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the U.S. Geo og ca Survey, Wyom ng s construct on aggregate product on surpassed $140 m on n 2014. Wyom ng has produced both prec ous and base meta s throughout h story. Its re - at ve y-scarce prec ous meta s nc ude go d, s ver, and the p at num-group meta s; as we as copper, ead, z nc, and mo ybdenum. A though s gn f cant product on of meta s has not occurred n the state s nce ron ore m n ng ended at South Pass n 1984, meta s pr ces have ncreased rap d y n recent years, spurr ng cons derab e nterest and ncreased exp orat on for Wyom ng s go d, p at num, copper, ron, rare earth e ements, t tan um, and re ated meta s. Wyom ng s a so home to the argest uran um reserves n the U.S., and ranks number one n pro- duct on, account ng for over ha f (2.5 m on tons) of a uran um produced n the country n 2013. S nce the 1940s, th s heavy meta has been used as a strateg c m tary commod ty and for nuc ear power generat on. Wyom ng began commerc a y m n ng uran um n the 1950s, and has s nce pro- duced rough y a quarter of a b on pounds of uran um concentrate, a so known as ye owcake. Use of uran um for power generat on has ncreased wor dw de. Th s trend s expected to cont nue as the need for e ectr c ty con- t nues to c mb n the future. Due to demand for th s g oba commod ty and ts reserves, Wyom ng cou d see an ncrease n product on n com ng years. There are current y four act ve uran um m nes n the state, three n the Powder R ver Bas n and one n the Great D v de Bas n. More than 20 new uran um projects are n var ous stages of regu atory rev ew. Of a the m ned commod t es n the Cowboy State, coa s certa n y the most pro f c. Wyom ng s the argest coa producer n the U.S. by a arge marg n, produc ng more than the next s x argest produc ng states comb ned. Wyom ng prov des 40% of the nat on s domest c supp y. In 2014, approx mate y 392 m on tons of coa came from 18 m nes n the state. Current and mpend ng federa regu at ons for coa -f red power p ants are hav ng a drast c effect on Wyom ng s coa m n ng ndustry and c t zens who work n the sector. Mayor Lou se Carter-K ng of G ette, was opt m st c, te ng a oca newspaper coa w a ways be a fundamenta resource n Wyom ng. Recent y n G ette, state off c a s and ut ty execut ves broke ground on a test center adjacent to Bas n E ectr c Power Cooperat ve s Dry Fork Stat on, one of the newest coa -f red p ants n the U.S. At the new fac ty, teams of sc ent sts w compete to w n a $10 m on award from the X-Pr ze Foundat on - a nonprof t organ zat on wh ch he ped the pr vate space ndustry get started, among other enterpr ses. The team who takes the argest vo ume of carbon from the p ant s em ss on stream and turns t nto a product w th the greatest econom c va ue w w n the pr ze. The state w contr bute $15 m on to the $21 m on fac ty. W th ts poo of sk ed aborers and a r ch geo og c sett ng, Wyom ng has supp ed nd spensab e resources to the nat on and the wor d, and w a ways p ay a mean ngfu ro e n the m n ng ndustry. Editor’s Note: This concludes our Mining in the USA series. We hope you enjoyed it. Mining in the USA cont’d from page 7. 16 JULY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®