to workers. Combining traditional ISR with precision horizontal well technology will further reduce ground disturbance and carbon emissions from the equipment used to create the wellfields.

The commercialization of horizontal uranium ISR wells can significantly enhance the uranium supply chain and domestic nuclear energy security. Precision horizontal drilling for uranium ISR will leverage the existing pool of skilled labor from the oil and gas industry. Furthermore, the innovative application of this technology improves the feasibility of new mineral ISR projects beyond uranium, such as copper and trona.

Project Description

The Project is posited on approximately 6 square miles of private land in northwestern New Mexico, along the border of Cibola and McKinley counties, approximately 20 miles northwest of Grants New Mexico, near the town of San Mateo. Rio Grande Resources (RGR)Corporation, the Project Sponsor, owns or leases the mineral estate and overlying surface land usage rights of the resource. RGR owns 41% of the land rights and 81% of the mineral rights outright and leases the remainder. RGR also has extensive claims to water from the aquifers within the project area. The Project is entirely on private land, adjacent to Mt Taylor Traditional Cultural Property which is on U.S. Forest Service managed land.

Technical and Financial Ability

With extensive exploration drilling and years of expertise, Grants Energy has concluded that there is more than 260 million pounds of uranium (U3O8) that can be extracted via ISR. That is enough uranium fuel to power every home in New Mexico for 275 years. The resource is owned or leased by Rio Grande Resources Corporation, an affiliate of General Atomics (GA),a large, privately held, U.S.-owned company. GA has more than 65 years of involvement in the global nuclear fuel cycle with demonstrated success with both government and commercial partners.

The Project Sponsor’s affiliates, Heathgate Resources (Heathgate) and Quasar Resources(Quasar), have used ISR extraction and processing at their South Australian facilities to extract and sell U3O8 since operations began in 2000. Heathgate and Quasar are world leaders in ISR production. Heathgate and Quasar, like other practitioners of ISR worldwide, access the orebody via vertical wells from the surface. Heathgate employs 350 skilled workers and has explored over 2,300 square miles of land in South Australia. Please refer to this video for a brief overview of the Heathgate operations.

The Project Sponsor’s affiliates have a track record of proven innovation. In 2020, Heathgate developed a miniature Down Hole Directional Motor to improve the accuracy of wellfield drilling. The innovative design uses accelerometers and magnetometers to measure inclination and azimuth during drilling. The high accuracy readings are transmitted to the surface drilling operators, giving them the ability to quickly change the drilling path to hit critical ore zone targets.

Nuclear Fuels Corporation (NFC), another affiliate of the Project Sponsor, has sold more than53 million pounds of U3O8 to global customers during the past two decades and, today, sells4-5 million pounds of U3O8/year output from our Australian uranium ISR operations. As a result, NFC has deep knowledge of the worldwide uranium market fundamentals and well-established relationships with nuclear utility end-users.

NFC is currently in the discussions with multiple utility companies in the U.S. to build awareness of the Grants ISR Project, form partnerships which could result in demonstrable support, MOUs, and, when appropriate, off-take agreements to support the Project.

Summary of Financing, Reviews and Authorizations

Federal Financing:

The Project Sponsor is actively considering debt financing from the Department of Energy(DOE) Loan Program Office (LPO) loan and plans to initiate the application process in second-half of 2025 on the basis that the Project:

i. Avoids, reduces, utilizes, or sequesters air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses through (1) the manufacturing process of the relevant product or (2) the end use of the component on a full lifecycle basis.

ii. Has a Reasonable Prospect of Repayment

iii. Involves technically viable and commercially ready technology

Environmental Reviews:

An NRC General Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) already exists for ISR facilities in northwestern New Mexico. The Project is expected to require a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, SEIS, prepared by the NRC. Grants Energy is initiating a comprehensive and time-consuming environmental monitoring program to gather baseline data from the project area to support National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.

Authorizations:

There are two primary regulatory authorizations required to perform ISR operations— a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Source Material License and a New Mexico Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit. In addition to these two licenses/permits, Grants Energy (or Rio Grande Resources) will be required to obtain several other permits or exemptions from appropriate governmental authorities. These include permits and exemptions relating to water, wastewater discharge, and air emissions.

Project Assessment

The Grants ISR Project requires authorization and environmental review by the NRC, a federal agency. The Project involves construction of infrastructure to establish domestic uranium supply for nuclear energy production.

i. The project is subject to NEPA.

ii. The project is likely to require a total investment of more than $200,000,000.

iii. The project does not currently qualify for abbreviated authorization or environmental review processes under any applicable law.