Canadian company Pegasus buys uranium shares in Fall River County
An avid reader notices that another Canadian energy company is looking to exploit South Dakota’s natural resources.
Based in Vancouver Pegasus Resources purchased 147 vein mining claims on 3,037 acres in Fall River County for $1.5 million in cash. Pegasus purchased the claim from Cowboy Exploration and Development, which receives his mail in Laramie, Wyoming, but claims his main office is in Pinellas Park, Florida. Cowboy E&D was just organized on March 11, after another Laramie business entity with the same name and Laramie PO Box (2498) was administratively dissolved by Wyoming Secretary of State in 2017 after having incurred six notices of tax delinquency since 2007.
Pegasus refers to its acquisition of Fall River as the Rope Uranium Propertya reference to the Chord Uranium Company, which had seven mines among 43 active uranium mines held by various operators in Fall River County in 1960, and possibly local miners Roy and Eugenia (Jeannie) Chordsmall independent operators who fought claim riders and Large companies driving them out of the uranium market. Deal sold the property in 1975. Pegasus says Union Carbide’s exploration of the area in the late 1970s indicated claims could produce 3.8 million pounds of uranium. Pegasus notes that the acres he wants to farm are just 5.5 kilometers southwest of the Dewey-Burdock area which Still Energy (who last fall acquired Azargaformerly Powertech) a tried for years to get permission to mine uranium. Like Encore/Azarga/Powertech, Pegasus would use in situ recovery extract the uranium by injecting a lot of water into the sandstone.
This announcement comes just a few months after Pegasus bought uranium shares in Emery County, Utahwhere the Minerals Corporation of America operated small amounts of uranium and vanadium in the 1950s. Pegasus is also looking for uranium in the Athabasca Basin of Northern Saskatchewan. While uranium remains below its peak price from 2007 of $137 per poundit recently recovered from the post-Fukushima slump to almost double the $30 a pound that one estimate makes uranium mining profitable. This higher price is motivated by several factors:
One of the ironies of the global battle to fight climate change by reducing carbon emissions is that while power generation from renewables such as solar, wind and geothermal has its place, the nuke energy has proven to be the safest and cleanest form of electricity generation – and produces no carbon footprint. Governments around the world have recognized this reality and currently more than 200 nuclear reactors are being planned or built.
The United States has recognized uranium as an essential resource vital to the country’s economic and national security. As such, the federal government has allocated $1.5 billion to build a national strategic uranium reserve over the next ten years.
Several decades of fear and negative public sentiment towards nuclear power have led to limited demand and investment in uranium, which has resulted in less uranium exploration and fewer new mines coming into production. Today, rapidly increasing demand for nuclear energy is driving demand for the uranium needed to fuel reactors – and this has sparked a global exploration boom to discover, develop and mine new uranium deposits. .
The uranium boom coincides with the rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) industry, as many governments have mandated a transition from fossil fuel vehicles to EVs, in order to meet global emissions targets for carbon. The world will need reliable, cost-effective electricity to run these vehicles, and nuclear power is one of the safest and most reliable sources.
These factors appear to be creating the perfect storm for junior exploration investors laying the groundwork for a long and lasting bull market for metals and minerals of all kinds. Add to that the global economy recovering from the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, and demand and price pressure for all commodities could very well continue to rise for many years to come. [Phil Gracin, “Pegasus Resources Acquires Claims with Significant Historical Resources Near to Encore Energy,” The Deep Dive, 2022.04.12].
Encore/Azarga/Powertech still awaiting its South Dakota water permit; if Pegasus wants to go look for uranium north of Edgemont, he better drop off his papers yesterday and be prepared for a long wait.
