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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

Ford heads to First Ministers meeting with Ring of Fire, pipelines, and nuclear at top of agenda -by Barbara Patrocinio (QP Briefing – June 2, 2025)

https://www.qpbriefing.com/

In a letter sent out in May to the Prime Minister, Ford said the number one priority was the Ring of Fire, including critical mineral mining projects and the infrastructure needed to support them (all-season roads, electricity transmission lines, etc.).

As Premier Doug Ford heads into this Monday’s first ministers meeting, he says his message is clear: It’s time to build pipelines, nuclear plants, and roads into the Ring of Fire.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime,” Ford said, speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park last Friday about his priorities. “No provincial government has ever given the Indigenous communities across the province what we’re proposing now. They will thrive, they will prosper.”

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N.S. minister could override owners who don’t want uranium exploration on their land – by Taryn Grant (CBC News Nova Scotia – May 29, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Tory Rushton says negotiations between companies, landowners would have to happen before he’d intervene

If a Nova Scotia landowner doesn’t want uranium exploration to happen on their property, does no mean no? Nova Scotia Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton has confirmed that he could step over property owners to let companies hunt for uranium, but he said he isn’t keen to do so.

“Right now we’re encouraging landowners and the researchers to have the conversations, that’s where it needs to start,” Rushton told reporters Thursday following a cabinet meeting in Halifax. Earlier this year, the Progressive Conservative government lifted a long-standing ban on uranium exploration and extraction.

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Trump wants the U.S. to dominate uranium production. What does that mean for Canada’s miners? – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – May 26, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The United States is a lightweight in uranium, but it wasn’t always this way. From the 1950s through the 1980s, it was the world’s leading producer of the silvery-grey metal and was largely self-sufficient. U.S. President Donald Trump now aims to return to this past, part of a broader effort to achieve what he calls “American energy dominance.” He has signed several orders aimed at fostering domestic uranium production and disadvantaging foreign producers.

Tim Gitzel, chief executive officer of Canadian uranium giant Cameco Corp., dismissed the fallout from Mr. Trump‘s recent actions as mere “distractions” during a conference call earlier this month with investors. The logic underpinning such nonchalance has implications for investors, miners and the Trump administration alike.

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EU goes hunting for Central Asia’s mineral riches at Samarkand summit – by Emma Collet (Euractiv.com – April 3, 2025)

https://www.euractiv.com/

Central Asia could become something like the El Dorado of European dreams.

SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN – With access to rare metals and critical minerals on their minds, a number of top EU leaders are travelling to Samarkand to meet with Central Asian presidents in a glittering palace on the outskirts of this ancient crossroads city.

Central Asian leaders invited the European Union with a mix of enthusiasm and caution to gather on Thursday and Friday in Samarkand, situated along the historic Silk Road trade routes which now serves as Uzbekistan’s host city for major diplomatic meetings

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Orano considering sale of Niger uranium assets (Mining Technology – May 19, 2025)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

The company operates three mines in Niger through a JV with the government, which seized power in a coup in 2023.

Orano, a French state-owned nuclear fuel company, is considering selling its uranium assets in Niger following a collapse in relations with the country’s military-led government, reported the Financial Times, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The company operates three mines in Niger through a joint venture (JV) with the government, which seized power in a coup in 2023. Orano has faced challenges in the region, including the arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and unjust confiscation of property involving its staff and assets.

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‘A total surprise’: Municipalities unprepared for uranium exploration in their backyard – by Frances Willick (CBC News Nova Scotia – May 20, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Leaders say they need more information and education about the issue

Some municipal leaders are feeling unprepared and uninformed after learning their regions could become home to the first uranium exploration in Nova Scotia in almost 45 years.

On Wednesday, the Nova Scotia government issued a request for exploration proposals at three sites it believes have uranium deposits. The three sites include areas near Louisville in Pictou County, East Dalhousie in Annapolis County and Millet Brook in Hants County. “It’s a total surprise to us,” said Robert Parker, warden of Pictou County.

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Cameco CEO says Carney supportive of nuclear energy industry as uranium demand grows – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Financial Post – May 16, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Speedy development of resource projects could be crucial for Canada’s uranium industry

The chief executive of the world’s largest uranium miner believes Prime Minister Mark Carney will be supportive of Canada’s nuclear industry as it looks ahead to meet growing demand. Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. chief executive Tim Gitzel said the federal government needs to be interested in growing nuclear energy and hopes that will happen under Carney’s leadership, based on past dealings with the prime minister.

Carney and Gitzel met previously amid a joint deal between Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to buy Westinghouse Electric Co. in 2023. At the time, Carney was chair and head of Transition Investing at Brookfield.

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Uranium added to Nova Scotia critical minerals list as province seeks exploration – by Keith Doucette (Canadian Press/CBC Nova Scotia – May 14, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Potential exploration sites are in Pictou County, Annapolis County and Hants County

The Nova Scotia government added uranium to its list of priority critical minerals on Wednesday and issued a request for exploration proposals at three sites the province says have known deposits of the heavy metal.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says the government hopes to reap economic benefits from the exploration in the future, although a department official said any potential mining project could be “decades” away.

