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Wyoming Hires Second Powerful Law Firm To Fight Washington's Coal Policies

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has hired another major law firm to fight anti-coal policies from the Environmental Protection Agency. The firm employs former President Trump's former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Pat MaioJuly 18, 2024

Casper's Ur-Energy Sees Boost In Uranium Production

According to regulatory filings on Wednesday, Casper-based Ur-Energy is one of the first major uranium mining players in Wyoming to see evidence of stronger demand by electric utilities of its ore, which is needed to power nuclear power plants.

Pat MaioJuly 18, 2024

Drilling rig worker Zachary Christensen stands next to the rig where he was collecting core samples from a mining operation for rare earths planned by Ramaco Resources Inc. in Ranchester, Wyoming.

Ramaco Resources Preparing To Build Plant To Transform Coal

Ramaco Resources is close to starting work on a pilot demonstration plant that will convert coal mined from a Ranchester mine into strategic rare earth minerals. They estimate they'll be pulling up to 2 million tons of coal annually out of the old Brook mine by 2026.

Pat MaioJuly 17, 2024

Wyo-Ben Inc. CEO David Brown standing in front of a newly constructed cat litter processing plant in Billings, Montana, where some of the company’s bentonite ends up getting packaged into bags of cat litter for big retailers like Target or PetSmart.

Mining Company Sees 'Paws-Abilities' In Growing Cat Litter Business

Wyoming's sodium bentonite companies produce over 70% of the world’s supply, with privately held Wyo-Ben going up against larger rivals like Mineral Technologies and Haliburton’s Bentonite Performance.

Pat MaioJuly 16, 2024

Exploring American Rare Earth's operation near Wheatland, Wyoming.

Australian Firm Test Drilling On $456 Million Rare Earths Project Near Wheatland

American Rare Earths' mining project near Wheatland, which could have one of the richest rare earths deposits in the world, on Monday said it had begun test drilling.

Pat MaioJuly 15, 2024

The first vehicle travels over a rebuilt temporary fix for the collapsed section of Teton Pass.

Wyoming Did Propose Drilling A Tunnel Through Teton Pass But It Never Went Anywhere

The former head of the Wyoming Dept of Transportation did submit a request to the federal government to drill a hole through Teton Pass instead of maintaining a road over it. But it never went anywhere.

Pat MaioJuly 12, 2024

Key Legislator Worries Activists Could Hurt Wyoming Economy In Oil And Gas Auctions

State Rep. Cyrus Western, the outgoing House majority whip, is concerned that a Lander-based conservation advocacy organization is waging a war on Wyoming’s middle class through the state’s oil and gas lease auction bidding process.

Pat MaioJuly 11, 2024

Shirley Basin was a Wyoming uranium boomtown that's setting up to boom again. This old photo was shared to the "People That Used To Live In Shirley Basin Wyoming" Facebook page.

No End In Sight For Wyoming’s New Uranium Rush

A rush for producing Wyoming uranium continues with no end in sight. The latest in the mix is an exploration company from Canada that hopes to muscle its way into the state’s Shirley Basin to possibly attract takeover interest.

Pat MaioJuly 11, 2024

Alan Minier, left, former chairman of the Wyoming Public Service Commission and State Board of Equalization, opposes the Rail Tie project because the previous owner, ConnectGen, and current owner Repsol Renewables North America failed to file proper financial statements proving their “financial adequacy” to build the $500 million energy development.

Controversial $500M Wind Farm Gets Go-Ahead After Heated Closed-Door Meeting

The controversial $500 million Rail Tie wind farm in Albany County got the go-ahead from Wyoming regulators Wednesday. Things reportedly got heated at times as the developer and activists met behind closed doors for hours.

Pat MaioJuly 10, 2024

The Red Desert is a high altitude sagebrush steppe and dry landscape in southern Wyoming.

BLM May Limit Plan For 600,000 Acres Of CO2 Storage For Wyoming Ammonia Plant

A Wyoming BLM assessment could severely limit a massive 600,000-acre carbon dioxide storage plan. The CO2 storage would be needed to build an industrial-scale coal-to-ammonia plant in southwest Wyoming.

Pat MaioJuly 10, 2024

Wind turbines stand nearly 300 feet tall in southern Wyoming in this file photo.

