Southeastern Utah’s Velvet-Wood Uranium Mine Scheduled to Break Ground on November 6

Salt Lake City, UT - Canada-based company Anfield Energy will officially break ground and start construction on its uranium- and vanadium-producing Velvet-Wood Project in southeast Utah on November 6, 2025.

After an expedited environmental review, the Bureau of Land Management issued permits for the mine in just 11 days. While Anfield Energy intends to break ground this week, additional permits will be needed as the construction process continues.

Nearby communities and environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, are concerned that the expedited process did not allow time for comprehensive environmental review or public input.

"Fast tracking this type of permitting comes at a great cost for our community," said Sierra Club Utah Chapter Director Franque Bains."This mine is adjacent to the Navajo nation and once again, the Trump administration has chosen to act without adequate input from those most directly affected. The radioactive materials that this mine will handle are dangerous to neighboring communities, wildlife, water, and plant life alike. Thursday marks a sad day in our nation's history. This type of fast-tracking is devastating to our communities as it forces them to bear the brunt of the environmental impact with little say or ability to halt it all together."

Over the summer, activists and Tribal members from around Utah gathered at the Velvet-Wood site to protest federal approval of the mine, holding banners reading, "Don't Fast Track Utah into a Nuclear Wasteland" and "Stop Velvet-Wood Uranium Mine"

They raised questions around the safety of mining operations, including potential impacts of radioactive ponds and waste rocks to local fauna, particularly critical raptor species; impacts on local resident's livestock grazing and recreational uses of the land; and the potential for groundwater contamination of the Burro Canyon Aquifer, which sits above the Navajo Aquifer. The Navajo Aquifer is a vital fresh-water resource for residents of Southeastern Utah, and the Navajo and Ute Mountain Ute Nations.

"We continue to hear that this new era of nuclear renaissance will be safer and cleaner than ever, that the ugly history of the nuclear industry is far behind," said Sierra Club Utah Chapter volunteer Madi Sudweeks. "The shocking speed with which the Velvet-Wood Uranium Mine was given the green light reveals where the administration's true priorities are. Our public lands, waters, and safety are the price for industry profits. The flimsy claims that this time will be different are at best wishful hopes, ungrounded from the reality of what increased uranium extraction will actually look like in an era of regulatory gutting."

Due to delays in the planned opening of the Shootaring Canyon Mill, it is expected that ore from this Velvet-Wood will be processed by the Energy Fuels Uranium Mill located between Blanding and the Ute Mountain Ute Community of White Mesa. Activists from the White Mesa Ute Mountain Ute Community have long expressed concerns about the mill. Last month, community members and activists gathered for an annual spiritual walkto raise awareness of the impacts this facility has on their health and traditional ways of life. "I want my community to have good air quality, good water resources," said White Mesa Concerned Community cofounder Yolanda Badbackat the spiritual walk. "We live there and that's our homeland. And I will never leave my homeland for anything."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.