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Saskatchewan Mining

U.S. hurting itself, not Canadian uranium producers, with tariffs on energy – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix – February 12, 2025)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Canadian producers are in a good position to handle the tariffs, expert says

United States President Donald Trump is only biting the hand that feeds his country’s nuclear power system if he follows through on his threat to impose a 10 per cent tariff on uranium and other energy-related imports.

Devan Mescall, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business, said the uranium industry is better positioned to deal with tariffs in the short term than other industries, in part because there are no available alternatives.

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CanAlaska Uranium posts top grade at West McArthur – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – February 6, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

CanAlaska Uranium cut its highest grade intersection yet at the West McArthur project it holds in a joint venture with Cameco in northern Saskatchewan.

Hole WMA076-01 in the Pike zone cut 14.5 metres grading 12.2% uranium oxide (U3O8) from 790.1 metres depth, including 5 metres at 34.38% U3O8, CanAlaska reported Thursday. That result, among the first five holes completed in the company’s winter program, expands the Pike zone’s ultra-high grade footprint at the unconformity by at least 15 metres to the east.

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Cameco hopes to repeat its 2018 success in fending off Trump uranium tariffs as threat looms once more – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 28, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s Cameco Corp. fought off U.S. tariffs on uranium during President Donald Trump’s first term and it hopes to do so again as the global uranium heavyweight pushes for cooler heads to prevail in Washington.

After he was elected for a second term last fall, Mr. Trump said he was planning to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on all imports of Canadian goods. On the day he was inaugurated, he said those tariffs could take effect on Saturday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday confirmed that Mr. Trump’s Saturday timeline for tariffs against Canada is still in the cards.

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Canada aims to become world’s biggest uranium producer as demand soars – by Ilya Gridneff, Jamie Smyth and Camilla Hodgson (Financial Times – January 4, 2025)

https://www.ft.com/

Demand for emissions-free power and energy security mark a turnaround for the resource-rich

Canada is racing to become the world’s biggest uranium producer as prices for the radioactive metal surge in response to soaring demand for emissions-free nuclear power and geopolitical tensions threaten supplies.

Cameco, the country’s largest producer, said that production of uranium would jump by almost a third in 2024 to 37mn pounds at its two mines in the heartland of the country’s uranium industry in northern Saskatchewan.

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Australian uranium company given go-ahead to absorb Canadian counterpart – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – December 30, 2024)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Paladin Energy gets green light from federal government to take over Fission Uranium

A major acquisition in Canada’s uranium sector is going forward after getting approval from the federal government.

Paladin Energy Ltd., which is headquartered in Perth, Australia, has been given the green light to take over Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission Uranium Corp., which has been developing its Patterson Lake South Project (PLS) in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin. The mine there is set to begin production in 2029.

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Cameco ‘disappointed and surprised’ by sudden suspension of its Kazakhstan mine – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – January 03, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

The mine was expected to contribute 4% of global uranium production this year

Cameco Corp. kicked off the new year with a surprise for its investors: Its joint-venture mine in Kazakhstan suspended production without warning. “We are disappointed and surprised by this unexpected suspension and we will be seeking further clarification on how this transpired,” Cameco said in a press release on Thursday.

The Saskatoon-based company owns 40 per cent of the mine through Inkai LLP; Kazatomprom JSC, the national atomic company of Kazakhstan, owns the other 60 per cent.

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Paladin’s deal to acquire Fission Uranium in doubt amid deepening national security probe involving China – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 2, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Paladin Energy Ltd.’s proposed acquisition of Canadian uranium development company Fission Uranium Corp. is hanging in the balance amid a deepening national security probe and a punishing Paladin stock sell-off that has spooked investors.

The Australian miner reached a friendly agreement in June to buy Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission in an all-stock transaction worth $1.14-billion. Fission is developing the Patterson Lake South (PLS) uranium project in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan.

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Nuclear power industry sees ‘huge potential’ for growth in Saskatchewan – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Financial Post – November 30, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Province is starting to look to nuclear power to fill the void left by the departure of coal

Saskatchewan is one of a number of jurisdictions starting to look to nuclear power to fill the void left by the departure of coal and other carbon-emitting fuels as the push to decarbonize electricity production ramps up.

