The uranium spot price continues to trend higher leading investors to take a second look at the uranium ETFs and miners. Today we give a brief uranium market update and discuss some of the investment options to gain exposure to uranium.

Uranium spot price 10 year chart – Currently at US$51.00 (as of April 19, 2023)

Uranium market update

The uranium price has risen to a monthly high of US$51.00 per pound (“lbs”) in April after starting the year below US$49.00/lbs.

The reason for the rise is stated as “…..supply risks mounted and investors continued to assess demand projections worldwide“. One of the supply risks relates to major nuclear energy producers (US, France, Japan, UK, and Canada) who have agreed to form an alliance to leverage resources and jointly reduce reliance on Russian producers from the global uranium and nuclear market.

On April 17, 2023, the U.S Government Department of Energy issued a statement saying:

“Statement on Civil Nuclear Fuel Cooperation Between the United States, Canada, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom……In the June 2022 Group of Seven Leaders’ Communique, our Leaders made clear our collective intent to reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia, including working to assist countries seeking to diversify their nuclear fuel supply chains. To this end, the United States, Canada, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom have identified potential areas of collaboration on nuclear fuels to support the stable supply of fuels for the operating reactor fleets of today, enable the development and deployment of fuels for the advanced reactors of tomorrow, and achieve reduced dependence on Russian supply chains…….Collaborating on strategic opportunities in uranium extraction, conversion, enrichment, and fabrication supports our collective climate, energy security, and economic resilience objectives. This multilateral cooperation would enable us to strengthen our domestic sectors and establish a level playing field to compete more effectively against predatory suppliers.“

As reported by Trading Economics:

“The move is expected to add pressure to the capacity of Western uranium enrichers and converters as Russian enrichers supplied nearly 40% of the global market until the country invaded Ukraine. At the same time, Finland and Japan both announced the restart of key power plants, further adding to demand estimates for nuclear fuel. On the supply side, the world’s top producer Kazatomprom stated its output is set to fall this year due to continued delays of key materials.“

All of this bodes well for non-Russian sources of uranium and potentially the uranium price if uranium supply deficits emerge.

This month also saw the end of Germany generating power from nuclear energy as it closed the last three operating reactors as part of a long-planned transition toward renewable energy. However, this should have minimal impact on the uranium price as, according to the World Nuclear Association, Germany required less than 1% of the overall world’s demand in 2022, and uranium demand is expected to increase with projections that power from nuclear generation will more than double from 2022 to 2050.

Investment options to gain exposure to uranium

Investors can consider investing in physical uranium, uranium producers, and/or junior exploration and development companies. Most of this investing can be done directly or via ETFs.

Uranium ETFs

The following ETFs can be considered:

• Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (TSX: U.UN | OTCQX: SRUUF): Exposure to physical uranium and hence the uranium price.
• Global X Uranium ETF (NYSE: URA): Exposure to a broad range of companies involved in uranium mining and the production of nuclear components. Cameco Corp. (TSX: CCO | NYSE: CCJ) has an approximately 25% weighting in the fund, followed next by Sprott Physical at approximately 9%.
• Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (NYSE: URNM): A good pure-play uranium miners ETF.
• Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF (NASDAQ: URNJ): Focuses on the uranium junior miners not yet in production.

All four of the above ETFs have merit depending on where an investor wants to focus. The advantage of an ETF is broad market exposure. Just be sure to monitor exposure to Russian or Kazakhstan stocks and mines that could potentially be negatively impacted by the move to wean off the Russian uranium supply. For example, the URA ETF has 7% exposure to Kazakhstan companies and 0% to Russia, so should be minimally impacted on the negative side.

Uranium stocks

The global leading uranium stock is Cameco Corp. (TSX: CCO | NYSE: CCJ). It is the world’s largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Other top-tier uranium companies include BHP Group (ASX: BHP | NYSE: BHP), NexGen Energy Ltd. (TSX: NXE | ASX: NXG | NYSE: NXE), Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC), Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR), and Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG | TSX: URE).

