GRANTS, N.M. – A proposed in-situ recovery uranium project near San Mateo is moving through early-stage environmental work and aiming for key permit submittals in 2026, according to a presentation delivered Jan. 29 during a joint luncheon hosted by the Grants-Cibola County Chamber of Commerce and the Grants-Milan International Rotary Club at El Cafecito.
The update centered on the Grants Precision In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Project, a uranium extraction proposal being advanced by Grants Energy on private land near the Cibola– McKinley County line. The project has been listed on the federal FAST-41 Permitting Dashboard, where the federal government currently estimates completion of the project’s environmental review and permitting timeline in May 2028.
Company representative Charles Lundstrom, introduced at the luncheon as Grants Energy’s community engagement and environmental protection manager, told attendees the company is focusing on pre-application work, including baseline data collection and technical testing before filing major applications.
“We don’t do any conventional mining,” Lundstrom said, describing the project as a wellfield-based chemical extraction process that avoids open pits, underground tunnels, tailings piles, and blasting.
What “ISR” Means
ISR (in-situ recovery) is different from traditional uranium mining.
Lundstrom explained that rather than excavating rock, ISR uses a network of wells to circulate a solution underground that mobilizes uranium in the ore zone, then pumps the uraniumbearing solution back to the surface for processing into uranium oxide (often called yellowcake).
State regulators and lawmakers have previously described the Grants ISR concept in similar terms: injection and recovery through a wellfield system, with uranium extracted from solution at the surface.
Lundstrom told the luncheon the company expects to use a bicarbonatebased solution, comparing it to “baking soda” chemistry, and emphasized that the operation is designed to have a smaller surface footprint than conventional mining.
According to the federal project description, the Grants ISR proposal covers about six square miles of private land roughly 20 miles northeast of Grants near San Mateo, along the Cibola–McKinley border.
That location places the project near – but not on – U.S. Forest Service land, and adjacent to the Mount Taylor Traditional Cultural Property area that has been at the center of years of debate over uranium development.
Baseline Sampling and Water Questions
Lundstrom said the company has begun baseline groundwater and environmental work, including sampling of wells in the San Mateo area, and described pump testing intended to help characterize groundwater movement.
He also said the company has sought to transfer water rights tied to historic operations to support the project, and acknowledged the community’s long-running concerns about water use and contamination risk in a drought-strained region.
In prior uranium briefings, state officials have emphasized that while federal processes may move forward, New Mexico’s water and environmental permitting requirements remain decisive for projects operating in the state.
During the Q&A, Lundstrom told attendees the project could begin with a smaller workforce and scale up, describing potential staffing levels that ranged from roughly 65 employees up to 125, with some earlier references during the presentation to around 200 at peak operations. He said a major goal is to train and hire locally, including apprenticeshipstyle pathways in trades, environmental sampling, IT, and operations.
The Permitting Reality
The Grants ISR project is in the “in progress” stage on the FAST-41 dashboard, with major review steps still ahead.
State and legislative briefings on uranium in northwest New Mexico have explained that ISR projects generally hinge on federal licensing through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) alongside state environmental approvals, especially those tied to groundwater and injection controls.
And despite federal “fast-track” attention, state officials have been blunt about the bottom line: uranium operations cannot legally proceed in New Mexico without required state permits.
While formal public comment windows depend on specific agency actions and filings, Lundstrom urged residents to engage early and often, saying the company wants questions raised before applications are finalized.
HB 9 Economics Surfaced at the Same Luncheon
After the uranium presentation, local officials also discussed House Bill 9 and concerns about potential job losses tied to detention contracts, warning of major economic ripple effects for Grants, Milan, and the county if detention-related revenue declines. That debate is unfolding separately at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe, but it was discussed in the same theme raised during the uranium talk: Cibola County is searching for stable, well-paying work while watching major decisions in Santa Fe and Washington that could reshape the local economy.
The Cibola Citizen will continue tracking both the Grants Precision ISR project and other uranium proposals in and around the Mount Taylor region as new filings, agency timelines, and public meeting notices are posted.