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Mining Claims

Claims tied to the company or its sites, lode claims in Emery and Carbon counties, new lode claims in Utah, and the law on what claims may be used for.

recordconfirmed The only mineral occurrences in the state's mineral records near Section 28 are road-gravel pits and one CO2 occurrence; by law common gravel cannot be claimed
2026-09 · dir-003 · Utah Geospatial Resource Center, Valar Atomics, Carbon County

Utah's mineral occurrence records (the USGS / Utah Geological and Mineral Survey records compiled by UGRC) list six occurrences within about 6 km of Section 28: all are sand-and-gravel pits in pediment gravels (Utah Department of Highways pits 04024, 04025 and 04026 northeast of the Wellington rodeo ground, the Wellington NE and NW gravel pits, and the Soldier Creek upper gravel pits), described as road metal, riprap and aggregate. The CRIB mineral-location layer adds one carbon dioxide occurrence. Federal law says no deposit of common varieties of sand, stone or gravel is a valuable mineral deposit under the mining laws unless it has a distinct and special value (30 U.S.C. 611), and carbon dioxide is obtained by lease, not by claim. No vein or lode deposit of a locatable mineral is on record there in these databases. A lode claim requires a vein or lode discovered within it (Utah Code 40-1-1; dir-004). Absence from these databases does not prove no mineral exists.

In plain termsThe government's mineral records for the area around the claim show only gravel pits for road building, plus some carbon dioxide underground. Ordinary gravel cannot be held with a mining claim, and carbon dioxide is obtained by lease, not by claim. A lode claim is supposed to cover a mineral vein. None is recorded there. That does not prove there is none, but it is the question Valar's claim raises.
verified 2026-10-02: Map layer read in late September 2026 for the area about 110.62-110.76 W, 39.53-39.64 N. Corrected in late September 2026: lease wording restated. Corrected 2026-09-30: The State's map layer cited here (Utah Geospatial Resource Center, hosted on ArcGIS Online) was checked in late September 2026; no copy of it is kept, and the figures rest on the cited layer as it stood that day.
recordconfirmed No 'RW' claim is in BLM's public claim layer yet; federal rules allow 90 days after location to record it
2026-09 · dir-005 · Bureau of Land Management, Valar Atomics

Every claim in BLM's not-closed mining-claim layer that intersects Carbon County was pulled in late September 2026: ten open claims (AMBERIA 1-9 in T14S R8E-R9E, BLACK RIFLE placer in T15S R11E), none RW and none naming Valar. A second check the same day, by legal description, found no claim, open or closed, anywhere in T14S R11E (the township of both the lease and RW 453), and no Utah claim named RW among the 134 Utah claims BLM created from September 12 to September 29. Federal rules require recording with BLM by the 90th day after location (43 CFR 3833.11), so RW 453 (located Sept 12, 2026) is due by December 11, 2026 and may simply not be filed yet.

In plain termsThe RW 453 claim is not in BLM's public database yet. The filing is not yet due: Valar has until December 11 to file it. BLM filings, once made, may show how many RW claims exist.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-checked in late September 2026: a search of BLM's open and closed claim layers by legal description found no claim in T14S R11E (the same search found 8 in T14S R9E, showing the search itself worked); none of the 134 Utah claims created from 12 September 2026 is named RW. Revised before publication (late September 2026): the deadline sentence now reads 'the filing is not yet due'.
recordconfirmed County zoning map: Valar's lease is Mining & Grazing; where RW 453 was staked is zoned rural residential
2026-09 · dir-013 · Carbon County, Valar Atomics

Carbon County's own zoning map service (the county's 'County Zoning' layer, checked in late September 2026 at the center of each area) shows: Section 16, T14S R11E, Valar's Wellington lease, zoned M&G, 'Mining and Grazing Zone' (matching the Trust Lands memo, csite-015); the NW quarter of Section 28, where the RW 453 notice places the claim, zoned RR-1, 'One-acre Rural Residential Zone', and the NE quarter zoned RR-2.5, 'Two-and-one-half-acre Rural Residential Zone' (the notice names both quarters, mine-453). Utah's county land-use law does not give the county jurisdiction over land the United States owns, unless other law provides it (Utah Code 17-79-306), and about 37% of Section 28's north half is a federal parcel; the rest is private land under the county's zoning. What the county's residential zones allow is set by Carbon's development code, which this record does not summarize for those zones.

