The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reorganizing.
On the surface, that sounds bureaucratic. Org charts. Reporting lines. Internal memos.
But don’t be fooled.
This may be one of the most consequential structural signals for nuclear energy — and uranium — in decades.
What’s Actually Happening?
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is restructuring around three core business lines:
New Reactors
Operating Reactors
Nuclear Materials & Waste
Licensing and inspection functions will be integrated. Accountability will be centralized within each line. Decision velocity is the objective.
This is not deregulation.
This is reorganization for efficiency.
And efficiency, in nuclear, has historically been the missing variable.
From Fear to Function
There was a time when America built reactors.
Under the United States Atomic Energy Commission, nuclear power was both regulated and promoted — sometimes imperfectly, but with ambition.
Then came the era of public fear, media amplification, and institutional risk aversion. The China Syndrome premiered. Three Mile Island accident followed.
Permitting paradigms hardened. Timelines stretched. Capital retreated.
The industry didn’t die. It slowed.
This reorganization signals something different:
A regulator aligning itself with national deployment goals — without abandoning safety.
That distinction is everything.
The Elephant in the Room: Uranium
If the NRC becomes faster, clearer, and more accountable in licensing new reactors, the consequences ripple upstream immediately.
Amir Adnani, CEO of UEC, has floated the possibility of $1,000/lb U₃O₈ in a true supply squeeze (at a recent talk given in Vancouver (VRIC 2026)).
Is that the base case? No.
But the direction of travel matters more than the ceiling.
When regulatory friction decreases, capital confidence increases. When capital confidence increases, projects move. When projects move, supply tightens against accelerating demand.
This is how structural bull markets are born.
Unlocking the Upstream
For uranium producers and explorers, a credible acceleration in nuclear deployment does several things:
Unlocks equity financing for restarts and greenfields
Encourages long-term utility contracts
Justifies domestic enrichment and conversion build-out
De-risks jurisdictional narratives
But here’s the deeper layer:
Regulatory reform does not just unlock production.
It unlocks exploration.
And exploration is where the real asymmetry lives.
Humanity’s New Fire
Nuclear energy is not just another commodity cycle.
It is 3,000,000-to-1 energy density. It is grid stability in an AI-powered century. It is geopolitical leverage. It is decarbonization without fragility.
It is Prometheus without smoke.
If the NRC reorganization proves durable — if it translates into measurable timeline compression — then we are not witnessing a bureaucratic shuffle.
We are witnessing the quiet removal of a bottleneck.
And when bottlenecks disappear, abundance flows.
Where I Stand
In a world where regulatory velocity meets capital discipline, the most valuable role is not the driller or the promoter.
It is the translator.
The one who stands between geology, permitting, and capital and asks:
Is this technically real?
Is this jurisdictionally viable?
Is this capital-ready?
Is this timed correctly within the cycle?
That’s the lane I operate in.
Because when humanity reaches again for its new fire, someone must ensure the spark lands where it can actually burn.
This NRC reorganization may seem administrative.
But to those watching the full arc — from regulator to reactor to uranium to discovery —
There are moments in history when humanity stumbles into a discovery so profound that the old world simply cannot continue. We split the atom less than a century ago, and for a long stretch, our species barely knew what to make of it. We feared it, mythologized it, and stuffed it into a box labeled too powerful, too political, too much.
But now—finally—something is shifting. The timing, the physics, the policy winds, and the relentless hunger of the digital age are converging into an unmistakable truth: we are stepping out of the era of chemical fire and into the era of nuclear fire.
This is not a cycle story. It’s a civilizational pivot.
And uranium—quiet, dense, misunderstood uranium—is at the heart of it.
I. The New Fire: Humanity’s Leap Beyond Combustion
For fifty thousand years, every spark that powered our lives came from the same narrow miracle: electrons jumping between bonds. Campfires, coal plants, gas turbines—they’re all variations on the same ancient theme.
Then came nuclear fission. A new fire. A different fire. A fire born not from electrons, but from the nucleus itself—where the strong force holds court as the most powerful force nature has ever revealed to us.
One pound of uranium equals the energy of three million pounds of coal. Energy density so extreme it defies intuition. So compact it reshapes civilization the moment we accept its implications.
We’ve spent decades treating this fuel as though it were just another commodity. But uranium is not the next step in the combustion story—it is the first step beyond it.
II. Three Industrial Revolutions at Once
In October, JPMorgan dropped a quiet thunderbolt: a $1.5 trillion Security & Resiliency Initiative, aimed at reinforcing the strategic backbone of the U.S. economy. The pillars were unmistakable:
AI and frontier technologies
Energy independence and grid resiliency
Critical minerals and advanced manufacturing
And there, placed unapologetically among the must-have infrastructure of the 21st century, was nuclear energy.
When institutions of this scale shift their worldview, they aren’t betting on a fad. They’re acknowledging an inevitability.
Artificial intelligence, automation, domestic supply chains, data… these things are not trends. They are the architecture of a new industrial order. And that order requires a stable, abundant, high-density energy substrate.