Uranium junior miners include project generator F3 Uranium Corp. (TSXV: FUU | OTCQB: FUUFF), Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. (CSE: WUC | OTCQX: WSTRF), and Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. (CSE: API | OTCQX: APAAF).

For great coverage of the uranium sector, investors can visit InvestorIntel.com’s “Energy, Oil & Gas + Uranium” page.

Closing remarks

The recent move, led by the USA and backed by Canada, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom, is a significant move to diversify away from Russian-controlled uranium supply and nuclear-related goods. Only time will tell how successful it will be and it may also depend on the outcome of the war in Ukraine.

The West continues to ramp up moves to create new supply chains both in critical materials and now also in uranium. This can only be a plus for the uranium companies from the Western world and allied countries. Stay tuned.

Uranium stocks were buoyed today by solid earnings out of the Godfather of North American uranium producers – Cameco Corp. (TSX: CCO | NYSE: CCJ). On the surface, higher realized uranium prices more than offset higher costs leading to Cameco beating estimates and setting a bullish tone for the whole sector. However, a deeper dive into those results suggests things may not bode well for the rest of the world’s producers going forward as this juggernaut is cranking up their McArthur River mine and Key Lake mill with a target of 15 million pounds per year of production by 2024 (versus zero at present). That represents roughly 14% of 2021 global uranium production. I recognize Cameco knows how to play the game, and that between them and Kazatomprom they probably have a stronger hold on uranium than OPEC has on oil, so my guess is it’s unlikely uranium prices will tank moving forward. Nevertheless, I would suggest caution when forecasting how high uranium prices could go, even if the relationship between Russia and its allies worsens with the rest of the world.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not forecasting doom and gloom for all other uranium producers, in fact, I would suggest it’s the opposite. If Cameco is optimistic enough to bring one of their crown jewels back into active operation, then they obviously believe that uranium pricing in the US$45-US$55/lb range is sustainable. Thus, as long as a producer can make a decent return at that pricing level then all should be good.

So, let’s turn our focus to one of the lowest-cost producers of uranium in North America, Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG | TSX: URE). This uranium mining company operates the Lost Creek in-situ uranium facility in south-central Wyoming. Ur-Energy now has all major permits and authorizations to begin construction at Shirley Basin, the company’s second in-situ recovery uranium facility in Wyoming and is in the process of obtaining remaining amendments to Lost Creek authorizations for expansion of Lost Creek.

Similar to Cameco, in Q4, 2021 Ur-Energy initiated an advance development program at Lost Creek designed to significantly improve the ability to quickly return to production. A drilling and construction program commenced to complete the development of the fourth header house in MU2 (mine unit) HH 2-4. The header house, and its associated drilling and wellfield development, is expected to be complete in Q3, 2022, at which time HH 2-4 will be ready for production. Additionally, they have ordered all necessary equipment to construct the fifth header house (HH 2-5) and the long-lead items for the sixth header house in MU2. In conjunction with HH 2-4 work, the 2022 delineation drill program will assist with subsequent wellfield design within MU2. Lost Creek operations can increase to full production rates of an annualized run rate of up to 1.2 million pounds in as little as six months following a “go” decision plus the facility now has the constructed and licensed capacity to process up to 2.2 million pounds of U₃O₈ per year and sufficient mineral resources to feed the processing plant for many years to come.

On top of that, the company’s cash position as of April 28, 2022, was US$45.8 million and in addition to this strong cash position, they have nearly 284,000 pounds of finished, U.S. produced U₃O₈ inventory at the conversion facility, worth approximately US$13.4 million at recent spot prices. This financial position provides Ur-Energy with adequate funds to maintain and enhance operational readiness at Lost Creek, as well as allowing them to preserve existing inventory to sell into higher prices.

Ur-Energy is cash rich and optimally situated to take advantage of any potential “on-shoring” of uranium supply. It appears Cameco is ready to make the leap of faith that priority will be given to domestic or “friendly” supply, perhaps Ur-Energy will soon join the fun. With a market cap of approximately US$282 million, investors need to decide what 1.2 to 2.2 million pounds per annum of domestically produced uranium is worth.

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”  Matthew 24:6.

