Nexus Uranium Corp. announced that it completed its plan of arrangement to acquire Basin Uranium Corp. on September 16, 2025, consolidating the U.S. portfolio under Nexus and continuing permitting at the Chord Project through Clean Nuclear Energy Corp (CNEC).
The Chord project, which is composed of 3,677 acres east of the Dewey-Burdock project in the Craven Canyon area. This area had a lot of exploration drilling in the 1970s and is a world-class cultural resources site. Union Carbide Corp. started mining in Craven Canyon without getting a state mining permit in 1979 and was stopped by legal action by the Black Hills Alliance (BHA), a regional nonprofit group. This mining was stopped because a local citizen noticed the movement of large equipment into the area and called the BHA. Now, we must move fast to protect this sacred landscape.
Click HERE to read more about Craven Canyon and these threats by CNEC.
The project lies in close proximity to Craven Canyon, a critical historic and cultural site of importance to Indigenous and ranching communities. Portions of Craven Canyon are on the National Register of Historic Places. A federal mineral claims withdrawal protects portions of the canyon from mining, as does a state designation, but CNEC wants to explore there anyway. An archaeologist who studied the site has said that the Nexus/CNEC project drilling would be heard and in a sight line from those cultural and historic sites, potentially disturbing those studying or praying there.
The state public lands proposal calls for fifty drill pads and lies less than a mile from Craven Canyon. The federal lands proposal is a smaller project, with seventeen drill pads. However, it lies even closer to Craven Canyon—surrounding the mineral withdrawal area at the canyon on 3 sides.
In their Plan of Operations (application to the Forest Service), CNEC outlines two months of on-site activity, with 1-2 drilling shifts, 5-7 days/week. After-dark drilling will be accompanied by generator-powered “light plants” to illuminate the operation.
CNEC offers that the project’s “[v]isual impacts will be minimized by selecting drill sites that are not visible from paved roads or permanent structures,” which don’t actually exist in the immediate area. Their plan also includes trucking in municipal water for drilling from Edgemont or Hot Springs – barring that, they will use “readily-permitted sources” on US Forest Service (USFS) land.
The Forest Service appears to be preparing a “Categorical Exclusion” from environmental review of the project areas on federal land. This would allow the project to go forward with no further environmental review, despite its close proximity to an immensely significant historic, archaeological, and cultural site.
The Plan of Operations for the proposed exploration drilling on federal lands is linked here October Jinx POO. The application for the State’s permission to drill is at the start of the document. The federal Plan of Operations starts on page 25.
Currently, there is no provision in state law for tribal agencies (such as Tribal Historic Preservation Officers) to review or provide input on the application. Tribal leaders, area ranching and urban residents, archeologists, and Forest Service staff have fought to protect this area for many decades.
Please stay alert and watch this site and our social media for updates. We will need everyone to take action as CNEC’s requests for permission to drill in this special and unique area.
4/15/26 Important Notice – Hearing rescheduled!
The SD Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Board of Minerals & Environment’s hearing in the matter of CNEC Uranium Exploration Permit Application in Craven Canyon has been rescheduled for Monday, May 18, 2026 through Friday, May 22, 2026, at the Mueller Civic Center, 801 South 6th Street, Hot Springs, SD. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:00 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard. All intervenors and the public are urged to attend. More information coming soon.
Legal notice: https://danr.sd.gov/Environment/MineralsMining/Exploration/docs/41326NoticeofHearingtoParties.pdf
Contested Case documents: https://danr.sd.gov/public/ccdocs.aspx?CCID=CCID123
More information about this project: https://bhcleanwateralliance.org/chord-project/
4/7/26 Update: Attention – Hearing Postponed!
The SD Board of Minerals and Environment Hearing in Hot Springs regarding uranium exploration at Craven Canyon, scheduled for April 13-17, has been postponed until May. Stay tuned. We will let you know as soon as we have more details.
Thank you!