In plain termsThe county's own zoning map puts the square mile the state approved leasing to Valar in its mining-and-grazing zone, where, the state's lease memo says, big industrial projects need a county permit. The land named on Valar's mining-claim notice, two miles south, is zoned for rural homes.
verified 2026-10-02: Read from Carbon County's public zoning map service at the center of each section or quarter named (BLM survey grid): Sec 16 M&G; Sec 28 NW quarter RR-1; Sec 28 NE quarter RR-2.5; Sec 36 M&G; Sec 2 T15S M&G. Quarter-center points only: zone lines inside a quarter were not mapped. Revised before publication (late September 2026): lease wording now 'approved leasing'.
analysisconfirmed BLM's claim records show no mining claims in the Green River gigasite footprint; the route there is a federal land-use application
2026-09 · mine-007 · Valar Atomics, Bureau of Land Management

The Green River Gigasite application (UTUT106784007) lists 22 sections: T20S R14E secs. 24-25; T20S R15E secs. 19-21, 25-31 and 33-35; T21S R15E secs. 1, 3-5 and 12; T21S R16E secs. 5-6. None of the 2,060 Emery County claims in either BLM claim layer (open, or closed within the year), as checked in late September 2026, lists any of those sections. The nearest claim activity is in other sections of the same and neighboring townships (e.g. the GFU placers in T21S R15E and GRU placers in T21S R16E, August 2025). The application skips sections 32 and 36 of T20S R15E and section 2 of T21S R15E.

In plain termsOn this site, the company did not use mining claims. It asked BLM directly for the land under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which is the ordinary, reviewable way to seek a non-mining use of public land (see mine-028).
verified 2026-10-02: Re-checked in late September 2026: the case's legal description lists exactly these 22 sections; none of the 2,060 Emery claims (open + closed within the year) lists any of them; GFU/GRU placers sit in other sections of T21S R15E-R16E.
analysisconfirmed Valar has sought its sites by lease, BLM applications and purchase; separately a Notice of Location names its lode claim RW 453
2026-09 · mine-027 · Valar Atomics, Bureau of Land Management, Utah Trust Lands Administration, Emery County

Checking each route to a reactor site against the record: the Carbon site is state trust land that Trust Lands approved leasing to Valar (mine-010, mine-011), where federal claims cannot be staked (mine-021); the Green River and 'Project Beehive' sites are FLPMA land-use applications to BLM (mine-006), with no claims in the Green River footprint (mine-007); the Emery expansion is a land purchase from Emery County (mine-018); the test reactor sits on the state's lab by agreement (orig-045). No mining claim, 3809 notice or plan of operations in BLM's public layers is linked to Valar by name or customer (mine-030). Federal law allows an unpatented claim to be used only for prospecting, mining or processing (mine-022, mine-023). Separately, a Notice of Location shows Valar located the RW 453 lode claim in Section 28, two miles south of the lease, on 12 September 2026 (mine-453); it is not yet in BLM's layers, which is within the 90-day filing window (dir-005).

In plain termsOn the record, the company has not been using mining claims to get land for reactors; it has used leases, federal land-use applications and a purchase, each of which leaves a paper trail. A Notice of Location shows a Valar mining claim, RW 453, two miles south of the lease; what mineral it claims is not stated anywhere read (disc-003).
verified 2026-10-02: Re-checked in late September 2026 against the re-verified facts it cites; the conclusion holds on the records read. Updated in late September 2026 for the RW 453 notice (mine-453). Revised before publication (late September 2026): use-limit sentence restated as what the law allows; lease wording now 'approved leasing'.
recordconfirmed No BLM mining notice, plan of operations, lease, permit or easement in Valar's name was found in BLM's public layers (late September 2026)
2026-09 · mine-030 · Valar Atomics, Bureau of Land Management

Queries of BLM's public MLRS layers for 'VALAR' in the customer or case name returned 0 locatable-mineral notices, 0 plans of operations and 0 leases/permits/easements nationwide, and 3 rights-of-way cases (mine-006). The layers include pending and authorized cases.