It requires the new fire.
III. The Market Awakens
For years, uranium wandered in the desert—underpriced, misunderstood, dismissed as yesterday’s fuel. Yet even in the lean decade, the physics remained unchanged. And eventually, reality comes calling.
Today, every part of the fuel cycle is tightening:
Spot and term prices rising
Enrichment swinging from underfeeding to overfeeding
Inventories thinning
Utilities returning to long-term contracts after a decade asleep
And what was once a niche corner of commodity finance now has a shadow giant: the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust, pulling pounds off the market with the force of pure price signal.
This is not speculative froth. This is structural tightening.
We burned through our cushion. We failed to invest in new supply. We forgot that no reactor, no matter how modern, can run on sentiment.
And now the market is rediscovering what the physics always told us: uranium has been undervalued for an entire generation.
IV. Policy Tailwinds: Fast-41 and Federal Momentum
For decades, permitting has been the slow-turning wheel that discouraged developers and exhausted investors. But the federal landscape is changing—quietly, steadily, and now unmistakably.
Fast-41, once a framework reserved for highways and pipelines, now explicitly includes: ISR uranium, Mills, Conversion, Enrichment, & HALEU production
In parallel, the 2025 Budget Bill and executive directives have recognized nuclear as essential to national security, supply-chain strength, and decarbonization. Washington isn’t simply approving nuclear. It is prioritizing it.
The bureaucracy is beginning to match the physics. And that alone is enough to shift the trajectory of an industry.
V. The World Starts Building Again
While the West spent years debating nuclear’s identity crisis, the rest of the world kept building: China. India. South Korea. The UAE. Eastern Europe.
Dozens of reactors under construction. More in planning. And the U.S., once stagnant, is quietly transforming its own fleet with 80-year life extensions—the kind of decision that locks in long-term uranium demand for generations.
Meanwhile, SMRs and microreactors are not science projects anymore. Their first deployments aim where the grid falters: Remote towns, Industrial loads, Military installations, Microgrids, & Data centers
The next generation of reactors will not look like the last. Their scale will be smaller, their roles more varied, and their potential enormous.
VI. AI and the Electrification Surge
Artificial intelligence is no longer just a computational discipline—it is an energy consumer of mythic proportions. Model training. Inference. Hyperscale data centers. 24/7 loads with zero tolerance for downtime.
We are building digital cathedrals that run day and night, learning, predicting, dreaming, building. They demand electricity not in peaking cycles, but in ceaseless baseload.
Intermittency cannot carry this burden. Batteries cannot shoulder it. Gas cannot scale cleanly enough for it.
Only nuclear operates with the quiet consistency that AI requires: 90%+ capacity factors. Multi-year refueling cycles. Carbon-free baseload.
AI is the new industrial furnace. And the only fuel that can support it at scale is uranium.
VII. The Price Is Wrong — and Physics Says So
The greatest misunderstanding in the entire uranium market is a simple one: we price uranium like a commodity, but it behaves like a physical miracle.
Whether uranium is $70/lb or $300/lb barely moves the cost of nuclear power. Fuel is a single-digit portion of reactor economics. Meanwhile, the energy density of U-235—nuclear strong-force energy—puts it in a cost-equivalence range orders of magnitude above today’s pricing.
A physics-based valuation framework places uranium somewhere between:
$300/lb (conservative cost parity)
$1000–3000/lb (pure energy-density equivalence)
This is not a price forecast. It is a statement of mismatch—between what uranium is and what the market pretends it is.
This gap is the opportunity of a generation.
VIII. When Prices Move, Entire Districts Wake Up
A true price breakout doesn’t just lift a few producers. It resurrects forgotten districts, reopens dormant mines, and redraws the map of viable exploration.
At higher uranium prices:
ISR isn’t the only game in town
Open pits and underground operations return
Marginal belts transform into real contenders
Drilling accelerates
Staking wars reopen
The exploration pipeline finally breathes again
Meanwhile, modern tools—AI, machine learning, 3D geologic modeling—unlock layers of subsurface intelligence never before accessible. Roll-front discovery becomes a data-driven pursuit rather than a needle-in-a-basin exercise.
The work becomes smarter. Faster. More predictive. More efficient.
We’re not just inheriting new fire. We’re learning how to aim it.
IX. Waste: The Myth, the Reality, and the Future Fuel
Nuclear waste is one of the great optical illusions of modern society. The entire spent-fuel footprint of the United States fits on a single football field stacked 30 feet high. It is solid. Contained. Tracked. Managed with a flawless safety record spanning seven decades.
And—this is the part almost no one realizes—95% of its energy remains unused.
Tomorrow’s reactors and recycling technologies will turn much of what we now store into multi-century fuel. Even the isotopes considered “waste” today are becoming strategic assets—powering nuclear batteries, satellites, sensors, and remote systems for centuries.
In a world obsessed with circularity, nuclear is quietly revealing the most circular energy cycle of all.