Recently, rumors about uranium have moved markets. When it comes to rumors, Matthew 24:6 speaks for itself. But let’s also look to Bloomberg News, which is not quite the Bible but is still considered reliable:

“The Biden administration is pushing lawmakers to support a $4.3 billion plan to buy enriched uranium directly from domestic producers to wean the U.S. off Russian imports of the nuclear-reactor fuel. … Shares of uranium companies surged.”

Which prompts me to wonder, were you one of those uranium share buyers, dear reader?

After all, the idea of stock trading is to buy the rumor. And definitely, this talk of a massive U.S. government uranium buy is a very good rumor.

But the other half of that old market aphorism about buying rumors is to sell the news. So, what’s the “news” about U.S. uranium? I’ll tell you a few things about that in just a moment.

Meanwhile, you may be wondering how long to hold and remain in the uranium play.

Should you sit tight, or even buy more uranium shares in the expectation of more gains? Or should you, perhaps, take some of the upside off the table sooner versus later? Because after all, there are risks in holding and waiting. Again, we’ll dig into this below.

First, it’s about time that something big happened in the U.S. nuclear space. If for no other reason this rumor of a future government buy is upbeat because over the past three decades, so little has happened with U.S. nuclear, aside from a long and seemingly inexorable rundown.

Indeed, the past decade has been immensely frustrating to investors who trade the uranium space in the U.S. or any other country. We’ve seen numerous false starts, trips, stumbles, range-bound trading and even serious downward, capital-killing moves.

But now, along comes the Biden administration and drops a hint of supposed multibillions flowing into the sector. Which prompts an immediate question, what is there to buy out there? Again, hang on for a moment.

Answering that query requires understanding some history. And the quick rundown is that from the 1940s to the 1970s, the U.S. pioneered much of the world’s nuclear science and technology – with the assistance of foreign scientists and allies, to be sure.

The World War II-era Manhattan Project speaks for itself, along with its programmatic successor the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). And of course, the Soviet Union had its own, parallel massive program throughout the Cold War.

By the 1980s the U.S. had built a vast nuclear complex, ranging from uranium mines and mills through the entire processing cycle. The U.S. enriched uranium fuel for nuclear power production, as well as super-enriched the metal for bomb-grade materials.

Equally important, by the 1980s the U.S. had a sizeable workforce within the nuclear space, well up into several hundred thousand people. These ranged from miners in the field to processors, and technicians, to top-level scientists and engineers inside the labs, processing plants and other industrial landscape.

Also, and just as important, in the 1980s the U.S. could boast of an entire educational pipeline that trained people in skilled trades related to nuclear, up to the most advanced academic research.

The short version of what happened is that almost all of those people, and most of the training pipeline, long ago atrophied and fell apart. Today, the U.S. labor force, from mines to laboratories is a pale shadow of what it used to be.

With this setup, let’s now focus on where the U.S. nuclear industry stands. That is, just what kind of bang for the buck (pardon the phrase) will the U.S. government get for dropping well over $4 billion onto the country’s nuclear space?

The first question is how much uranium does the U.S. produce right now? And the answer is, just about none. Okay, slightly more than z-e-r-o. In fact, in 2021 the amount of uranium mined in the U.S. was 10 tonnes, or 21,000 pounds per the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

In the context of global mining, in which well over 50,000 tonnes have been produced per year, worldwide, over the past two decades, U.S. output of primary uranium ore in 2021 was negligible, if not statistical noise.

And yes, perhaps that 2021 number – 10 tonnes – shocks you. It is so small that it’s negligible. But consider year 2020, when the U.S. output number was even smaller; so small that the DOE didn’t even publish it. Rumor has it that the U.S. produced all of 6 tonnes of uranium in 2020.

Meanwhile, it’s worth examining the U.S. mining workforce in the uranium space. And fortunately, DOE tracks those numbers as well.

In 2021 the U.S. had 32 people working in uranium mining, and 52 workers in processing. Total of 84. Yes, seriously. Those are DOE numbers, not typos.

Looking at the industry with a wider aperture, from exploration to mining, processing and environmental reclamation, total U.S. employment in primary uranium currently totals around 200.