In plain termsOn federal land, Valar has asked for land-use rights three times and, as of late September 2026, had no mining notice or plan of operations in BLM's public layers. A Notice of Location names Valar as locator of the RW 453 lode claim (mine-453), which was not yet in BLM's claim layer (dir-005).
verified 2026-10-02: Re-checked in late September 2026: 0 notices, 0 plans, 0 leases/permits/easements, 3 rights-of-way. The notices layer description confirms it holds 'Authorized' or 'Pending' cases.
recordconfirmed Every Valar site on record (late September 2026): one test reactor, one lease, three pending BLM files, one unbuilt abroad
2026-09 · plan-017 · Valar Atomics, Bureau of Land Management, Utah Trust Lands Administration, Emery County

Built or operating: Ward 250 and its fuel lab at the San Rafael lab, Emery County; the company's design, machining and test shops in Hawthorne/Torrance, California. Used once: the NOVA test core at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center, Nevada, operated by Los Alamos in November 2025 (orig-008). Being acquired: the 112-acre Emery County parcel beside the lab (gov-022, loc-014). Lease approved: on 17 September 2026 the state trust-lands board approved a lease with purchase option for 480 acres of the section north of Wellington, with the other 160 acres to follow if the National Guard's lease there is moved (mine-011); no record read shows the lease signed. Applied for: three Bureau of Land Management cases, all in the Price Field Office, all 'Pending' in late September 2026: UTUT106784007 'Green River Gigasite Small Modular Reactor/Data Center' (10,270.61 acres, case date 13 February 2026, which Valar told The Washington Sun it no longer pursues, mine-008), UTUT106801248 'Project Beehive Small Modular Reactor/Data Center' (case date 13 April 2026, no acreage shown), and UTUT106833224, a distribution-line case with no name (entered 23 July 2026). NPR reported on 30 September 2026, citing a Valar proposal to federal regulators that NPR reviewed, that Project Beehive would cover over 9,000 acres of BLM land near Price with data centers, some 456 small reactors of 25 megawatts of electricity each, a fuel facility and nuclear-waste storage, with the first reactors in 2028; BLM's Utah office told NPR it had received an application and was reviewing it for completeness. The proposal itself was not found in public records. No BLM rights-of-way case names Valar outside Utah, and its other public layers show no Valar claims, notices, leases or permits (mine-030). Valar says it looked at more than 20 states (loc-001); no site in another state was found in any public record read.

In plain termsHere is the whole map as far as public records go. One small test reactor is running in Emery County, next to a fuel lab. The reactors are built in the Los Angeles area. Valar is buying land next to the Emery lab and has state approval to lease most of a square mile of state land in Carbon County. It has three pending cases with the federal land agency: the Green River site (over 10,000 acres; Valar says it dropped it), Project Beehive near Price (which NPR reports is planned for about 456 small reactors on over 9,000 acres) and a distribution-line right-of-way.
verified 2026-10-02: Checked in late September 2026: BLM's rights-of-way records re-checked for customer name Valar: three Utah cases, all Pending, Price Field Office; Green River 10,270.61 acres, case date 13 Feb 2026; latest modification 15 Sept 2026. Fixed: lease wording overstated (board approval; initial 480 acres; signing not found); Launch Pad wording corrected. Revised before publication (late September 2026): earlier fix note reworded (lease wording). Checked 2 Oct 2026: the NPR paragraph matches NPR's 30 September 2026 article as published (456 reactors, over 9,000 acres, 25-megawatt units, first reactors in 2028, BLM reviewing the application for completeness).
company claimreported Valar told The Washington Sun it dropped the 10,200-acre site; BLM's public record still lists it Pending
2026-09-18 · mine-008 · Valar Atomics, Bureau of Land Management, The Washington Sun

The Washington Sun (Mara Hoplamazian and Jade Lozada, published and updated 18 September 2026) reported that the largest data-center proposal it found on BLM land 'appears to be' a 10,200-acre project from Valar Atomics at a site near Green River, Utah, and that Valar had a second Utah proposal it called the 'Raceway Gigasite', with no estimated size. An editor's note added after publication says Valar contacted the paper, confirmed it had applied 'for survey access' at the 10,200-acre site, and that a company spokesperson said it had decided not to pursue the project. In late September 2026 BLM's public layer still showed UTUT106784007 as 'Pending' (last modified 26 May 2026) and titled for a reactor and data center, not a survey. No BLM case named 'Raceway' was found in BLM's public MLRS layers searched in late September 2026; the only other Valar case with a site name is 'Project Beehive' (mine-006). Whether 'Raceway' and 'Beehive' are the same site is not shown in any record read.