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Could thorium be the world’s next great source of fuel? – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – May 16, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

“Rabbits sometimes make mistakes or grow lazy. That’s when the tortoise seizes its chance.” That’s how a scientist from China recently described the Asian giant’s progress in using thorium — a silvery-white radioactive metal that’s more abundant in the earth’s crust than uranium — to generate power.

Xu Hongjie reportedly used the folklore saying in a closed-door meeting at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in April to suggest China had overtaken the United States in this specific field, according to the South China Morning Post. But could thorium really be used as a viable source for fuel in the near future or even replace uranium in nuclear reactors? Here’s what you need to know.

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Utah leaders praise Trump’s fast-tracking of a ‘vital’ uranium mine. Environmentalists say the move ‘beggars belief.’ – by Anastasia Hufham (Salt Lake Tribune – May 16, 2025)

https://www.sltrib.com/

State leaders have nothing but praise for the Trump administration’s decision to significantly shorten the environmental review process of a southeastern Utah uranium project.

Earlier this week, the Department of the Interior announced it was fast-tracking the permitting process for Anfield Energy Inc.’s plans to reopen the Velvet-Wood uranium mine in San Juan County. The environmental assessment for the project must be completed by the Bureau of Land Management in just 14 days — as opposed to the prior timeline of months or years.

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France’s Orano files lawsuit over staff detention in Niger – by Anna Peverieri, Forrest Crellin and Portia Crowe(Reuters – May 13, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

French uranium miner Orano said on Tuesday it had filed a lawsuit with the Niger courts over the “arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and unjust confiscation of property” involving its staff and assets in the country.

Niger and neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have been stepping up pressure on foreign mining companies over the past year, seizing assets and removing permits as all three Sahel countries look to assert more sovereignty over their natural resources.

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US set to fast-track Utah uranium mining permit in push for domestic energy supply – by Neetika Walter (MSN.com – May 12, 2025)

https://www.msn.com/

Even as the U.S. and China slashed tariffs amid a 90-day trade truce, critical minerals were conspicuously missing from the deal — a silence that reflects their growing strategic weight. With China tightening its grip on rare earth exports, the U.S. is doubling down on efforts to secure domestic supplies of materials vital to clean energy, defense, and tech manufacturing.

As part of this push, the Trump administration announced on Monday that it will be fast-tracking environmental permitting for Anfield Energy’s proposed Velvet-Wood uranium mine project, slashing the review timeline to just 14 days.

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Ontario’s Darlington SMR project to cost nearly $21-billion, significantly higher than expected – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – May 9, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Power Generation’s plan to construct the first small modular reactor in a G7 country has an official price tag of $7.7-billion – which independent observers say is higher than necessary to spark widespread adoption.

On Thursday, the Ontario government announced that its wholly owned utility can spend $6.1-billion to build the first BWRX-300 reactor adjacent to OPG’s existing Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. It can spend another $1.6-billion on infrastructure such as administrative buildings and cooling water tunnels the new reactor will share with three additional BWRX-300s to be built later.

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A fork in the road: As bifurcation hits the global uranium industry, the secure path leads to Canada: – by Sergey Sukhankin (MacDonald Laurier Institute – May 7, 2025)

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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has forever changed global commodities markets. The economic sanctions subsequently imposed on Russia exposed multiple risks related to (over)reliance on a single or dominant suppliers of critical materials (Sukhankin 2024a). The European Union (EU) was hit particularly hard thanks to its decades-long reliance on Russia’s inexpensive commodities. The EU’s dependence also made it vulnerable to external pressure and blackmail.

The “Russia sanctions” fallout has revealed a much bigger problem. While natural resources will continue to be used as a geopolitical weapon in the unfolding East-West rivalry, the focus is likely to shift from hydrocarbons to critical minerals in the medium-term. This trend is visible in China’s series of decisions (2023–25) to restrict exports of several types of critical metals and technologies (Shivaprasad, Lv, and Jackson 2024) that are instrumental for innovation and technological sectors of Western economies.

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Opinion: What about processing in this nuclear boom? – by Shaun Spelliscy (Northern Miner – May 9, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

A few months ago, I joined a group of farmers discussing Saskatchewan’s modular nuclear reactor proposal. I supported the idea but raised a simple question: Where will Saskatchewan source the fuel? One farmer shot back, “Are you stupid? We have some of the world’s largest uranium reserves right here in the Athabasca Basin.”

What Farmer Jed didn’t realize is that a Candu nuclear reactor isn’t a coal locomotive. Uranium must be processed before it can be used as fuel. While Saskatchewan mines the raw material, Ontario reaps the economic rewards by refining and manufacturing Candu reactor fuel.

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