Wyoming is about to gain another competitive edge in its development of rare earths from what may seem an unlikely source — the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The NRC has just agreed to let Wyoming take over regulation of the radioactive byproducts created when rare earths are mined.
Director of NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Andrea Kock was in Wyoming on Tuesday to sign the deal shifting day-to-day oversight of byproducts like uranium and thorium to the Cowboy State.
Kock told Cowboy State Daily that she made a special trip to Wyoming just for the signing ceremony.
“That’s how important we believe these federal and private partnerships really are,” she said. “Our national materials program safety framework is local in delivery and national in standards.
"It’s a program where the state and federal government work side by side to protect communities.”
Gov. Mark Gordon, meanwhile, said this is what local control should look like.
“It brings accountability and transparency,” he said. “Wyoming has already demonstrated we can regulate complex industries safely and responsibly since taking on uranium authority in 2018.”
Critical minerals, meanwhile, are not just important to Wyoming, Gordon said. They are essential to national and economic security, as well as a variety of technology sectors.
“The opportunity to invest in high-quality jobs right here in Wyoming is something this administration has been all about,” he said. “We are doing it the Wyoming way — developing our resources while protecting our environment and respecting our communities.”
Meaningful Change
Wyoming was already allowed to permit mining of both thorium and uranium in situ, but couldn’t regulate the same materials as byproducts.
Extending Wyoming’s 2018 agreement with NRC to include these byproducts represents meaningful change for the industry, Wyoming Mining Association Executive Director Travis Deti told Cowboy State Daily.
“This gives us regulatory primacy over our rare earth recovery,” he said. “The way it was before … we were regulated both at the state and federal level, so it was basically a double dip.”
The shift will also roughly halve the $3 million permitting cost, as well as substantially drop the time involved in getting the permit.
That only helps Wyoming and America get to an independent supply of critical rare earth minerals more quickly.
Faster permitting matters because rare earth minerals are essential for everything from smartphones to smart missiles, and China still controls roughly 90% of the global supply.
Wyoming has already become a vital part of helping to change the situation with its innovative plant in Upton that seeks to process rare earths more cheaply and the potentially massive domestic source of both heavy and light rare earths that’s located near Wheatland.
Gaining state primacy over radioactive byproducts locks in the state’s already considerable advantages in the sector.
Immediate Impact
Among the first companies to feel the effects of this change will be Rare Element Resources, which is developing the Bear Lodge rare earth project, as well as a demonstration-scale processing and separation plant in Upton.
The plant will operate for up to 12 months, to prove out a new and cheaper approach to processing high-purity neodymium-praseodymium oxide.
A cheaper approach is vital to the success of America’s rare earth industry. Otherwise, firms won’t be able to compete with the ultra-low prices China is able to offer.
Rare Element Resources Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Administrative Officer Kelli Kast said the company is pleased to see Wyoming taking the lead in this area and said it’s “very impactful” both to her company and Wyoming’s rare earth industry in general.
“Wyoming has decades of experience regulating uranium and other mineral resources through the DEQ, so it makes perfect sense to bring oversight of naturally occurring materials in rare earth projects under the same program,” she said.
“This keeps regulation local, efficient, and close to the communities where these projects operate,” she added.
Rare Element Resources had already obtained its NRC license, Kast added.
“With today’s signing, that license will move to the DEQ Land Quality Division’s new Source Material Program,” she said. "This allows us to continue operations seamlessly under state oversight, while maintaining the highest standards for safety and environmental protection.”
Stakes Are Higher Than Ever
The rare earth stakes now are incredibly high for the nation, Cowboy State Daily has been told in numerous interviews.
“If you just look at the current world affairs, and specifically what is going on in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, it is not too far of a leap to see something of equal or even greater consequence affecting the critical minerals supply chain,” Rare Earth Element Resources CEO Ken Mushinski has told Cowboy State Daily.
“In that case, the U.S. is not a net exporter of separated rare earth elements as we are with oil, so the impact on the American supply chain would likely be more immediate and costly to counteract,” he said.
Rare earths will be used to build both national and economic security in America. That effort will also come with lots of high-paying jobs.
Rare Element Resources has announced plans to stand up a processing plant in Upton if its processes prove out.
American Rare Earths also has announced plans to pursue both light and heavy rare earth processing for Halleck Creek near Wheatland.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