In plain termsWhat the company says now (the Green River site is dropped; it was a request to survey) and what the federal record shows (a pending application titled for a reactor and data center) do not yet match. That can be ordinary paperwork lag: a withdrawal letter may simply not have reached the public map. BLM's case file would show whether and when Valar withdrew, and what it asked for.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026: article and editor's note match (quote exact, 14 words); BLM status checked again, still Pending, not modified since 26 May 2026.
recordconfirmed Valar Atomics Inc located the 'RW 453' lode mining claim in Carbon County on Sept. 12, 2026
2026-09-12 · mine-453 · Valar Atomics, Carbon County, Bureau of Land Management

The claim's Notice of Location reads: locator Valar Atomics Inc, 20333 Normandie Ave, Torrance, CA 90501; the 'RW 453' Lode Mining Claim in quarter sections NW and NE of Section 28, Township 14S, Range 11E, Salt Lake Principal Meridian, Carbon County, Utah; located on the 12th day of September 2026. The claim is about 1,500 by 600 feet (1,490 feet east and 10 feet west of the monument, 300 feet each side), which is the largest size a single lode claim may take. It ties the claim's NW corner to the permanent monument at the SE corner of Section 32 (see dir-001 for a problem with that tie). The number 453 suggests a numbered series of claims, but one notice does not show how many exist; no RW claim was found in BLM's public mining-claim layer when it was checked in late September 2026 (dir-005).

In plain termsA Notice of Location is the document a company must make when it stakes a mining claim. It names Valar Atomics as the claimant, gives the exact survey section, and dates the staking to September 12, 2026. A lode claim is a claim to a mineral vein or deposit in federal land; under federal law an unpatented claim may be used only for prospecting, mining or processing and uses reasonably incident to them (30 U.S.C. 612; disc-003).
verified 2026-10-02: Corrected 30 Sept 2026: reworded the plain-language text.
analysisreported The notice's survey tie, as written, points about 1.5 miles west of the section corner, outside Section 28
2026-09-12 · dir-001 · Valar Atomics, Carbon County

The RW 453 notice (mine-453) ties the claim's NW corner to the permanent monument at the SE corner of Section 32, T14S R11E: approximately 8,179 feet at an azimuth of 265.3 degrees. BLM's survey grid puts that corner at about 39.5570 N, 110.7025 W. An azimuth of 265.3 degrees is almost due west; 8,179 feet that way ends near 39.555 N, 110.73 W, about two miles from Section 28, which lies to the north (39.572-39.586 N). The same distance at about 5 degrees (nearly due north) lands in Section 28's north half (39.579 N, 110.700 W), so the bearing looks like an error. This is a calculation from the notice and BLM's section geometry, not a survey.

In plain termsA claim notice has to say where the claim is by measuring from a known survey marker. This notice's measurement points the wrong way: followed as written, it leads to ground well west of the section the notice itself names. It is probably a typo. Utah law expects the notice to identify the claim by reference to a permanent monument (Utah Code 40-1-2), so a surveyor or attorney could say whether it matters.
verified 2026-10-02: Computed from the notice and BLM's section geometry; a licensed surveyor should confirm.
recordconfirmed Trust Lands memo: Valar's Carbon County site is Sec. 16 T14S R11E, 5 miles north of Wellington, for a nuclear 'campus'
2026-08-20 · mine-010 · Utah Trust Lands Administration, Valar Atomics, Carbon County

The Utah Trust Lands Administration's 20 August 2026 board memorandum (Discussion Item 9A) names the applicant as Valar Atomics Inc. and the land as T14S, R11E, Section 16, 640 acres of state trust land about five miles north of Wellington, benefiting the Public Schools Trust. It confirms that the Special Use Lease Agreement 'SULA 2095 OBA' on the August agenda is this parcel. The stated purpose is an integrated nuclear energy, advanced manufacturing, critical mineral refining and data center campus: developing, manufacturing and operating high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) for power, plus possible TRISO fuel manufacturing, concrete batch plants, component manufacturing, hydrogen and synthetic fuels, data centers, water desalination and steel making. It is an 'Other Business Arrangement' because it includes an option to buy the land. Staff at the meeting described the site as about six miles east of Price and said Valar chose it after a multi-state search.

