The dizzying, supercollider pace of energy investment in Wyoming — especially nuclear — is bringing waves of new faces into the state. It’s happening so fast that state trade associations and industry insiders find it hard to keep up.
"There's a whole microculture of these guys running around in Wyoming right now," Dale Steenbergen, president of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, told Cowboy State Daily recently.
Steenbergen was referring to a growing tribe of specialized investors and their tech experts looking to be part of Wyoming's growing nuclear industry.
On Wednesday, Snow Lake Resources announced it is expanding its partnerships across the spectrum of nuclear-related business opportunities in Wyoming. The Winnipeg-based energy company is an example of the rapidly growing number of partnerships and expansion happening in "the energy space," as some in the industry refer to it.
"To make energy work, it's a very capital-intensive industry," added Steenbergen, who was worried the federal "Big Beautiful Bill Act" was going to raise taxes on private equity.
That hasn't happened so far, as the massive federal legislation package moves on to debate in the U.S. Senate.
"We need the rules to be quite favorable for these guys that we depend on to invest in our businesses and for them, for the guys who are investing in themselves to be able to recapture that money," said Steenbergen.
In the "nuclear space," companies like Snow Lake Resources and its network of collaborating companies are, as Steenbergen put it, "Trying to answer this question about our lack of ability to produce enough electricity in the United States over the next decade."
Growing Space
The story of Snow Lake Resources illustrates how quickly the nuclear energy landscape is expanding in Wyoming. In April, Snow Lake announced a $30 million investment in the Pine Ridge Uranium Project, about 20 miles north of Glenrock, partnering with Global Uranium and Enrichment Limited.
The project represents more than a decade of work by geologists Mark Doelger and Kent Sundell with Stakeholder Energy in Casper.
The Pine Ridge project will use in-situ recovery (ISR) technology, which Doelger described as "essentially a plumbing system" that reverses the natural process of uranium deposits formation.
"The yellowcake is shipped out in barrels. It's benign. It's not dangerous and ready to be processed and enriched into fuel," he explained.
Snow Lake's operations are planned across three Wyoming ranches adjacent to Pine Ridge — the Allemand, Patterson and Henry ranches — where the company has identified promising uranium deposits through more than 1,200 drill holes.
Then on Tuesday, the company announced a new strategic collaboration with Exodys Energy to support the formation of a new nuclear reactor development and deployment company. This partnership, according to Snow Lake, is part of its diversification strategy within the nuclear industry.
"Our recent uranium acquisitions and equity stake in GUE demonstrate Snow Lake's commitment to becoming a full-spectrum player in the nuclear energy sector," said Frank Wheatley, CEO of Snow Lake, in a prepared statement.
Snow Lake did not return messages from Cowboy State Daily. Its communication to the media and most of Wyoming does not appear to extend beyond press releases and weblinks.
Same goes for Exodys Energy, which also offered only prepared statements.
“The ongoing U.S. nuclear resurgence, bolstered by President Trump's Executive Orders, creates an extraordinary and timely opportunity for Snow Lake to lead the next wave of innovation," said Carl Perez, CEO of Exodys Energy.
What’s rushing at Wyoming in this “next wave”? The company’s materials mention “renewable nuclear” and something called “slightly used nuclear fuel.”
Complete with sci-fi imagery featuring some sort of futuristic container and an 8-wheeled vehicle, Exodys Energy’s website offers a generally upbeat message, declaring, "Nuclear Waste is Our Clean Energy Solution."
Exodys claims it has developed what it calls the "UPCYCLE Module," which the company says "unleashes the environmental and economic potential of socially conscious and unabated nuclear energy."
According to the company's materials, Exodys focuses on "unlocking the full energy potential of slightly used nuclear fuel" by "transforming traditional waste liabilities into valuable fuel assets."
The company declares its approach can provide "centuries of clean energy revenue" from existing nuclear power plants' on-site used nuclear fuel.
"The collaboration with Exodys Energy ensures the anticipation of spent fuel management challenges and its revenue potential," said Snow Lake's Wheatley. "Snow Lake's vertical integration strategy positions us to earn revenue throughout the value chain and reactor asset life — before, during, and after reactor operations."
Keeping Up
The rapid pace of development is creating challenges even for industry insiders trying to track all the activity.
Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, admits he sometimes struggles to follow along.
"There's a lot of interest in Wyoming right now, for a number of reasons," Deti told Cowboy State Daily. "No. 1, we have the minerals, and No. 2, we have a pretty good regulatory environment and a pretty good environment to mine in. And so it's drawing a lot of attention and, yeah, it's hard to keep up with some of these new players coming into the state."
The challenge became apparent when on Thursday, Deti was asked about a recent bentonite mining project approved by the Bureau of Land Management.
On Wednesday, the BLM announced the Greasewood Creek bentonite mine near Medicine Bow in Albany County. The mine is owned by Wyo Silver LLC and the project will allow the company to extract bentonite from about 648 acres of federal mineral estate over the next 10 years.
"I have no context. I have never heard of them," Deti said when asked about Wyo Silver.
The Wyoming Secretary of State’s office shows the company registered under a Cheyenne law firm, which promised to pass along a message from Cowboy State Daily.
"A lot of these companies, they're headquartered elsewhere," Deti noted. "And, you know, they're just starting to dip their toe into Wyoming.”
“On the nuclear side and the uranium side," Deti added. "These are industries that we have not been on the playing field with really for a few decades."
The renewed interest stems partly from federal policy changes under the Trump administration.
"The interest right now, especially with the president's executive orders, to put a focus on developing our nuclear industry at home, whether it be at the front part of the nuclear fuel cycle with Wyoming uranium or whether it be those mid-cycle things, whether it's conversion or enrichment and finally, you know, developing a fleet of new nuclear power stations," Deti said.
As Snow Lake CEO Wheatley put it in a prepared statement, “This is just the beginning.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
