The Churchrock Project is a Development stage, ISR uranium project located in the Grants Mineral Belt of New Mexico, USA, 12 miles north-northeast of Gallup, New Mexico. Laramide has disclosed that the Churchrock Project and nearby properties represent one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped ISR uranium projects in the United States. The Churchrock Project is owned and operated by NuFuels, Inc. ("NuFuels"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Laramide Resources Ltd. (“Laramide”). Laramide has disclosed that it holds several regulatory clearances in connection with the Churchrock Project, including: (a) a final Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the NRC in connection with the United States Bureau of Land Management and the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, dated February of 1997; (b) a radioactive materials licence from the NRC, issued in 1998 and amended in 2006 and in "timely renewal"; (c) an aquifer exemption issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA"), dated 1989; and (d) a water rights transfer, approved by the office of the New Mexico State Engineer, dated October 19, 1999. The Churchrock Technical Report disclosed additional regulatory clearances necessary for the project, including, among others, a discharge permit / underground injection control permit from the New Mexico Environmental Department and a right-of-way permit from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Navajo Nation.
On June 2, 2025, Laramide announced that the Crownpoint-Churchrock project had been designated under Title 41 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, potentially streamlining its federal review process.
The Churchrock Technical Report included an inferred mineral resource estimate of 50.82 Mlbs of U3O8 (33.88 million short tons or 30.73 million tonnes at a grade of 0.075% U3O8). The resources have not changed since the previous technical report.
| Mineral Resources – As of February 22, 2023 (100% Basis) | ||||||||
| Measured | Indicated | Inferred | ||||||
| Tons (Mt) |
Grade (% U3O8) |
Content (MLbs. U3O8) |
Tons (Mt) |
Grade (% U3O8) |
Content (MLbs. U3O8) |
Tons (Mt) |
Grade (% U3O8) |
Content (MLbs. U3O8) |
| 33.88 | 0.08 | 50.82 | ||||||
Unless otherwise indicated, the scientific and technical information herein regarding the Churchrock Project has been derived from the technical report titled "Technical Report on the Churchrock Uranium Project, McKinley County, New Mexico, USA" (the "Churchrock Technical Report") with an effective date of February 22, 2023, prepared for Laramide and Laramide's other public disclosures, copies of which are available under Laramide's profile on SEDAR+.
The Company owns two royalties on the Churchrock Project (the "Churchrock Project") located in New Mexico, USA, a 4.0% net returns royalty (the "Churchrock 4% Royalty") and a 6% mine price royalty (the “Churchrock 6% Royalty”). Net returns are calculated based on the gross value received by the payor from the sale of ores, metals, minerals and materials from the property, less certain specified deductions for transportation, insurance, storage, sale, tolling and refining costs and any governmental royalties that are paid in respect of such production. Mine price is calculated as the value of U3O8 eventually mined/recovered, processed, and sold from the royalty area, considering the costs of transportation and potentially additional costs such as insurance, storage, and other costs required to finalize sale of the product at the point of sale.
The Churchrock 6% Royalty was created pursuant to a royalty deed between Quinta Corporation and Arthur P. Quinn on June 11, 1957. Arthur Quinn located the original claims, Claims No. 16168-1 to 16168-36, in 1955. The claims were subsequently relocated and renamed by United Nuclear Corporation into 10 patented mining claims comprising Mineral Survey 2220 on a portion of Section 8 on the currently defined Churchrock project. The royalty interests were subsequently transferred to two charity organizations through various instruments between 1983 and 2001. URC’s royalty does not cover the resources and potential production from the Crownpoint property.
In addition to our Churchrock Royalties, Laramide has disclosed that portions of the Churchrock Project are subject to other royalties, including a sliding scale royalty of 5% to 25%, held by Laramide.
A preliminary economic assessment is set out in the Churchrock Technical Report and evaluates uranium mineral recovery by in ISR methods at the Churchrock Project location and processing in a proposed new facility at the nearby Crownpoint Project location where significant project infrastructure already exists. The preliminary economic assessment set out in the Churchrock Technical Report highlights a large, long-life project with 31.2 Mlbs produced over 31 years; initial capital costs of US$47.5 million; unit operating costs (including taxes and royalties) of US$27.70/lb. and all-in sustaining costs of US$34.83/lb.; pre- tax internal rate of return of 62% and net present value (8%) of US$278 million (at US$75/lb. U3O8); post- tax internal rate of return of 56% and net present value (8%) of US$239 million (at $75/lb. U3O8); life of project post-tax cash flow exceeds $1 billion. The foregoing preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Accordingly, there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
On August 24, 2023, Laramide disclosed that NuFuels has been awarded a U.S. Department of Energy grant in the amount of US$1,756,778 to provide the funding for a joint research project with Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop advanced in-situ recovery related groundwater restoration technology. The 2-year project is designed to develop groundwater restoration technology in the laboratory that will address the modern groundwater restoration standards in New Mexico and lower the full cycle cost related to ISR by reducing the amount of water used during the groundwater restoration process through in-situ restoration techniques.
The history of exploration and mine development activities for the Churchrock Uranium Project dates back to the late 1950s. Mine development occurred at the Section 17 property (Old Churchrock Mine), in the early 1960s by Phillips Petroleum and Affiliates, and in the early 1980s by United Nuclear Corporation (UNC).
Exploration and development activities continued through the early 1990s by Uranium Resources, Inc. In 2004, Strathmore Minerals Corp. ("Strathmore Minerals") acquired the Churchrock Project. Strathmore Minerals was subsequently acquired by Energy Fuels in 2013. Energy Fuels transferred the property to Uranium Resources, Inc. in 2015, prior to the property being acquired by Laramide in early 2017.
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Uranium Royalty Corp.
1188 West Georgia Street, Suite 1830
Vancouver, BC, V6E 4A2
[email protected]
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