In plain termsThe Carbon County site is not a single test reactor. The state land office describes a long-term industrial campus built around several reactors, with possible fuel making, factories and data centers, on a square mile of school trust land north of Wellington, with the right to buy the land later.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026 (packet checked again, unchanged from the archived copy): memo pp. 23-24 and transcript (Torgerson: 'about six miles east of Price', 'multi-state search') match; quote exact (14 words). Plain field softened: the memo lists fuel making and data centers as activities that 'could' be included.
newrecordconfirmed A February permit application (applicant not named) covered nearly all of Section 16, where the state approved leasing 480 acres to Valar in September
2026-04-09 · dir-036 · Utah Trust Lands Administration, Valar Atomics, Utah National Guard

Right-of-entry permit application 7675 (Trust Lands permit map, 18 February 2026) covers nearly all of Section 16, T14S R11E, SLB&M, north of Wellington: 634.32 acres (the map leaves out a small southeast corner). Trust Lands' map for Special Use Lease Agreement No. 2095, produced 9 April 2026 and posted by the RDCC on 20 April 2026 as a 'Lease Agreement with possible option to purchase' (project 87203), covers the north half and southwest quarter of the same section: 480 acres. The Trust Lands board memorandum says the Utah National Guard's lease, SULA 1321, occupies the section's southeast quarter (160 acres). The board approved SULA 2095 with Valar Atomics on 17 September 2026, per the meeting transcript (mine-011). No record read names the applicant for 7675 or shows the permit was issued.

In plain termsAn application for a permit to study nearly all of a square mile north of Wellington was logged in February; the applicant's name was not found in the public records read. In September the state approved leasing three quarters of that square mile (480 acres) to Valar. The fourth quarter is leased to the Utah National Guard.
verified 2026-10-02: Read 30 Sept 2026: the permit 7675 map, the SULA 2095 lease map and its RDCC record, and the 17 Sept 2026 board memorandum (packet pages 17-29). From BLM's survey grid the section computes to about 652 acres and the N2+SW4 to about 489 acres; the figures in the text are Trust Lands' own. Second check, 2026-09-30 (two independent checks): no record that the permits were issued was found; 'nearly all' of Section 16; areas recomputed on the ellipsoid.
newrecordconfirmed Four applications for state site-study permits on about 8,300 acres for 'industrial and manufacturing development' were posted Feb. 19, 2026; none names the applicant
2026-02-19 · dir-035 · Utah Trust Lands Administration, Resource Development Coordinating Committee, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

On 19 February 2026 the state's Resource Development Coordinating Committee (RDCC) posted four applications for Trust Lands right-of-entry (site-study) permits as projects 87096 to 87099, numbered 7672, 7674, 7675 and 7676. Comments were due 3 March and the stated start was 6 March. Each notice says that Trust Lands 'has received a Right-of-Entry (ROE) permit application' for cultural-resource surveys, geotechnical investigations and similar studies 'to evaluate the feasibility of a potential industrial and manufacturing development', and that 'No permanent development is proposed under the Right-of-Entry authorization.' Trust Lands' permit maps, dated 18 February 2026, give the areas: 7672, 1,812.94 acres near Green River (T20S R15E and T21S R15-16E, Emery County); 7674, 5,381.59 acres south and west of Price (T14-15S R9-10E, Carbon County); 7675, 634.32 acres, nearly all of Section 16, T14S R11E, north of Wellington (Carbon County; the map leaves out a small southeast corner); 7676, 487.83 acres in Sections 2 and 16, T16S R13E (Emery County). That is 8,316.68 acres in all. The notices record that local governments were contacted on 19 February. The only state comments were Division of Wildlife Resources recommendations of 3 March 2026: three of the areas are crucial year-long pronghorn habitat; white-tailed prairie dogs, burrowing owls and kit foxes could occur; and hawks are known to nest near two of the areas. No applicant is named in the four notices, the four maps or the comment letters, and no record read shows the permits were issued: the register lists all four as 'State Comment Published'.