X. What This Means for Us
The horizon in front of us is not abstract. It is real, rising, and demanding talent, courage, stewardship, and scientific clarity.
As uranium prices rise and the world’s appetite for electrons becomes insatiable, opportunity expands across every corner of the sector:
Geologists
Engineers
Hydrologists
Nuclear fuel specialists
Data scientists
Permitting professionals
AI-driven subsurface modelers
This is not a renaissance to watch. It is a renaissance to shape.
We have inherited a fire more powerful than any our species has ever wielded—and with it, a responsibility to use it wisely, transparently, ethically, and with a long memory for the land and communities that support our work.
We are building the energy architecture of 2050, 2080, 2100 and beyond. The choices we make now echo into a century that will run on electrons drawn from the nucleus.
By Mark Travis, CPG | June 23, 2025 President, Arkenstone Exploration
“In every supply chain lies a seam. And when pressure builds, the whole system can slip.”
In March, the cobalt market trembled. In June, it roared.
What began as a localized export ban in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—the world’s undisputed cobalt kingpin—has now widened into a seven-month disruption with no clear end in sight. Prices have surged. IPOs have crumbled. Investors are watching from the edge of their seats. And somewhere in the hills of Idaho, Alaska, or northern Quebec… a junior explorer is unrolling a map and whispering: Now is the time.
Let’s step back and trace the arc—from instability to opportunity—and explore what it means for the U.S., for the mining sector, and for the future of secure, ethical critical minerals.
Part I: March Madness – When the Ban First Dropped
The story began in February 2025, when the DRC suspended cobalt concentrate exports. Officials cited oversupply and weak EV demand as justification—though insiders speculated on broader motivations, from domestic processing ambitions to geopolitical posturing.
By mid-March, chaos was rippling through the global cobalt chain:
Eurasian Resources Group declared force majeure at Metalkol.
Cobalt prices hit $12.25/lb in Europe, climbing nearly 12% in China.
Analysts buzzed about “structural fragility” in a market too dependent on one country’s copper byproduct stream.
I wrote then that this disruption was a “wake-up call” for domestic mining, a rare window where investors, policymakers, and industry leaders might finally align around the urgent need for U.S.-based production.
Part II: June Reverb – The Shock That Keeps On Shaking
Now, the DRC has extended the ban by another three months—pushing the total supply interruption to over half a year, and pulling an estimated 100,000 tonnes of cobalt off the global market.
The price reaction was swift and sharp:
Cobalt futures on China’s Wuxi Exchange surged 9% overnight to $35.34/kg.
Cobalt sulphate—critical to EV battery cathodes—has rebounded 80% from January lows.
Glencore, the world’s #2 cobalt producer, followed ERG in declaring force majeure.
Cobalt Holdings scrapped its anticipated $230M London IPO, spooked by instability.
While CMOC claims its Congo-based operations remain steady, the market at large is anything but.
Behind the headlines, a deeper current is pulling: the realization that this isn’t a one-time hiccup—it’s a systemic vulnerability. One that threatens the clean energy transition at its roots.
Part III: The U.S. Response – Still Waiting for the Drill to Turn
So here’s the paradox.
We know the problem: too much cobalt comes from too few jurisdictions. We know the stakes: EVs, grid storage, military tech, even aerospace all need cobalt. And we know the solution: develop domestic resources.
Yet exploration companies still face:
Multi-year permitting timelines
Inconsistent federal support
Lack of processing capacity
Skeptical capital markets burned by previous busts
The opportunity is clear, but the runway is short. If the U.S. wants to seize this moment, we need policy shifts, capital infusions, and a cultural reawakening that mining matters.
Part IV: From Fragility to Fortitude – What Comes Next
The cobalt crisis of 2025 is more than a spike in futures charts. It’s a stress test of global supply chains, and a preview of coming attractions for lithium, rare earths, and beyond.
This is the inflection point where:
Domestic juniors can shine with the right support and strategy
Investors can reposition toward hard assets with real leverage
Governments can double down on permitting reform and resilient infrastructure
Cobalt is the canary—but it’s singing a warning in a mine shaft lined with copper, nickel, lithium, and rare earths.
Final Thoughts: The Claim is Staked—Will We Act?
As a geologist, I’ve seen firsthand how resource trends bend history. As a project manager, I’ve wrestled with the real costs of getting a mine off the ground. And as someone who believes in the long arc of human progress, I see cobalt not as a crisis, but a catalyst.
A catalyst to return to the rock, to the root, to the real work of supplying a world in transition.
Let’s not miss this window. Let’s dig deeper—literally and figuratively—into our own potential.
Mark Travis is a Certified Professional Geologist and President of Arkenstone Exploration. He believes in building resource resilience from the ground up, and writes frequently on the intersection of exploration, policy, and the human spirit.
There’s a strange poetry in the digital dreams of Silicon Valley being powered by the dense, invisible force forged in the heart of an Illinois cornfield.