4/6/26
UPDATE NOTICE: SD Board of Minerals and Environment scheduled hearing for Monday, April 13, through Friday, April 17 in Hot Springs.
It’s important for people to attend the SD Board of Minerals and Environment hearing on Monday, April 13, through Friday, April 17, at the Mueller Center, 801 South 6th Street, Hot Springs, SD, or to listen in. This hearing is about protecting Craven Canyon from uranium exploration by CNEC as part of their Chord Project.
We will have more information on how to listen in by phone or online. Follow us here for the audio location and/or any changes that may occur regarding this hearing.
Click HERE for updates and meeting notices by the SD Board of Mineral and Environment.
SD Board of Minerals and Environment Draft Meeting Minutes from March 18th.
Click HERE to read Buffalo’s Fire published article about this 5-day hearing.
3/16/26
UPDATE NOTICE: Please Attend or Listen In to State Meeting – Wednesday, March 18
The SD Board of Minerals and Environment (BME) will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, March 18, at 10:00 am (CT). The state permit application for drilling at the proposed Chord uranium exploration project on state land at Craven Canyon will be considered. Appeals made by citizen participants in the permit process (Intervenors) will be heard by the Board.
Please plan to attend in person or by phone. Show your support for clean water, the Intervenors, and Craven Canyon – a 7,000+ year old cultural and historical site!
Attend in Person at: 500 E Capitol Ave, Room 414, Pierre, SD (State Capitol building)
Or attend by telephone. Dial 605-679-7263 and enter Conference ID 536933764# when prompted. When listening in, remember to press *6 to mute your phone, as any sounds from your end can be heard clearly during the Board meeting.
The full board packet and the link for live streaming are available on the South Dakota Boards and Commissions Portal at: https://boardsandcommissions.sd.gov/Meetings.aspx?BoardID=67
2/17/26 Update
NOTICE: The Public is invited to support.
The Board of Minerals and Environment (BM&E) will hold its public meeting on Thursday, Feb 19, at 10:00 am (CT). On the agenda is the Chord uranium exploration project proposed near Craven Canyon on State land. Intervenors will make requests to the board concerning the Order on Pre-Hearing Motions.
Please plan to attend in person or by phone and show your support!
Attend in Person at: Matthew Training Center, 523 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD
Or attend via telephone by dialing 1 605-679-7263 and entering Conference ID 289 109 013#. When listening in, remember to press *6 to mute your phone, as any sounds from your end can be heard clearly during the board meeting.
The full board packet and the link for live streaming are available on the South Dakota Boards and Commissions Portal at: https://boardsandcommissions.sd.gov/Meetings.aspx?BoardID=67
Click HERE for current Contested Case: Clean Nuclear Energy Corp. Uranium Exploration Permit Application
Update 12/23/25
The intervenors, including individuals, organizations, and tribes, filed motions in July to request a pre-hearing. In response to the intervenors’ request, the hearing scheduled for Aug. 20-21 has been postponed. Instead, a pre-hearing has been scheduled for January 6, 2026, time to be announced.
The public will be able to listen by phone to the proceedings.
CNEC application for exploration of uranium on state lands adjacent to Craven Canyon is now a contested case. To go directly to those documents and notices for this case click HERE or https://danr.sd.gov/public/ccdocs.aspx?CCID=CCID123
Note: This link takes you to the SD DANR website for Contested Cases at https://danr.sd.gov/public/ContestedCase.aspx. There you can click on the highlighted Documents link under each cases listed.
If you get a ERROR notice at any one of the State’s link try doing a Refresh for your browser or try a different web-browser (Safari, FireFox, Chrome). You can also notify us at CONTACT US. Please be specific and include the URL giving the error.
Following are important documents you can review:
Notice of Intent from the state, a fact sheet on the state land piece of this project, and the state law that describes on what grounds uranium exploration permits may be denied.
Documents filed on the CNEC exploration project are linked to here: https://danr.sd.gov/Environment/MineralsMining/Exploration/NewEXNIS.aspx
Black Hills Clean Water Alliance 