Think about it. That’s 200 people in uranium, out of a vast U.S. population of about 350 million. Another way of saying it is that the U.S. has almost no skilled workforce for uranium production.

The next question that may pop into one’s head is how does the U.S. keep its fleet of power plants running – civilian and military – if the country produces so little uranium? Easy, the U.S. imports nuclear fuel from Kazakhstan, Canada, Namibia, Australia and many other countries, including… yes… Russia.

And along those lines, Russia has a very robust uranium sector, ranging from mines and mills to processing and enriching. No, there’s no shortage of uranium-related facilities or workforce in Russia.

Which gets us back to those rumors of the U.S. government dropping $4.3 billion into the U.S. uranium sector.

Obviously, that kind of government money will move the needle for the overall industry.

With the prospect of $4.3 billion dangling out there, we may see mines hiring miners, mills hiring new workers, processors hiring people, solid demand for engineers and scientists (from where/what schools, one might ask?).

We’ll also see demand for all manner of new equipment with which to do the work, because much of the legacy U.S. nuclear complex is old and in bad shape, if not closed and idled.

But really, don’t kid yourself. This proposed – rumored – whack of new government money will not solve the nation’s nuclear problem. There are some things you just cannot buy with money, and creating an instant workforce in the nuclear sector is one of them.

Doubtless, many nuclear-related companies will benefit from an infusion of federal funds. Think of Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR), Fission Uranium Corp. (TSX: FCU | OTCQX: FCUUF), Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG | TSX: URE), Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC) and more.

Canada’s Cameco Corp. (TSX: CCO | NYSE: CCJ) will likely benefit as well, along with the Global X Uranium ETF, an exchange traded fund focused on the uranium sector.

And there are downstream firms that will benefit over time. These include Centrus Energy, a Maryland-based firm that is building an enrichment facility in Ohio, and ConverDyn, a joint venture between Honeywell International Inc. and General Atomics that provides uranium conversion services.

So, we’ll wait and see what happens here. Federal money? Well, it’s nice and will create some great trades. But to build a new U.S. nuclear sector will take a generation, plus… a serious plan written by serious people.

There has been a lot of talks lately about fossil fuel energy source prices rising, particularly coal and gas prices. But did you know that uranium prices are up 64% since the August low, and are now at US$47.20/lb?

Uranium prices are up 64% from the August 16, 2021 low (as on 18 October 2021)

Source: Trading economics

The reason uranium prices are rising is that supply has reduced and demand is reviving with an upward trajectory.

Uranium supply

In 2020, ~46Mlbs or ~35% of global supply of uranium production (annualized), was suspended due to low prices. Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium miner, announced a 20% reduction in production into 2023. Cameco shuttered McArthur River and (largest in Canada) Cigar Lake mines, and there are several others. Meanwhile, U.S uranium production is non-existent, or as Ur-Energy states: “2020 – 2021Q2: U.S. uranium production continues to be so low EIA unable to report due to commitments of confidentiality.”

EIA report: 2020 U.S. mined production negligible – too low to be reported

Source: UR-Energy company presentation

Uranium demand

Demand has remained strong and has recently been boosted by some serious market speculators. The one that grabs the headlines most is the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust which has been buying up millions of pounds of uranium. Of course, the regular buyers are the utilities that own and operate nuclear reactors and want to secure supply.

World and U.S. nuclear power generation has recovered from a 2011 post-Fukushima contraction and is near historical peak generation levels

Source: Western Uranium & Vanadium company presentation

While higher prices ultimately encourage supply to come back on, it appears there is no rush for uranium producers to ramp up to large volumes and swamp the market; especially as they are now enjoying the windfall of higher prices after 5 years of very low prices. Many are finding that distressed inventory has become an asset as market pricing exceeds production costs.

Uranium is forecast to be in deficit each year to 2025

Source: Western Uranium & Vanadium company presentation (courtesy Canaccord Genuity estimates)

3 leading U.S uranium producers

Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR) has been building uranium inventory while diversifying into rare earths production. The Company has significant capacity to quickly increase low-cost U.S. uranium production from proven assets and has more production facilities, capacity & experience than any other U.S. company.

Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG | TSX: URE) is among the top two U.S uranium producers and is a global low cost uranium producer. Ur-Energy operates the Lost Creek in-situ recovery uranium facility in south-central Wyoming, USA.

Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. (CSE: WUC | OTCQX: WSTRF) own the Sunday Mine Complex, which is now back in pre-production development. On October 12, 2021 the Company stated: “Active mine development operations have resumed at the Sunday Mine Complex, and the project is already producing strong results……The ore body is projected to be significantly larger than indicated by the previous limited surface drilling. Development ore is being stockpiled underground. Full production of the GMG ore body can begin with the improvement of market conditions and after development operations are completed within six months.”

Closing remarks

The leading U.S uranium miners (as mentioned above) have seen significant stock price increases over the past year as uranium prices rose on the back of a growing uranium deficit.

Looking ahead the US uranium producers are well placed to benefit from the Biden policies that are becoming aware of the importance of smart nuclear power generation and of building a significant uranium reserve. After all, key parts of the U.S military and about 20% of U.S electricity rely totally on nuclear and hence uranium. Today, the U.S. imports 95% of its annualized uranium demand. There is a need to ramp up domestic and North American production if the more than 100 U.S. based civilian nuclear power reactors are to remain in service without interruption by geopolitical factors.

Meanwhile Europe, other than France, which gets 80% of its electric power from nuclear, and Asia are learning they also need a stable source of base load power that is not carbon based. As we approach the COP26 climate summit on November 1, the future of nuclear and uranium has never looked better.

We’re inaugurating a new feature this week. Every Monday morning InvestorIntel will bring you a brief commentary on what news’ events drove critical commodity prices during the preceding week. Keep in mind that “news” in the mainstream media is not proof either of new resource discovery or of market demand. It does, however, often drive demand for shares in related mining ventures and in commodity metal exchange prices for the “metals of the week.”

Uranium is the winner of the commodity news cycle for last week not because of any new discoveries or unusual rise in end-user demand, but because a credible, well-financed Canadian fund manager, Sprott, announced that it had raised more than a billion dollars for the purpose of acquiring physical uranium on the spot market. By mid-week, Sprott’s Physical Uranium Trust, an ETF, (TSX: U.UN), reported that it held 27,000,000 lbs of uranium (in the form of “yellowcake,” the oxide form of uranium produced by miners and traded in the markets). Many articles noted that the annual U.S. demand for uranium for its 100+ civilian power reactors is 43,000,000 lbs., and that essentially 100% of this is imported from just three countries, Canada, Kazakhstan, and Australia.

The quoted (reported) spot prices of uranium rapidly rose as the chart below shows:

As these events, the rise in the price of uranium and a sharp increase and decrease in the share price of uranium producers/processors, such as Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU | TSX: EFR) unfolded. I reached out to InvestorIntel uranium expert and frequent contributor, Dean Bristow, with a question, “Is Sprott trying to corner the physical uranium market?” [A market “corner” is an operation that attempts to control so much of a commodity that the operator controls the price.] Dean responded:

“…I don’t think Sprott is trying to corner the market so much as opportunistically force the market’s hand. The majority of uranium is contracted long-term and very little transacts in the spot market. Apparently, China has a lot of 10-year contracts rolling over so they will be back in the market but if Sprott can crank up the spot price with a relatively small amount of cash (realistically totally screwing with the price dynamic for an entire commodity for $2 billion is pretty inexpensive) then it should be good for all uranium producers across the board.

Not to say that Sprott is trying to be benevolent to the uranium industry. I’m sure their fund is making a pretty good return raising $1.3 billion in a span of 2 months. But the big picture is that if the long-term contractors have to pay up then it could become a new higher threshold for uranium prices. Advantage Cameco and Kazatomprom who are the lowest-cost producers.

However, I’m still on the fence as to how high uranium prices can go given I have to think at some price threshold Kazatomprom (the national uranium company of Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer), who pulled an OPEC move and shut-in 20% of its production, will start ramping things back up to protect market share. Likely just before the price reaches the point of others firing up their inactive mines. I’m not nearly as bullish as many of the talking heads on the financial networks but I wouldn’t rule out another leg up in uranium stocks before the bloom comes off just like it has for lumber, iron ore, copper, aluminum, etc….”