The expansion of nuclear power generation means serious growth potential for some players in the industry, including Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC, a Pennsylvania-based specialist in building nuclear reactors bought by Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. and Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. in 2023.

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Possible tariffs worry Canada uranium miners as they boost output to meet US demand – by Divya Rajagopal, Ernest Scheyder and Timothy Gardener (Reuters – November 28, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Canada’s uranium miners, confident that only they can meet US demand for the element after Russian supply curbs, have accelerated output and forward contracts to supply US energy companies, but they are now worried about possible tariffs from US President-elect Donald Trump.

Shares of uranium companies rallied in Toronto and New York over the last two weeks on news that Russia was planning to restrict the sale of enriched uranium to the US. This week, Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada and Mexico. This could inflate prices of the radioactive material unless uranium receives exemptions.

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Paladin’s Fission Takeover Is Delayed by Canada Security Review – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – November 19, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Canada’s federal government is extending a national security review of Paladin Energy Ltd.’s acquisition of Fission Uranium Corp., further delaying a deal that was supposed to close in September.

Australia’s Paladin Energy said Tuesday it received a notice from Canada’s industry ministry that the government’s review period for the transaction, proposed in June, will be extended until Dec. 30. The company also warned that the deal could fall apart.

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Why Canada could become the next nuclear energy ‘superpower’ – by Nadine Yousif (BBC.com – November 13, 2024)

https://www.bbc.com/

Uranium is making a comeback thanks to a renewed focus on nuclear energy as a climate crisis solution. Canada, rich with high-grade deposits, could become a nuclear “superpower”. But can its potential be realised?

Leigh Curyer had been working in uranium mining for nearly two decades when he noticed a striking shift. In 2011, the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan badly damaged the world’s view of nuclear power, and the price for the heavy metal – a critical component for nuclear fuel – cratered.

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Potash producers sound alarm on losing revenue during lockout at B.C. ports – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – November 6, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s potash producers are warning that the lockout of unionized supervisors at British Columbia ports could allow rivals such as Russia and Belarus to gain market share.

With commodities such as potash stuck onshore at the Port of Vancouver, bottlenecks are growing in the supply chain. Potash is among the key exports suspended at Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. in North Vancouver and Pacific Coast Terminals Co. Ltd. in Port Moody.

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Potash mining is good business now, but it wasn’t always that way – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – October 4, 2024)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

It has been 65 years since potash mining began in Saskatchewan and Nutrien invited media to tour one their mines. Find out more.

ALLAN, SASK. — Since the mining of potash began on the prairies 65 years ago, the mineral has grown more important as countries around the world try to feed their growing populations, but the industry wasn’t always so consistent.

“In my first 15 years, it was four years of layoffs off and on, not constant and never a complete out-the-door shutdown, but downsizing and cutting back,” said Bob Boehm, who has been working at Nutrien Ltd.‘s Allan mine, southeast of Saskatoon, for more than 40 years.

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Canada reviewing Paladin’s Fission Uranium takeover on national security grounds – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 2, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Paladin Energy’s (ASX: PDN) proposed takeover of Canadian explorer Fission Uranium (TSX: FCU) has hit a roadblock after receiving a notice from the Canadian government informing the company the deal is now the subject of a national security review.

The Australian miner entered in June into an agreement with Fission Uranium to acquire it for C$1.14 billion ($846m), as strong prices for the fuel used in nuclear reactors has lit fire under market consolidations and deals.

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Nutrien celebrates 65 years of potash production in Saskatchewan – by John Flatters (CTV News Saskatoon – October 2, 2024)

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/

The impact of the above and below-ground operations at Nutrien’s potash mines span multiple generations, fuelling the local economy and feeding the world. Celebrating 65 years in the Saskatchewan potash industry, Nutrien gave a special tour of its Allan mine east of Saskatoon.

Building started in 1964, and the first tonne of raw ore was pulled up to the surface in 1968. Over the last six decades, it’s seen giant leaps in technology which have further improved safety and productivity.

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