In plain termsIn February the state logged four applications for permits to survey and test about 8,300 acres of state land in Carbon and Emery counties for possible industrial development. Who applied, and whether the permits were issued, was not found in the public records read (as of 30 September 2026). One of the four covers nearly all of the square mile where the state later approved leasing 480 acres to Valar.
verified 2026-10-02: Read 30 Sept 2026: the RDCC records (all fields; dates given in UTC and Mountain time), all four permit maps (scanned; acreage legends read at full size) and the four comment letters in full. The acreages sum to 8,316.68. Copies are archived. Second check, 2026-09-30 (two independent checks): no record that the permits were issued was found; 'nearly all' of Section 16; areas recomputed on the ellipsoid.
newrecordconfirmed Near Green River, one of permit application 7672's sections (applicant not named) is state land that Valar's BLM application surrounds
2026-02-18 · dir-037 · Utah Trust Lands Administration, Bureau of Land Management, Valar Atomics

Right-of-entry permit application 7672 (1,812.94 acres; Trust Lands permit map, 18 February 2026) lies within Sections 32 and 36 of T20S R15E, Sections 10 and 11 of T21S R15E and Section 6 of T21S R16E, near Green River in Emery County. The permit map file is named for, and draws beside it, Special Use Lease Agreement No. 1622 (2,441.03 acres); no record read names that lease's holder. Overlaid on BLM's case map for Valar's pending 'Green River Gigasite' right-of-way application (UTUT106784007), Section 32 of T20S R15E lies wholly inside the application's outer boundary and is the only hole in the case map (about 637 acres): state land the application surrounds. The case map also covers about 467 acres of Section 6, T21S R16E (the part that is not state land); the permit application's state land there lies outside it. Sections 36, 10 and 11 lie outside it; they border it, but no part falls inside it. No record read (to 30 Sept 2026) names the applicant for 7672 or shows the permit was issued. BLM's case record, as saved in late September 2026, listed Valar's application as pending; Valar told a reporter it has decided not to pursue the site (mine-008).

In plain termsNear Green River, one of the four February permit applications covers a square mile of state land that Valar's federal application surrounds on all sides. No record read names the applicant. BLM's case record, as saved in late September 2026, listed Valar's application as pending, though Valar told a reporter it has decided not to pursue the site.
verified 2026-10-02: Computed 30 Sept 2026 from BLM's survey-grid sections and BLM's case map for UTUT106784007 as saved in late September 2026; BLM's case map was not re-checked on 30 Sept. On an ellipsoidal equal-area computation the case map has three outer parts (about 13,780, 199 and 82 acres) and one hole, Section 32 (about 637 acres). Sections 36 (T20S R15E) and 2 (T21S R15E) are notches in its edge, not holes. Every figure and sentence was checked twice, independently, against the records. Second check, 30 Sept 2026: no record read shows the permit issued; areas recomputed on the ellipsoid.
recordconfirmed BLM records show three pending Valar land applications in its Price office, incl. a 10,270-acre 'Green River Gigasite'
2026-02-13 · mine-006 · Valar Atomics, Bureau of Land Management, BLM Price Field Office

BLM's public rights-of-way layer lists Valar Atomics on three pending cases; the first two name it 'Applicant' and were filed with the Price Field Office (the office that handles most rights-of-way cases in Carbon and Emery counties in the same layer): (1) UTUT106784007, 'Green River Gigasite Small Modular Reactor/Data Center', a FLPMA land-use case, 'Pending' since 13 February 2026 (last modified 26 May 2026), 10,270.61 acres in T20S-T21S, R14E-R16E, north-west of the town of Green River in Emery County; (2) UTUT106801248, 'Project Beehive Small Modular Reactor/Data Center', 'Pending' (disposition date 13 April 2026, record created 30 April, last modified 15 September 2026), with no land description or map in the public layer; (3) UTUT106833224, filed under BLM's 'Oil and Gas Pipelines' product with the commodity 'DISTRIBUTION LINE', created 23 July 2026, 'Pending', also with no land shown and no case name. None of the three involves mining claims. No Federal Register notice naming Valar for any of them was found. On 18 September 2026 Valar told The Washington Sun that the Green River filing was an application for survey access and that it had decided not to pursue that project; BLM's layer still listed the case as 'Pending' in late September 2026 (mine-008).

In plain termsBesides the reactor at the state lab, Valar has asked the federal government for the use of public land for at least one very large reactor-and-data-center site near Green River (about 16 square miles; in September 2026 Valar said it had decided not to pursue it, mine-008), for a second site called 'Project Beehive' whose location is not shown in BLM's public layer, and for a third case BLM files as a pipeline ('distribution line'), location not shown. These are applications, not approvals. They can be seen in BLM's public case map, but no public notice of them was found.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-checked in late September 2026: all three cases, dates, acreage, legal description and 'Pending' status match. BLM's Price Field Office web page does not list its counties, so the coverage wording now rests on the case layer itself; the third case is described by BLM's own category (pipeline), not guessed as power or gas.
recordconfirmed Utah law: a claim post must carry a notice naming the claim and locators, recorded with the county in 30 days
2024-05-01 · mine-026 · Utah State Legislature, Carbon County Recorder

Utah Code 40-1-2 requires the locator to erect a monument at the place of discovery and post on it a notice of location giving the claim's name, the names of the locators, the date of location, and its size and description tied to a natural object or permanent monument. Utah Code 40-1-3 requires the claim's boundaries to be distinctly marked on the ground so they can be readily traced. Utah Code 40-1-4 requires a substantial copy of the notice to be recorded with the county recorder of the county where the claim lies within 30 days of posting.

