Uranerz Energy Corp. will begin construction within days on a uranium-extraction project in Wyoming's Powder River Basin after securing the last federal permit.

The company announced this week that it had received a materials license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its Nichols Ranch uranium project. It will become one of several uranium sites in Wyoming, the nation's busiest state for uranium extraction.

"The receipt of the NRC materials license, the last step in the NRC licensing process, marks a very significant milestone, and represents the culmination of over four years of effort," Uranerz CEO Glenn Catchpole said in a statement.

Uranerz -- which has executive offices in Casper, Wyo., and Vancouver, British Columbia -- plans to mine uranium through the in-situ recovery or ISR method. The process involves pumping solution underground to dissolve the uranium and then sucking it out through wells.

Other active or permitted projects in Wyoming include Uranium One Inc.'s Willow Creek and Moore Ranch projects, and Cameco Corp.'s Smith Ranch-Highland project, the largest uranium production facility in the United States

Despite the nuclear disaster in Japan and the price of uranium hovering at around $50 a pound, well below a recent peak of more than $70, most projects related to the expansion of mining in the United States are moving forward. The industry is citing demand from current U.S. reactors and others expected to come online, particularly in China.

Catchpole said in an interview that demand is not expected to be as strong as he would have liked but still enough to move forward.

"This is making each company internally look carefully at what Fukushima means going down the road, listening to the experts and looking at projections," he said. "In our case, we're still comfortable from what we read and what we hear ... that we are still full speed ahead."

Uranerz says it already has long-term uranium sales contracts with large nuclear utilities, including Exelon Corp.

Catchpole said he expects production at Nichols Ranch to begin in 2012 and initially produce 600,000 pounds of uranium a year. He expected other projects to come online later.