Meta—the same company that gave us Facebook and our collective descent into the algorithmic abyss—is now hitching its AI ambitions to the atom. In a headline that’s as surreal as it is inevitable, Meta just inked a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation Energy, locking in nuclear energy from the Clinton Clean Energy Center to help feed its growing fleet of data centers.
And no, this isn’t just another “we’re buying some credits and planting trees” PR stunt. This is baseload. This is carbon-free. This is nuclear—and it’s a signal flare in the night sky of America’s energy future.
When Data Demands a Dynamo
AI is hungry. Really hungry. Think: city-scale electricity loads to run the silicon minds dreaming up everything from deepfake movie scripts to how your toaster should talk to your car. With natural gas still king and renewables playing catch-up, Big Tech is suddenly realizing that if you want round-the-clock, carbon-free electrons—you need to cozy up to uranium.
Meta’s move doesn’t pull power off the grid. Instead, it’s a financial handshake: a promise to pay for the clean attributes of nuclear generation, offsetting their less-green draw elsewhere. It’s not about plugging servers straight into a reactor. It’s about giving that reactor a new lease on life—and making sure those precious electrons stay in the game.
And here’s the kicker: the Clinton plant was already facing the ticking clock of a 2027 relicensing deadline. This deal doesn’t just keep the lights on—it funds relicensing, system upgrades, and possibly even paves the way for a second reactor on site. The term “lifeline” doesn’t do it justice. This is strategic resuscitation.
From Meltdown to Momentum
Meta’s deal follows a similar PPA struck between Microsoft and Constellation to restart the undamaged reactor at Three Mile Island. Yes, that Three Mile Island—the ghost of nuclear nightmares past, now being resurrected not by government fiat, but by the insatiable need for clean, scalable power.
We’re witnessing something remarkable: the pivot of private capital into nuclear stability. It’s not ideology. It’s not politics. It’s demand pressure meeting supply crunch and realizing that the atom still has something to say.
A New Playbook for Clean Energy
Here’s why this matters far beyond Meta’s data closets:
It validates nuclear’s role in the clean energy mix. Not just in theory—but in dollars and contracts.
It provides a replicable model for other plants facing closure or uncertainty in competitive markets.
It opens the door to expanding capacity—whether that’s uprating existing plants, building second units, or finally bringing small modular reactors (SMRs) off the whiteboard and into the dirt.
Constellation’s CEO, Joe Dominguez, called it what it is: billions in capital risk, made bankable only through long-term certainty. And that’s exactly what these PPAs provide. We may not get new nuclear without solving our permitting and political paralysis—but we can shore up what we already have. And that’s no small feat.
Why It Matters to the Rocks and Wires Crowd
For those of us in the mining, exploration, and energy-adjacent world—this is music to our ears. It means demand for uranium is no longer just a function of geopolitical saber-rattling or reactor restarts elsewhere in the world. It’s increasingly being driven by the business case for domestic, carbon-free power.
And let’s be honest—this gives us something new to say when we’re cornered at the barbecue by someone asking, “But isn’t nuclear dangerous?” You can now reply, “Dangerous to ignore, maybe. Even Facebook thinks so.”
Closing Thoughts: AI’s Atomic Appetite
Meta’s deal isn’t just about electrons. It’s about narratives shifting. It’s about legacy infrastructure finding new relevance. It’s about the atom rising again—not as the ghost of Cold War terror, but as the workhorse of our digital future.
The AI age won’t be solar-only. It won’t run on vibes and wishful thinking. It’ll need something denser. More consistent. More resolute.
And nuclear, once cast aside, might just be the steel backbone beneath our silicon dreams.
“If mining is the front end of every supply chain, then permitting is the front end of every bottleneck.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has just handed down a decision that echoes through copper country like a rock hammer in a silent drift: they won’t hear Apache Stronghold’s final appeal to halt the Resolution Copper project in Arizona. That means, after decades of debate, delay, and deep division, the project may finally break free of its legal chains.
But before we pop the champagne—or grab the pickaxe—it’s worth pausing to ask: why did it take nearly 20 years to reach this point? And what does this drawn-out saga say about the future of domestic mining in the United States?
A Copper Giant, Chained by Red Tape
The Resolution Copper deposit is no minor prize. Tucked deep beneath Arizona’s Tonto National Forest, the mine holds what’s believed to be the third-largest copper deposit on Earth. If brought online, it could supply 25% of U.S. copper demand for decades—a critical win in a world marching headlong into electrification, AI hardware, EVs, and renewable energy.
Yet since the early 2000s, this project has been stuck in slow-motion—a labyrinth of environmental reviews, legislative wrangling, tribal legal challenges, and shifting political tides.
Yes, mining must be done responsibly. Yes, communities deserve a voice. But what we’ve witnessed here is something else entirely: a cautionary tale of policy paralysis and bureaucratic stagnation.
Oak Flat: Sacred Ground, or Stalled Progress?