Spanish Company To Develop Huge Wind Farm North Of Cheyenne

Spanish energy giant Repsol has plans to build a huge 500- to 600-megawatt wind farm northwest of Cheyenne, Cowboy State Daily confirmed Tuesday. It’s the same company that bought the controversial Rail Tie wind project outside of Laramie in the spring.

Pat MaioJuly 09, 2024

A pair of pronghorn near Pinedale, Wyoming, with several oil and gas rigs in the background.

In Major Policy Shift, Wyoming Redefines Who Can Bid On State Oil And Gas Leases

Wyoming has changed its rules to discourage environmental groups from attempting to lock up state oil and gas leases. That means the Wyoming Outdoor Council can’t bid in this week's state-run oil and gas lease auction.

Pat MaioJuly 08, 2024

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Strata Energy proposes to sell a significant amount of Wyoming uranium to a Belgium company.

Wyoming Uranium Producer Ramps Up To Meet $100M-Plus Sale To European Buyer

Strata Energy is accelerating its uranium production from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin with plans to ramp up to 2 million pounds annually. The company is expected to double its workforce to sell $88 million to $117 million worth of uranium to a European buyer.

Pat MaioJuly 08, 2024

Oil And Gas Producers Say Outdoors Council Bids Up State Lease Sale To Inflate Costs

Casper-based Kirkwood Cos. Is crying foul after it says the Wyoming Outdoor Council duped the company into paying much more for an oil and gas lease by bidding it up during a state-run sale.

Pat MaioJuly 05, 2024

South Cheyenne rancher Ed Prosser looks north of his farmland off of Chalk Bluff Road where 1.2 million solar panels will be visible after Canadian energy giant Enbridge builds the $1.2 billion project starting next year.

Road Deal Clears Way To Build Giant 1.2 Million Panel Cheyenne Solar Farm

Enbridge will pick up $12 million of the $14.5 million needed to upgrade a road south of Cheyenne to access its giant 1.2 million panel solar farm south of Cheyenne. The deal clears the way to start construction on the $1.2 billion project.

Pat MaioJuly 05, 2024

Gordon Issues Order To Keep Environmental Activists From Impacting Wyoming Lease Sale

In preparation for next week’s oil and gas lease auction, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has signed an emergency order to help keep environmental activist groups from driving up bids and taking energy-rich leases from developers.

Pat MaioJuly 04, 2024

Boar's Tusk in Sweetwater County, Wyoming

Kansas Company Planning Gigantic 600,000-Acre Carbon Capture Project In SW Wyoming

A Kansas-based company is moving forward to build a 600,000-acre carbon capture project in underground caverns in Lincoln, Sweetwater and Uinta counties in southwest Wyoming.

Pat MaioJuly 04, 2024

The Rare Element Resources demonstration processing plant will repurpose an existing industrial site near Upton, Wyoming.

Construction Delays, Inflation Push Back Opening Of $53 Million Upton Rare Earths Plant

Rare Element Resources Ltd. has delayed the July opening of its rare earths plant in Upton, Wyoming. Construction delays and 21% inflation will push the opening back at least two months.

Pat MaioJuly 02, 2024

AES Corp. plans to develop a 150-megawatt wind farm adjacent to its Pioneer wind farm near Glenrock.

Energy Giant Files Permit To Build $233 Million Wind Farm Near Glenrock

Virginia-based AES Corp. says it’s going to build a $233.4 million wind farm near Glenrock, Wyoming. They claim it will bring 200 jobs and produce enough electricity to power 44,000 homes.

Pat MaioJuly 02, 2024

A Dyno Nobel crew of two sits in a pickup truck under the loading dock for ammonium nitrate in Saltdale, California.

Dyno Nobel Keeps Railcars Of Explosive Ammonium Nitrate In Abandoned Calif. Town

Dyno Nobel in Cheyenne made headlines last year when it lost 30 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate. Cowboy State Daily and two industry experts Monday observed railcars of the stuff the company holds in the abandoned town of Saltdale, California.

Pat MaioJuly 02, 2024

With last year’s permanent closing of the Intermountain Speedway in South Cheyenne, the road to the High Plains Business Park where the Meta enterprise data center is being built was recently renamed the High Plains Road. (

Social Media Giant Meta (Facebook) To Formally Announce Massive Wyoming Data Center

Social media giant Meta, formerly Facebook, will make a formal public announcement next week of its plans to build a massive data center in south Cheyenne. The center is expected to guzzle power from a huge new $1.2 billion solar farm.

Pat MaioJune 29, 2024