In plain termsIn Utah, a mining claim's discovery monument must carry a notice on the post: the claim's name, who staked it and when. A copy must be on file at the Carbon County Recorder within 30 days. A Notice of Location names Valar Atomics Inc and its lode claim RW 453 (mine-453).
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026 on le.utah.gov: 40-1-2 (effective 1 May 2024), 40-1-3 and 40-1-4 match; all three quotes exact. Updated in late September 2026 for the RW 453 notice (mine-453).
recordconfirmed Federal law: a new claim must be filed with BLM within 90 days of staking, or it is treated as abandoned
1976-10-21 · mine-025 · U.S. Congress, Bureau of Land Management

43 U.S.C. 1744 (FLPMA sec. 314) requires the claimant, for any claim located after 21 October 1976, to file a copy of the recorded location notice with BLM within ninety days of location, and to file each year, before 31 December, in both the county office where the location notice is recorded and BLM's designated office. Failing to file is deemed conclusively to be abandonment of the claim.

In plain termsOnce a claim is staked, the claimant has 90 days to register it with BLM, or the claim is treated as abandoned. So claims staked recently may not show on BLM's map yet, and BLM can take longer still to map a claim after it is filed.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026: (a)-(c) and the 21 Oct 1976 source credit match; quote exact. Plain field no longer says a claim must 'appear' on the map within 90 days (filing and mapping differ).
recordconfirmed Surface Resources Act: an unpatented mining claim may be used only for prospecting, mining, processing and uses reasonably incident to them
1955-07-23 · mine-022 · U.S. Congress

30 U.S.C. 612(a) (Surface Resources Act of 23 July 1955) says a mining claim located after that date may not be used, before a patent is issued, for any purpose other than prospecting, mining or processing and uses reasonably incident to them. Subsection (b) keeps the United States' right to manage the surface and let others use it, so long as that does not materially interfere with mining.

In plain termsA mining claim is a right to dig for minerals, not a right to use the land for anything else. Building a reactor, a data center or a factory on an unpatented claim would be outside what the law allows.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026: 30 U.S.C. 612(a)-(b) and the 23 July 1955 source credit match; quote exact.
recordconfirmed The 1872 Mining Law opens federal land, not state land, to mineral claims
1872-05-10 · mine-021 · U.S. Congress

30 U.S.C. 22, from the Mining Law of 10 May 1872, declares valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States free and open to exploration and purchase by citizens, under federal law and local mining customs, 'except as otherwise provided'. The statute reaches only land of the United States; the Wellington parcel (Sec. 16) is state trust land (mine-010), so a federal mining claim cannot be staked on it.

In plain termsA U.S. citizen can stake a mining claim on open federal land and look for minerals there without buying it first. But the law covers only federal land. The Carbon County parcel the state approved leasing to Valar is state school land, so a federal mining claim cannot be staked on it.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026 on uscode.house.gov: text and 10 May 1872 source credit match; quote exact. Plain field corrected from 'anyone' to citizens, as the statute says. Revised before publication (late September 2026): lease wording now 'approved leasing'.
recordconfirmed Federal and Utah law: no lode claim may be located until a vein or lode is discovered within it
undated · dir-004 · State of Utah, Carbon County Recorder, Valar Atomics

Federal mining law, 30 U.S.C. 23, limits a lode claim to 1,500 feet along the vein and 300 feet each side of it, and says no claim may be located 'until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located'. Utah Code 40-1-1 says the same for Utah. 40-1-2 requires a monument at the place of discovery with the notice on it (claim name, locators, date, feet claimed along the vein each way, width, the general course of the vein, and a tie to a natural object or permanent monument). 40-1-3 requires the boundaries to be distinctly marked on the ground. 40-1-4 requires a substantial copy of the notice to be recorded with the county recorder within 30 days after posting: for RW 453, located September 12, 2026, by about October 12, 2026 (mine-453). 40-1-11 makes it a class B misdemeanor to tear down or deface a posted notice or remove a claim's stakes or monuments. The RW 453 notice therefore amounts to a claim that a vein or lode was discovered in Section 28; no record read says what mineral.