At the center of the controversy is Oak Flat, known to the Western Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel. It’s sacred land. And that’s not metaphorical—Apache Stronghold has argued passionately and consistently that mining operations would obliterate a ceremonial site tied to generations of cultural and spiritual practice.
Their legal case, filed in 2021, invoked religious freedom and treaty rights, even citing an 1852 federal agreement promising protection and prosperity to Apache lands. Lower courts sided with the government, citing Congress’s 2014 defense spending bill, which included a provision for the land swap that enabled the project. That bill—quietly signed by President Obama—was the bureaucratic key that opened the door for mining.
But the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case signals the end of the legal line. With that, the mine’s developers—Rio Tinto and BHP—can move forward. The U.S. Forest Service is expected to reissue the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as soon as June 16.
$2 Billion Invested. Zero Pounds of Copper Mined.
It’s worth stating plainly: over $2 billion has already been sunk into Resolution Copper, and not a single pound has made it to market. Let that sink in.
For perspective, that’s enough to build three medium-sized uranium mills, fund 100 junior exploration programs, or pay for an entire domestic supply chain initiative. Instead, it’s just the cost of waiting.
In a world where China streamlines mining permits in months, and resource-rich nations in Africa are fast becoming the new frontiers for copper giants, the U.S. cannot afford 20-year approval cycles.
If we want energy security, technological independence, and real momentum toward a low-carbon economy, we need permitting reform that preserves environmental and cultural values without stalling progress into geological purgatory.
The Bigger Picture: America’s Mineral Awakening
Resolution is just one battle in a much larger resource war. The U.S. needs copper, uranium, lithium, REEs, and graphite—not just to decarbonize but to defend, to manufacture, to compete. And yet, we’ve allowed a thousand roadblocks to rise: overlapping jurisdictions, lawsuits without end, missing timelines, and agencies afraid to make a decision.
Rio Tinto knows this. That’s why they’ve hedged their bets: expanding into Peru with La Granja, going full-speed underground in Mongolia with Oyu Tolgoi, and investing in next-gen leaching tech like Nuton to squeeze copper from the margins.
If America wants to be a leader in this new mineral age, it must not just produce—it must permit. Not recklessly, but responsibly and resolutely.
Let’s Talk:
What lessons can we take from Resolution Copper’s permitting saga?
Should sacred lands be permanently protected from development, even when national resource needs are at stake?
What would a just, streamlined permitting process actually look like in the U.S.?
Is the real battle over minerals—or over who gets to decide?
Let’s open the floor. The future is underground—but we’ve got to start digging smarter.
In a move that feels like the opening scene of a modern-day energy epic, the U.S. Department of the Interior has granted a swift green light to Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium project in Utah. This isn’t just another mining approval; it’s the first to benefit from a newly implemented 14-day environmental review process, a stark contrast to the years such assessments typically consume.
Why does this matter? Because it’s not just about one mine; it’s about setting a precedent. This expedited approval could be the catalyst that reignites domestic exploration and production of critical minerals, particularly uranium—a resource that’s poised to become the linchpin of our energy future.
The Velvet-Wood Project: A Glimpse into the Future
Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood project isn’t starting from scratch. It’s a revival of the historic Velvet mine, coupled with the development of the nearby Wood deposit. Together, they boast an estimated 4.6 million pounds of uranium oxide equivalent (eU₃O₈) in measured and indicated resources, with an additional 552,000 pounds in inferred resources. The vanadium-to-uranium ratio stands at an impressive 1.4:1, adding another layer of value to the operation.
But the real game-changer? The plan to reopen the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill, one of only three licensed, permitted, and constructed uranium mills in the U.S. This facility will process the ore into uranium concentrate, reducing our reliance on imports—a staggering 99% of the uranium used by U.S. nuclear power plants in 2023 came from countries like Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
A New Frontier for Exploration
This fast-track approval doesn’t just benefit Anfield; it sends a clear signal to the entire industry. The message? The U.S. is serious about securing its mineral future. For geologists, explorers, and investors, this is a clarion call to action. The regulatory landscape is shifting, and with it, the opportunities for domestic exploration are expanding.
Imagine the untapped potential in regions like the Colorado Plateau or the Wyoming Basins. With streamlined permitting processes, these areas could see a surge in exploration activities, leading to new discoveries and a revitalized domestic mining sector.
Investing in Uranium: The Next Oil Boom?
Drawing parallels between uranium today and oil in the early 20th century isn’t just poetic—it’s prophetic. Back then, early investors in oil companies reaped astronomical returns as the world transitioned to petroleum-based energy. Today, as we pivot towards low-carbon and nuclear energy solutions, uranium stands at the cusp of a similar boom.
Consider this: the global oil and gas market recorded revenues of $5.95 trillion in 2024 . The U.S. oil and gas sector alone is valued at over $1.5 trillion. If uranium follows a similar trajectory, early investors could see returns that mirror those historic oil booms.
The Bigger Picture: Energy Security and Sustainability
Beyond the financial incentives, there’s a broader narrative at play. Fast-tracking projects like Velvet-Wood aligns with national interests—reducing dependence on foreign adversaries, bolstering energy security, and promoting sustainable, low-carbon energy sources.
