Mining, production, shipments, and sales

U.S. uranium production facilities produced about 2.1 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U₃O₈) concentrate in 2025, a significant increase from the 657,000 pounds produced in 2024. The production of U₃O₈ is the first step in the nuclear fuel production process, preceding the conversion of U3O8 into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) to enable uranium enrichment, then fuel pellet fabrication, and finally fuel assembly fabrication.

Drilling and exploration

Exploration drilling during 2025 included 1,824 holes with total footage of 1,016,000 feet, up considerably from the 1,324 holes with total footage of 613,000 feet drilled in 2024. Development drilling totaled 3,708 holes with total footage of 1,302,000 feet, up from 2024 development drilling of 2,462 holes and 1,260,000 feet. Exploration and development drilling activities in 2025 were the highest in years, with the most holes drilled since 2012 and the most total footage drilled since 2013.

Facility status (mills, heap leach plants, and in-situ recovery plants)

At the end of 2025, the Shootaring Canyon Uranium Mill in Utah and the Sweetwater Uranium Project in Wyoming were on standby with a total capacity of 3,750 short tons of material per day. In Utah, the White Mesa Mill restarted production. In Wyoming, the Sheep Mountain heap leach facility reached a partial permitting and licensed stage.

At the end of 2025, in-situ recovery (ISR) facilities Alta Mesa Project, Lost Creek Project, the Smith Ranch-Highland Operation, Ross Central Processing Project, and Willow Creek Project were operating with a combined capacity of 13.3 million pounds U₃O₈ per year down from the industry-wide ISR capacity of 14.1 million pounds in 2024. Five in-situ recovery plants were on standby as of the end of 2025 with a combined annual production capacity of 8.8 million pounds U₃O₈. Seven in-situ recovery plants were planned for three states—South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming—with a combined annual production capacity of 10.5 million pounds U₃O₈.

Employment and expenditures

Total employment in the U.S. uranium production industry was 711 full-time person-years (one person-year is equal to full-time employment for one person) in 2025, a 41% increase from the 506 full-time person-years in 2024 and the highest employment total since 2014.

Expenditures for land, exploration, drilling, production, and reclamation totaled $234.7 million in 2025, up from $160.0 million in 2024 and the highest total expenditures since 2014.