In plain termsIn Utah you may not stake a lode claim until you have found a mineral vein inside it; the notice post is supposed to stand at the discovery. So Valar's claim implies it found a vein in Section 28. What vein, of what mineral, was not found in the public records read so far. The county copy of the notice is due at the Carbon County Recorder by about October 12.
verified 2026-10-02: Read from the Legislature's current chapter PDF (generated 2025-05-07). 30 U.S.C. 23 read in late September 2026 (LII): discovery-before-location sentence quoted exactly; size 1,500 ft x 300 ft each side.
recordconfirmed 43 CFR 3715: living on or fencing a mining claim needs BLM review first, and non-mining uses are prohibited
undated · mine-023 · Bureau of Land Management

BLM's use-and-occupancy rules (43 CFR subpart 3715) limit use of mining claims to what is 'reasonably incident' to prospecting and mining. Occupancy (living on site, structures, watchmen) beyond 14 days in 90 requires ongoing, observable mining work, BLM consultation and BLM's determination before it begins. Prohibited acts include uses not reasonably incident to mining, fences or gates that shut out the public without BLM approval, and blocking public passage by force or intimidation.

In plain termsNo claimant may fence off a claim, build on it or keep people out without BLM's approval, or use it for non-mining purposes. These rules apply to anyone who occupies, fences or restricts access to a claim on public land that BLM manages; they do not cover state or private land, even where the United States kept the minerals.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026 from the 2024 annual CFR on govinfo (eCFR was not checked, so later amendments are unchecked): purpose, 14-days-in-90 rule, concurrence requirement and prohibited acts match; quote exact.
recordconfirmed 43 CFR 3809: small exploration needs only a notice; mining and bigger exploration need a plan with 30 days of public comment
undated · mine-024 · Bureau of Land Management

Under BLM's surface-management rules (43 CFR subpart 3809), exploration disturbing 5 acres or less needs a complete notice filed 15 days before starting (3809.21(a)); casual use with negligible disturbance needs neither. Any other work beyond casual use (all mining, and exploration over 5 acres), bulk sampling of 1,000 tons or more, or work in special areas needs a plan of operations, and before acting on a plan BLM publishes its availability and takes at least 30 days of public comment (3809.411(c)). The notice rule we read has no public-comment step. As of late September 2026, BLM's public layers showed 7 notices and 7 plans in Emery County and none in Carbon County; none is Valar's (mine-030).

In plain termsSmall-scale exploration on a claim can start after a notice to BLM that the public never gets to comment on. Mining, and larger exploration, needs an approved plan, and those are published for comment. No mining notice or plan in Carbon County was found in BLM's public layers as of late September 2026.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026 from the 2024 annual CFR on govinfo: 3809.21(a) 15-day notice for 5 acres or less; 3809.11 plan triggers; 3809.411(c) 30-day comment; no comment step in the notice sections. Layer counts re-checked: Emery 7 notices, 7 plans; Carbon 0 and 0.
recordconfirmed BLM right-of-way rules: public meetings are held if there is enough public interest; notice comes with review
undated · mine-028 · Bureau of Land Management

Under 43 CFR 2804.25 (2024 edition), BLM tells the applicant in writing when it receives a right-of-way application and the cost-recovery fees; it completes NEPA review, consults tribes and other governments, and then decides. The rule says BLM will hold public meetings if there is enough public interest to warrant them, announced in the Federal Register and by other means such as local newspapers or the internet; for solar and wind projects it must hold a local meeting when there is no other early engagement. Valar's three applications are pending (mine-006) and no Federal Register notice for them was found.

In plain termsThe rule does not by itself require public notice when a company files for public land. Public involvement comes mainly through BLM's environmental review and any public meetings BLM decides to hold, announced in the Federal Register.
verified 2026-10-02: Re-read in late September 2026 from the 2024 annual CFR on govinfo: written notice to applicant, NEPA, consultation, meetings 'if sufficient public interest exists', Federal Register notice, and the solar/wind local-meeting rule match; quote exact. Later amendments unchecked (eCFR not checked).