As we navigate the complexities of the 21st-century energy landscape, uranium offers a bridge between our current fossil-fuel dependence and a future powered by clean, reliable nuclear energy.
In Conclusion
Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood project isn’t just a mining operation; it’s a symbol of what’s possible when policy, industry, and innovation converge. For those with the foresight to see the writing on the wall, the uranium sector offers not just a lucrative investment opportunity but a chance to be part of a transformative chapter in America’s energy story.
The winds of energy policy are shifting, and they’re carrying a whiff of enriched uranium. President Trump is poised to sign a series of executive orders that could set the U.S. nuclear power industry ablaze—not with radiation, but with opportunity.
From streamlined reactor approvals to Cold War-style fuel independence and rumors of a massive domestic uranium procurement program, it’s starting to look a lot like the 1950s again… only with more AI, and (hopefully) less fallout propaganda.
A National Emergency? Nuclear Declared Critical
The heart of Trump’s upcoming orders is a declaration of national emergency under the Defense Production Act—an old-school move with new-age implications. Why? Because we’re too dependent on foreign sources (read: Russia and China) for enriched uranium, advanced reactor components, and nuclear fuel processing.
In a twist of Cold War déjà vu, the orders direct the Departments of Energy and Defense to identify federal lands for nuclear development and fast-track permitting. We’re talking serious logistical streamlining—enough to make the NRC blush.
AI, the New Atom Smasher
Driving this urgency is the massive power demand boom from Artificial Intelligence and data centers. Energy Secretary Chris Wright compared it to a “Manhattan Project 2”—an apt analogy, as the race is on to power a future built on silicon and servers.
AI doesn’t sleep, and it sure doesn’t like blackouts. That makes carbon-free, always-on nuclear power one of the few realistic contenders for the throne.
Loan Guarantees, Federal Land, and Red Tape Cutters
This isn’t just rhetoric. The orders encourage the DOE to dust off the Loan Programs Office and firehose funding into the sector through guarantees and direct loans—something underutilized in Trump’s first term but now brimming with cash thanks to legislation from the prior administration.
Combine that with potential reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the game may soon be played on a whole new field. A friendlier, faster, more results-driven one.
Back to the Future: AEC Vibes & the 200 Million Pound Bombshell
Perhaps the most exciting chatter? The rumored government plan to purchase 200 million pounds of U₃O₈ annually for a new U.S. strategic reserve.
Yes, you read that right. This would harken back to the golden days of the Atomic Energy Commission, when the government was the uranium market. Back then, exploration companies scrambled like claim-staking cowboys across the Western U.S., from the Colorado Plateau to Wyoming’s Wind River Basin.
If even a fraction of this deal materializes, it could supercharge domestic uranium exploration and development. Companies already holding past-producing assets or with NI 43-101 pounds in the ground could see unprecedented upside.
Opportunity for the Ready
This moment will favor the prepared, the proven, and the patient. If you’ve got:
Historic data and proven pounds in the ground,
Permitted projects or past-producing mines,
Geologists who know how to follow yellowcake trails…
Then you’re not just in the game—you’re on the edge of the next energy boom.
A Bipartisan Bridge?
Nuclear’s newfound spotlight is notable for crossing political lines. Democrats love it for its carbon-free reliability. Republicans champion it as a baseload powerhouse immune to cloud cover or calm winds. With AI and grid resilience uniting technocrats and climate hawks, nuclear just might be the great reconciling reactor in the room.
Final Thought: The Market Moves Faster Than Policy
Executive orders are one thing. Implementation takes time. But markets don’t wait. If this news sparks action—and it will—investors, developers, and explorers should already be positioning themselves. The reactor of opportunity is online. The rods are loaded. The only question is: are you ready to flip the switch?
If you’ve been watching the metals markets lately—and let’s be honest, in this line of work, who isn’t—you might’ve caught the sharp glint of tungsten flashing across the headlines. Prices have just hit a 12-year high, and the story behind it reads like a geopolitical thriller with economic veins running straight through defense, tech, and green energy.
The Numbers Don’t Lie Let’s start with the basics: tungsten concentrate prices in China have surged 26% since January, reaching $20,400 per tonne, while ammonium paratungstate (APT) prices in Europe have climbed 18% since February. This isn’t a fluke—it’s a flare.
The core issue? Supply dominance meets strategic vulnerability. China controls over 80% of global tungsten production, and they’ve begun reining in exports with tightened quotas in response to U.S. tariffs and mounting international tensions. When the world’s tungsten tap gets turned down, the rest of us scramble for buckets.
The Critical Metal Nobody’s Talking About Tungsten doesn’t get the fanfare of lithium or rare earths, but it should. With the highest melting point of any metal and a density comparable to gold, tungsten is irreplaceable in a range of mission-critical applications:
Armor-piercing projectiles and aerospace components in defense
High-performance alloys in manufacturing and electronics
Heat-resistant electrodes and filaments in energy technologies
Oh, and if you’re building wind turbines, tungsten’s there too—making it quietly indispensable in the renewable revolution.