As far as the effect of Sprott’s operations on the share prices of uranium producers and juniors please look every day at Investorintels’s daily Uranium Investorchannel for that day’s closing prices and percentage valuation changes. I am singling out Sprott’s Physical Uranium Trust as the prime mover in the current uranium boom(let), because it is an excellent example of how one actor can influence the price of a scarce commodity. It is estimated that in 2020 just 124,000,000 pounds of uranium (in the form of  U3O8) was produced worldwide. By contrast, world coal production in 2019 was 17,000,000,000,000 pounds! Yes you read that correctly. Coal production was 10,000 times as large as uranium production. This should give you a feel for the relative energy content recoverable from uranium as compared to coal!

Note that share prices are influenced also by factors such as liquidity (How many shares are typically traded), short-term profit-taking, short selling, and on which exchange(s) the shares are listed. Uranium related shares yo-yo’ed last week mainly for these reasons not just because of the posted price for uranium.

By the way, world demand for uranium in 2020 was estimated at 181,000,000 pounds. Imagine what could happen to the price of uranium if environmentalists ever figure out how much carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by substituting nuclear for coal as the heat source for the steam needed to turn turbines in electricity generation plants.

InvestorIntel’s Tracy Weslosky speaks with Jeffrey Klenda, Chairman, President, and CEO of Ur‐Energy Inc. (NYSE American: URG | TSX: URE), about President Trump’s Executive Order on Critical Minerals which called the reliance on critical minerals from foreign adversaries a national emergency. “It not only is a national emergency, I think it has been a national emergency for many years,” Jeffrey told InvestorIntel. “The reality is, of those 35 critical minerals, we are reliant for 31 of them to the tune of more than 50% of our consumption on foreign entities and for 14 of those critical minerals we are 100% dependent.”

Jeffrey went on to provide an update on the extended and amended version of the Russian Suspension Agreement. He explained how it helps the US uranium producers and also closes the loopholes in the agreement to stop Russia from flooding the US uranium market.

Jeffrey also commented on Kazatomprom, Cameco and the US presidential election. “We will see utilities coming back into the marketplace,” Jeffrey said. “We are thinking that will push prices higher before the end of the year and we stand ready. We have kept our operational staff in place, we are ready to ramp up at anytime. We can do it faster, at lower cost than anyone else”

To access the complete interview, click here

Disclaimer: Ur‐Energy Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

Uranium prices have surged higher, up 35% in the last month, making uranium the best performing major commodity so far in 2020. Uranium demand has remained steady but supply has fallen sharply due to mine shutdowns in Kazakhstan and Canada by Kazatomprom and Cameco respectively. Bloomberg quotes cantor Fitzgerald stating: “Shutdowns wiped out about 46 million pounds, or about 35%, of annual global uranium output, over three weeks.”

After a decade long bear market in uranium prices, uranium inventories are now low as is global uranium production. This spells out the possible beginning of a new uranium bull market, which should be positive for those uranium miners that can bring on new production relatively quickly.

Uranium prices are up 35% in the past month to $32.50

Source

Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. (CSE:WUC | OTCQX:WSTRF) is a uranium and vanadium ‘production ready’ miner from their fully permitted mines in western Colorado and eastern Utah. The Company’s Projects cover both vanadium and uranium. Their flagship project is the Sunday Mine Complex that covers 5 mines located in western San Miguel County, Colorado, USA. The Company was wise to purchase previously producing mines achieving a lower CapEx, good infrastructure and project permits.

Western Uranium & Vanadium is one of the largest U.S. Uranium and Vanadium in-situ resource holders. Grades are good with historic resources (formerly JORC) and NI 43-101 of:

• Total uranium resource ~53,000,000 lbs.
• Total vanadium resource ~35,000,000 lbs.

