Westwater Resources, Inc. (WWR), is an explorer and developer of US-based

mineral resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...

essential to clean energy production. The company has operated some

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

facilities in the past, however they have recently been exploring

lithium Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid el ...

and

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...

, anticipating a rise in demand of battery related materials due to accelerating

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

production.

Company history

In 1977, the company was founded in

Southern Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

solely operating in uranium. In 2003, the company proposed to mine in traditional

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

territory. In 2012, the EPA was considering a permit for the Church Rock mine, which had a large uranium spill contaminating the

Puerco River The Puerco River or Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Little Colorado River in northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. It flows through arid terrain, including the Painted Desert. Name The Puerco River is sometimes called Rio Puerco ...

and washing downstream to the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

in 1979 when it was owned by the United Nuclear Corporation.The Church Rock Uranium Mill Tailings Spill

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

, 1983 An online

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

received over 15,000 supporters standing against the re-permitting of the Church Rock mine. On April 8, 2016, the company sold its subsidiary, Hydro Resources, Inc. (which holds the Church Rock and Crownpoint uranium properties in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

) to Laramide Resources, Ltd. In August 2012, the company merged with Neutron Energy, Inc. In August 2017, the company changed its name from Uranium Resources to Westwater Resources, Inc. The company previously traded under the ticker symbol URRE. Westwater Resources acquired Alabama Graphite Corp. in April 2018.

Uranium

The company owns uranium properties in

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

, where they have two licensed

in-situ recovery In-situ leaching (ISL), also called in-situ recovery (ISR) or solution mining, is a mining process used to recover minerals such as copper and uranium through boreholes drilled into a deposit, ''in situ''. In situ leach works by artificially disso ...

processing facilities: Kingsville Dome near

Kingsville, Texas Kingsville is a city in the southern region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County. Located on the U.S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi and Harlingen, Kingsville is the principal city of the Kingsville Micropo ...

and Rosita. The company also has of mineral holdings in New Mexico, where they hold a NRC license to produce up to of uranium annually. The mineral properties in New Mexico have not undergone development. It's estimated that the mineral claims in New Mexico contains more than one hundred million pounds

U3O8 Triuranium octoxide (U3O8) is a compound of uranium. It is present as an olive green to black, odorless solid. It is one of the more popular forms of yellowcake and is shipped between mills and refineries in this form. U3O8 has potential long-ter ...

of in-place mineralised uranium material.Reuters
In 1985, the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

's contracts for the purchase of uranium thrown out by a United States district court, in favor of the company. Production ceased in 2009 after the fall of uranium prices, and has remained idled following the wake of the

April 2011 Fukushima earthquake A potent magnitude 6.6 Mw intraplate aftershock occurred at 17:16 JST (08:16 UTC) on 11 April, in the Hamadōri region of Fukushima, Japan. With a shallow focus of , the earthquake was centred inland about west of Iwa ...

. However, with 50 nuclear reactors currently under construction worldwide, a sustained rise in uranium prices could make these facilities economically viable in the future. Since 2007, Westwater Resources has invested in the exploration and development of its uranium projects in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, namely in Temrezli and Sefaatli. Unfortunately, the government of Turkey is upholding that all permits granted to the company for Uranium exploration were "issued by mistake." Experts have estimated that the Temrezli mine alone would generate revenues of up to $644 million over its life, resulting in a net ROI of $267 million. However, after repeated attempts to make contact with the Turkish government, the company filed a request for arbitration with the

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of ...

(ICSID) as a result of Turkey's unlawful actions. Their request was registered, and as of May 1, 2019, a three-member ICSID panel was formed. The proceedings will take place in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. On Monday, January 27, 2020, Westwater, the

claimant A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

, filed a Memorial on the merits of their case to the panel. The Republic of Turkey must move to bifurcate the proceedings by March 9, 2020, or alternatively, file a counter-Memorial by June 15, 2020. The first hearing will be sometime between March and September, in 2021, depending on how the case progresses.

Lithium

In 2016, the company was able to obtain over 30,000 acres of

brine properties, including the Sal Rica Project in Utah and the Columbus Salt Marsh (or Columbus Basin) project in Nevada (near Tesla's Gigafactory). Values ranging from 60 to 170 ppm were common across all three properties, although some anomaly-type samples indicated up to 392 parts per million of lithium concentrations. However, the company currently only has mineral and water rights for their Columbus Basin project (14,220 acres). In 2020, the company decided to focus all of its resources on the development of its graphite business and returned its lithium claims in Nevada and Utah to the United States government.

Graphite

In early to mid 2018, Westwater Resources completed the acquisition of Alabama Graphite. Part of that acquisition included the Coosa Graphite Project, held under a long-term lease. It lies about 25 miles southwest of

Sylacauga, Alabama Sylacauga is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,578. Sylacauga is known for its fine white marble bedrock. This was discovered shortly after settlers moved into the area and has been ...

and covers 41,900 acres of land at the southern end of the

Appalachian mountain range The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

. As of September 2018, Westwater successfully produced approximately 4 kg of battery grade

. Since then, Westwater has received a request for from an undisclosed battery manufacturer for one

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

of purified micronized graphite for further testing. To meet this request, as well as any others that may come in the future, the Company has decided to outsource their natural flake graphite until Westwater's Coosa Graphite Mine is permitted and operational. The Company anticipates a full scale mining rate of 577,000

short tons The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton, although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton. The vari ...

per year, at an average grade of 3.2% graphite. Westwater plans to use

bulldozers A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal #Blade, blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous ...

excavators Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...

, loading equipment, and 45-ton haul trucks to bring the material to the processing plant, by which point they will have replaced the outsourced graphite supply with their own. Once at the processing plant, the metallurgical process of flotation processing will be employed to remove impurities, without damaging the graphite flakes. From there, the graphite will go through multiple rod and

ball mill A ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind or blend materials for use in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, ceramics, and selective laser sintering. It works on the principle of impact and attrition: size reduction is done ...

grinders as well as additional flotation units. As for turning the natural flake graphite into a battery-ready product, Westwater Resources has turned Dorfner Anzaplan (based in Hirschau, Germany) to define the method, equipment, and operating parameters for graphite purification to the 99.95% threshold. One potentially lucrative aspect of the Coosa Graphite project is that that graphite has been declared a critical strategic mineral by the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

contractors. Whenever possible, the US military is legally required to use US sourced materials. Therefore, the company has a strong chance of attracting those contractors as customers.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Lithium mining Uranium mining companies of the United States Companies based in Colorado Energy companies established in 1977 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1977 Companies listed on the Nasdaq