Meanwhile, in the U.S.… a familiar refrain Domestic tungsten mining ceased in 2015, and despite its designation as a critical mineral, the U.S. still leans heavily on imports—primarily from China and Russia. Sound familiar? It’s a play we’ve seen before in uranium, rare earths, and battery metals. Rinse, repeat, regret.
The U.S. is now signaling intentions to cut its dependence on adversarial suppliers, but that pivot takes time. Infrastructure must be rebuilt, permitting streamlined, and domestic production incentivized. Until then, we’re flying with foreign fuel in our tanks.
A Glimmer of Supply Security: Almonty Industries Enter Almonty Industries, a name suddenly in bright lights. The company has inked a key offtake agreement to supply tungsten oxide for U.S. defense applications, sending its stock soaring 140% this year with a current valuation of $709 million. It’s a big move—but not big enough to fix the global crunch.
Even with Almonty ramping up, the supply/demand imbalance remains stark. Strategic stockpiles are thin. New mines take years. And demand? It’s only growing—driven not just by bullets and blades, but by circuit boards and solar arrays.
What’s Next? Building Resilience, One Drill Hole at a Time This tungsten tale isn’t isolated—it’s part of a larger mineral awakening. As we push into the energy transition, shore up our defense base, and modernize infrastructure, we are being reintroduced—perhaps rudely—to the fact that you can’t digitize a drill rig.
We need to explore. We need to invest. And we need to rethink how and where our mineral lifelines begin.
For those of us on the ground floor of exploration and policy, this is a call to action. Let’s not wait for the next squeeze to tell us what should’ve been obvious all along: strategic metals deserve strategic attention.
💬 What’s your take? Have you been tracking tungsten’s rise or working with it in your own projects? What lessons can we draw from this for the broader critical minerals landscape? Let’s dig in—pun intended.
On May 12, the U.S. Interior Department lit a fire under the energy world—one that burns not with coal or gas, but with uranium ore pulled straight from the red rocks of Utah.
In a move that sent shockwaves through the permitting world, the Interior announced it would complete an environmental review in just 14 days for Anfield Energy’s proposed Velvet-Wood uranium mine in San Juan County, Utah. That’s not a typo. Fourteen days. In an industry where these reviews can drag on for years, this announcement feels less like bureaucracy and more like a booster rocket.
And make no mistake—this isn’t just about one mine. It’s a signal flare for the future of domestic uranium production, critical mineral independence, and energy policy with teeth.
💥 Why Velvet-Wood Matters
The Velvet-Wood project isn’t a greenfield pipe dream—it’s a revitalization of a historic uranium mine, meaning the land has already borne the mark of mining. The new plan calls for only three acres of new surface disturbance, which dramatically lowers environmental impact and, therefore, regulatory friction.
Located in the uranium-rich Paradox Basin, this area has long been known to geologists and explorers alike as a buried treasure chest of critical mineral potential. Alongside uranium, vanadium—a metal essential for high-strength steel and emerging battery technologies—adds even more shine to the project’s portfolio.
But perhaps more important than what’s in the rock is what this rock means for the bigger picture.
🏛️ Permitting as Policy: The New Frontier
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum didn’t mince words: “America is facing an alarming energy emergency because of the prior administration’s climate extremist policies.” That’s political, yes—but also strategic. The Trump Administration’s approach is to slash permitting timelines, revive idle projects, and reassert control over the domestic supply chain—especially for critical and strategic materials like uranium.
If you’re a project generator, explorer, investor, or energy hawk—this should catch your attention.
Because the days of hand-wringing and “maybe someday” permitting are being traded in, at least for now, for a leaner, faster model aimed at energy security and market readiness.
🔁 The Mill is the Missing Link—And Anfield Has One
Anfield’s Shootaring Canyon Mill—one of only a handful of uranium mills in the U.S.—is a key asset in this story. The ability to process ore into uranium concentrate (aka yellowcake) domestically is a massive differentiator, particularly as utilities, governments, and investors eye cleaner, sovereign nuclear supply chains.
This is how exploration transitions into production, and how critical minerals policy meets infrastructure reality.
📈 Investment Implications: The Tide is Turning
The broader uranium market has already been heating up, with spot prices climbing, utilities re-entering the term market, and geopolitical risk pulling the curtain back on our dependence on Russia and its allies for enriched fuel.
But this latest announcement adds a new layer of confidence for investors looking for exposure to U.S. projects:
Speed to production matters, and fast-tracked permits are a game-changer.
Existing infrastructure, like mills and roads, cut both time and cost.
Uranium and vanadium dual-resource projects are diversifying risk and revenue streams.
And it’s not just about majors. This is also a huge signal to junior explorers and those of us involved in the early-stage project pipeline: the window is open—but it won’t be forever. Those with prospective land positions, smart partnerships, and permitting-ready plans could find themselves very well-positioned.
