US enCore Energy Corp has launched its second ion exchange (IX) circuit at its South Texas Alta Mesa in-situ recovery (ISR) Uranium Central Processing Plant (Alta Mesa CPP). Earlier in March encore Energy said it was implementing an accelerated action plan to expand its uranium operations at Alta Mesa, which resumed production in 2024 after being curtailed between 2005 and 2013 due to low prices.
IX circuits collect uranium from process water pumped from recovery wells in the wellfield. This second IX circuit at Alta Mesa doubles the total flow capacity from 2,500 to 5,000 gallons (9,400 to 19,000 litres) per minute. The flow rate is a key factor in expanding the amount of uranium captured.
An IX circuit is similar to a water softener treatment which selectively removes hardness ions from water. Each IX circuit at the Alta Mesa CPP contains four upflow columns and two downflow columns that contain the IX resin used to capture uranium from the produced water before it is recycled back into the wellfield. This minimises the amount of water consumed in the ISR process.
In conjunction with the expansion of processing capacity, enCore has installed additional injection and extraction wells in the currently permitted and operational Wellfield 7 (PAA-7). Together, the second IX circuit and wellfield expansion utilise some 75% of the current processing capacity. Additional wells will be brought online systematically in order to reach CPP capacity.
EnCore Energy Executive Chairman, William M Sheriff explained that, at any given concentration of dissolved uranium in water, the more solution pumped, the more uranium can be captured. “At the Alta Mesa CPP, we have learned that our extraction process is faster than anticipated, which is expected to be positive for revenue and return on investment. The work on the second IX circuit and additions to the wellfield have been underway for several months. While we are pleased to see the second IX circuit operating, we look forward to full utilisation of this increase in capacity. With additional drill rigs and accelerated effort, we look forward to steady advancement of our uranium capture rates.”
Work is underway for systematic and more aggressive expansion of Wellfield 7 with 22 drill rigs now operating on the projects including 17 drill rigs working on increasing uranium extraction at Alta Mesa. The drilling programme has been expanding since the end of 2024 and the number of drill rigs will be further increased in the coming weeks and months. During the past six months, an additional 43 injection wells and 36 recovery wells have been added to Wellfield 7 feeding the second IX circuit at the Alta Mesa CPP. The addition of 13 injection wells and 13 recovery wells is anticipated over the next six weeks.
With the addition of the second IX circuit at the Alta Mesa CPP the company is operating two of its three fully licensed IX circuits at the site. Work is underway to return Wellfield 6 (PAA-6) to operation within the next six months. A third IX circuit is on site and recommissioning is planned for 2026. Once this is online, it will bring processing capacity to 7,500 gallons per minute, which will bring the Alta Mesa CPP to 100% of its IX capacity.
The Alta Mesa Project hosts a fully licensed and constructed ISR CCP and operational wellfield located on more than 200,000 acres of private land and mineral rights regulated by the state of Texas. Total operating capacity at Alta Mesa is 1.5m lbs U3O8 a year with additional drying capacity of 0.5m lbs. The project operates under a 70/30 joint venture with Boss Energy Limited.
The Alta Mesa CPP produced nearly 5m lbs of uranium between 2005 and 2013 before production was stopped. Production is expected to steadily increase from the wellfield as expansion continues through 2025 and beyond.
There is also 1 drill rig operating at the Upper Spring Creek Project. Once drilling is completed, the rig will be redeployed to Wellfield 7. This will bring the total there to 18, after a short programme at the Rosita Extension where a series of close space fences will delineate a portion of the wellfield that has not yet been exploited. Depending on the outcome, drilling of additional wells may be expected to come online within the next 3-4 months at the Rosita CPP. Construction and installation of the wellfield at Upper Spring Creek will begin once the final permits have been received, which is expected before the end of the year. Only ISR technology is used at enCore Energy’s projects.
EnCore owns and operates three of the four licensed uranium processing facilities in Texas, two of which are currently in operation. Each of the facilities are fully licensed and constructed, 100%-owned, and are previously-operating uranium processing facilities in Texas, recognised as a safe ISR uranium jurisdiction. There are currently only 11 licensed ISR plants in the USA.
Following enCore’s success in South Texas, future projects in the pipeline include the Dewey-Burdock project in South Dakota and the Gas Hills project in Wyoming. Currently, enCore Energy is the only US uranium processing company with multiple production facilities in operation.
The company’s operational plan, now underway, is to extract uranium derived from multiple remote satellite IX operations, in turn to be processed at one of its three CPPs, which are strategically located in north-central, central, and southern portions of south Texas.
