A Canadian-based company wants to explore for uranium deposits in the southwestern Black Hills on state School and Public Lands.
Clean Nuclear Energy Corporation filed a uranium exploration permit application with the state earlier this year. The proposed project is located less than a mile from Craven Canyon, which hosts ancient pictographs and petroglyphs.
The company wants to drill holes up to 700 ft deep. The drilling will occur on up to 50 60-foot by 60-foot drill pads across 50 acres. The company says it will plug up the drill holes with clay.
According to the company application, “the drill holes are planned to penetrate Inyan Kara Group rocks, which are water-bearing units or aquifers in some locations of the Black Hills.”
The Chord Project boundary is located about three miles from the Dewey Burdock project. That project is still held up in the review process.
In 2022, 56 percent of Fall River County voters declared uranium mining a nuisance. Anti-uranium mining residents hope the designation means mining for the radioactive material will end. Others call the designation illegal.