Western Uranium & Vanadium Sunday Complex has high grades of uranium and vanadium

The Sunday Mine Complex is now ready to produce and ship uranium with ore stockpiled

In a March 10, 2020 interview with InvestorIntel, CEO George Glasier stated regarding uranium production from their Sunday Mine Complex:

“We opened the mines and got them ready this summer. We are ready to go into production. As soon as the market turns a little bit we will be in production.”

With regards to the US$150 million US reserve and possible contracts, CEO Glasier stated: “We will be one of the suppliers.”

The Sunday Mine complex was re-opened in 2019 and successful mine development of the underground workings during 2019 has brought the Sunday Mine Complex into production-ready status. Mined ore is currently being stockpiled and the ore pads have been built to facilitate the ore on the outside, which will then be shipped to buyers for further processing.

Next steps for Western Uranium & Vanadium

• Further production of uranium and vanadium ore.
• Shipping uranium/vanadium ore to potential customers and processors.

Closing remarks

The uranium price move is quite likely the start of a new uranium bull market. Higher uranium prices are required to incentivize new production needed to meet future global nuclear reactor requirements. A positive for the US uranium sector is that in the US, starting in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget, there will be a $150 million uranium reserve each year for the next decade.

Western Uranium & Vanadium is well positioned to quickly bring on a new uranium supply. The stock is priced at C$0.88 with plenty of upside potential should the uranium rally hold or continue.

June 26, 2018 – “The uptick has been in the last couple of weeks. There is a certain excitement in the market. It started late last year with Cameco and the Kazaks taking almost 15% of world production off the market. Since then there have been a couple of other transactions that have taken about 30% of uranium supply off the market. The market is just starting to react. For the first time we are starting to see an uptick in the uranium price that I think is going to be sustainable.” States Dr. Richard Spencer, CEO, President and Director of U3O8 Corp. (TSX: UWE | OTCQB: UWEFF), in an interview with InvestorIntel Corp. CEO Tracy Weslosky.

Tracy Weslosky: Richard, I was noticing, when we were doing some analysis this last week, what seems to be an uptick of interest in uranium. I think you had mentioned to me previously that you have seen a turnaround happen over the last several months. Can you talk to us about this? 

Richard Spencer: Tracy it is less than that. The uptick has been in the last couple of weeks. There is a certain excitement in the market. It started late last year with Cameco and the Kazaks taking almost 15% of world production off the market. Since then there have been a couple of other transactions that have taken about 30% of uranium supply off the market. The market is just starting to react. For the first time we are starting to see an uptick in the uranium price that I think is going to be sustainable. 

Tracy Weslosky: Why? We have waited 4 or 5 years. I have been a closeted uranium bull. Actually, I have not been that big of a closeted uranium bull. Why now? We know there is a shortage for uranium. Why recently? It is a geopolitical issue or what is making this happen? 

Richard Spencer: I think part of it is a geopolitical thing. I think the U.S. is recognizing that it imports 93% of its uranium. We are starting to hear the U.S. talk about the strategic side of its power grid needing reliable baseload power without increasing the carbon footprint. It is reliability of the power that is driving that move in the U.S. and Trump’s administration is saying, hey we need reliable power in this country and we cannot have these nuclear power stations shutting down. Bellefonte, they just got approval to go ahead with the construction of their power plant or continue with the power plant in the U.S., which it is just huge news…to access the complete interview, click here

Disclaimer: U3O8 Corp. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

March 28, 2018 – “I think that what happened in December last year with both Kazakhstan and Cameco taking supply off the market that was just huge. I do not think people understand quite the extent of that cutback.” States Dr. Richard Spencer, CEO, President and Director of U3O8 Corp. (TSX: UWE | OTCQB: UWEFF), in an interview with InvestorIntel’s Andy Gaudry.

Andy Gaudry: What is the chat about the uranium market at PDAC this year? 

Richard Spencer: I think the chat is that we are through the bottom of the market. I think that what happened in December last year with both Kazakhstan and Cameco taking supply off the market that was just huge. I do not think people understand quite the extent of that cutback. If we apply it to the zinc market, when the zinc in 2015 had been in the doldrums, a declining market for a long time, one of the big producing companies, Glencore, took 3½% of world supply off the market. It did not have a dramatic impact on the zinc market at the time. It was just a gradual rise, but looking back at the zinc market that was the bottom of the market. I think that we are going to look back on the 2017 in the uranium market and see that those cuts by those two big producers they did define the bottom of the market. I think that we are through it. People are talking about the amount of uranium inventory that there is above ground. The old adage is that a bull market climbs all of worry and I think that we are going to see a gradual strengthening of the uranium market from December 2017. 