🧭 Final Thoughts: Exploration as the First Step to Sovereignty
Projects like Velvet-Wood are just the tip of the spear. The real engine of American energy independence is still exploration—boots on the ground, drills in the core, and maps on the dash of dusty trucks headed out past the last gas station.
As a geologist and exploration advocate, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: mining starts here. With a rock hammer and a vision.
If you’re in this space—stay nimble, stay sharp, and stay ahead of the curve. Permitting may be speeding up, but only those prepared to act quickly will capitalize on this moment.
The rocks are talking. And now, finally, so is Washington.
🔋 The Atom Strikes Back: Energy Demand Meets Executive Ambition
With surging electricity demand fueled by AI data centers, electric vehicle fleets, and global tech infrastructure, the U.S. is staring down a serious power shortfall. In response, the Trump administration is reportedly drafting a series of executive orders aimed at supercharging the nation’s nuclear energy program. The goals? Dramatic. The implications for geologists, miners, and investors? Even more so.
At the core of this proposal is an audacious target: quadruple U.S. nuclear capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050. For reference, that’s enough juice to run about 300 million homes—nearly twice the number that exist in the country today.
🛠️ Rebuilding the Bedrock: Domestic Mining Gets a Boost
You can’t have a nuclear renaissance without uranium—and the administration seems to know it. Among the draft proposals is a national strategy to rebuild America’s nuclear fuel supply chain, specifically by cutting dependence on Russian enriched uranium. For exploration geologists, this is more than policy—it’s a seismic shift.
Expect increased demand for:
Domestic uranium deposits—especially sandstone-hosted roll-fronts, breccia pipes, and other near-surface targets.
Advanced critical mineral districts—as fuel fabrication and enrichment also require rare earths and specialty metals.
Legacy district revitalization—Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, Utah’s Colorado Plateau, and even parts of the Texas Panhandle may see a resurgence in staking, drilling, and financing.
In short: the United States is looking to put the “U” back in USA.
🏗️ Permitting the Future: A Faster Path through Regulatory Rock
Perhaps the most controversial element of the proposed executive actions is the overhaul of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The idea? Slash bureaucratic delay with a hard 18-month deadline on reactor design approvals. There’s also talk of revised radiation safety limits, designed to reflect newer research and enable greater flexibility in plant siting.
While critics argue this could undermine public safety and environmental review, the exploration community sees a familiar tension: the battle between project timelines and permitting paralysis. If these reforms succeed, they might serve as a template for mining permitting reform down the line.
Imagine a world where:
Drill permits don’t sit idle for two years.
EIS timelines shrink to match actual project lifespans.
Agencies coordinate instead of contradict.
It’s a wild thought—but not out of reach.
🛰️ AI, the Military, and Modular Reactors: The New Energy Frontier
Perhaps the most futuristic (and eyebrow-raising) aspect is the suggestion that the Department of Defense could directly fund and deploy reactors, especially at military bases and AI-focused data centers. This could circumvent civilian regulatory bottlenecks and create new demand for small modular reactors (SMRs) and micro-reactors—technology that still exists largely on paper.
For geologists, this means:
New project types: Military-borne energy projects could drive exploration in previously inaccessible areas.
Increased public-private partnerships: Mining and energy firms may find new allies in national security stakeholders.
Market pressure on uranium supply chains: Strategic stockpiling and procurement programs could return.
The real question: Will these reactors finally get built—or remain a pipe dream powered by press releases?
💰 Investor’s Horizon: From Risk to Reward in Nuclear’s Second Act
From an investment standpoint, the signals are flashing green—with a few orange flags. The success of this initiative could translate into:
Exploration and development capital for uranium juniors
Greater M&A activity across nuclear-adjacent sectors
Government-backed financing or off-take agreements
Yet, history has taught us to be wary. Projects like Plant Vogtle in Georgia—plagued by cost overruns and timeline slippage—highlight the dangers of nuclear optimism without project discipline. The future may favor nimble, capital-light operations that can pivot quickly, rather than megaprojects built on political will alone.
🧭 A Geologist’s Take: The New Nuclear Needs Rock-Solid Foundations
As an exploration geologist, I can’t help but see the through-line here: nuclear expansion starts in the ground. It’s traced in oxidized roll-fronts, etched into Permian sandstones, and whispered in the gamma pulse of a handheld scintillometer.
But to turn policy into megawatts, we’ll need more than ambition—we’ll need:
Streamlined permitting across both energy and mining
Investment in modern exploration and resource definition
Public understanding of how nuclear energy works—and where it begins
These executive orders, if signed, could light the fuse on a new atomic age. But it’s up to us—explorers, miners, investors, and scientists—to ensure it doesn’t fizzle into another missed opportunity.
💬 What Do You Think?
Are these executive orders the spark we need to reignite American energy independence—or just another swing at a slow-moving target?
Let me know in the comments—or out in the field. Because either way, nuclear starts here.
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