A Canadian company is cancelling an acquisition of mining claims for a uranium project in Fall River County.
Pegasus Resources cites a failure to negotiate an agreement and a recent local voter-approved initiative declaring uranium mining a nuisance.
Pegasus Resources says it and Cowboy Exploration are cancelling the Chord Project.
"Opposition to uranium projects in South Dakota was considered low when Pegasus and Cowboy Exploration initially signed the agreement for the Chord Project," Pegasus Resources said in a press release.
Pegasus is a company located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It announced in April they were acquiring 147 mining claims for an all-cash deal of $1.5 million. The surface area of claims is about 3,000 acres.
"In late September 2022, Pegasus opened negotiations with Cowboy Exploration when the Company [Pegasus] became concerned with an increased anti-mining sentiment in Fall County (sic)," the company continued.
Pegasus points to a uranium mining nuisance declaration passed by voters last month.
Representatives from Pegasus Resources and Cowboy Explorations could not be reached for comment.
Organizers opposed to uranium mining say the cancelled agreement is good news.
Lillias Jarding is with the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance. She says the Pegasus announcement shows the power of citizen action.
“The fact that it’s important enough that they are using it as a reason for backing out of this agreement indicates that they’re aware of what’s going on,” Jarding said. “They’re responding in some fashion to the fact that there’s now an initiative that blocks uranium mining in Fall River County.”
A different uranium project is still seeking its permits to extract uranium. The permits in front of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency are being appealed.
A project manager for the Dewey Burdoch site has not indicated whether enCore Energy will challenge the declaration in court.