Andy Gaudry: How is the market going to be affected now with Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin going head-to-head? 

Richard Spencer: That is a real interesting question. I think that it is bizarre that we have Russia that controls or is very friendly with two-thirds of the suppliers or the suppliers of two-thirds of the world’s uranium. We have got the uranium market just trundling along ignoring this escalation of discussion between Russia and the U.S. If I were a U.S. utility knowing that my President instead of going toe-to-toe with someone who supplies or controls or is very friendly with the suppliers of two-thirds of the world’s production of X, I would start taking action. I would start building my own inventory to keep my reactor running. I think that is exactly what we will see happen in the uranium industry, but at the moment no one seems to care that the U.S. is upping the ante with the Russians or vice versa between the two of them. The ante is rising and the uranium market is doing absolutely nothing. It is absolutely bizarre. I think we are going to look back at this and say, why were not people reacting to this? I think they need to be reacting to it, which is good for the uranium suppliers.

Andy Gaudry: Your company is operating in Argentina. How is that affecting the world markets?

Richard Spencer: The Argentinians have a strong nuclear program. They have got 3 reactors, bit reactors that are operating. They are building another 2 and they are talking about building a sixth reactor as well. These are the big reactors. Their aim is to produce about 20% of their electricity from nuclear by 2025…to access the complete interview, click here

March 27, 2018 – “The current truth of the uranium market is, it is an incredibly tough space. It is incredibly misunderstood. For the average investor trying to find out exactly what is going on is like a needle in a haystack. It is hard.” states Andrea Jennetta, President and Founder of International Nuclear Associates Inc., in an interview with InvestorIntel’s Peter Clausi.

Peter Clausi: You are one of the global uranium experts on the real market, not on all the noise around the market. 

Andrea Jennetta: That is correct.

Peter Clausi: How did you get to be here? 

Andrea Jennetta: I got to be here by hook, by crook, by clawing, by scraping, by starting my own company, having my own vision and wanting to tell the truth about the uranium market, good, bad, ugly.

Peter Clausi: What is your current truth in the uranium market?

Andrea Jennetta: The current truth of the uranium market is it is an incredibly tough space. It is incredibly misunderstood. For the average investor trying to find out exactly what is going on is like a needle in a haystack. It is hard.

Peter Clausi: Earlier this week Kazakhstan was here at PDAC talking about supplying the Chinese with as much uranium as China wants. What is your take on that?

Andrea Jennetta: China is Kazatomprom’s number one customer. When we talk about Kazakhstan we need to understand the difference between Kazatomprom . . .

Peter Clausi: Which is the government owned agency.

Andrea Jennetta: That is right; and the country. The country itself is the leading producer of uranium in the world. It has several mining operations, most of which are run and managed with western companies, except for Uranium One, which is now owned by the Russians. Cameco is in there. Kazatomprom itself . . .

Peter Clausi: The difference between the country and the marketing arm

Andrea Jennetta: Yes, I think that is very important. With respect to a marketing arm they do not have one. That is a myth. China is their biggest customer. Most of the material that Kazatomprom is entitled to through these joint ventures goes to China.

Peter Clausi: Kazakhstan number one. Who is number two?

Andrea Jennetta: That would be Canada.

Peter Clausi: What is happening in Canada? Go Canada, Cigar Lake!

Andrea Jennetta: What is happening in Canada is incredibly interesting and perhaps, dare I say it, possibly risky.

Peter Clausi: How so?

Andrea Jennetta: Risk is not a word that you normally associate with Cameco. However, Cameco decided in November 2017 to shut down McArthur River thereby taking 18 million pounds out of the market immediately. They want to get prices higher. The only way to get prices higher is to take away demand…to access the complete interview, click here