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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

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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Canada Weighs Export Taxes on Uranium, Oil If Trump Starts Trade War – by Brian Platt (Bloomberg News – December 12, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Canada is examining the use of export taxes on major commodities it exports to the US — including uranium, oil and potash — if incoming President Donald Trump carries out his threat to impose broad tariffs.

Export levies would be a last resort for Canada, according to officials familiar with the discussions inside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government. Retaliatory tariffs against US-made goods, and export controls on certain Canadian products, would be more likely to come first, said the people.

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Time to Reinvigorate the U.S. Uranium Mining Industry – by Duggan Flanakin (Real Clear Energy – December 12, 2024)

https://www.realclearenergy.org/

Duggan Flanakin is a senior policy analyst at the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow.

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, his nomination of Christopher Wright to serve as Secretary of Energy points to a major effort to revive domestic uranium mining. That’s especially good news, given the Biden Administration’s recent decision to discontinue importing uranium from Russia.

Further complicating the worldwide uranium supply chain, the military authorities in Niger, who now control that nation’s uranium mining operations, are putting the squeeze on French reliance on Niger’s uranium for its nuclear reactors. Niger, which produces about 5% of the world’s uranium, had been supplying 15% to 20% of France’s uranium imports.

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Analysis-Mali arrests, Niger site seizure rattle Western miners – by David Lewis, Melanie Burton and Portia Crowe(MSM.com – December 11, 2024)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/

The arrest of mining executives in Mali, threats by Burkina Faso’s junta to strip permits and the seizure of a French-run uranium site in Niger have unsettled Western miners operating in West Africa and could limit further investments. Day-to-day production in Mali and Burkina Faso has so far been largely unaffected.

The escalation is expected, however, to hit firms seeking finance and insurance – curbing supply growth in Africa’s engine of gold output, more than a dozen people, including mining employees, financiers, insurance providers and government sources, told Reuters.

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How GE Vernova plans to deploy small nuclear reactors across the developed world – by Spencer Kimball (CNBC.com – November 30, 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

GE Vernova is aiming to deploy small nuclear reactors across the developed world over the next decade, staking out a leadership position in a budding technology that could play a central role in meeting surging electricity demand and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The company’s small modular reactor, or SMR, is designed to reduce the cost of building new nuclear plants, said Nicole Holmes, chief commercial officer at GE Vernova’s nuclear unit GE Hitachi.

GE Vernova is the spinoff of General Electric’s former energy business. The company’s stock has more than doubled since listing on the New York Stock Exchange last April, with investors seeing the Cambridge, Mass.-based company playing a key role in the future of the power industry through a portfolio of divisions that span nuclear, natural gas, wind and carbon capture.

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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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The fight’s not over, say anti-nuclear First Nations – by Mike Stimpson (NWONewswatch/Northern Ontario Business – November 29, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Onigaming chief says he received many phone calls after the NWMO selection of Ignace-Wabigoon area as nuclear waste repository site

Onigaming First Nation Chief Jeff Copenace says his Ojibwe community has reacted with strong emotions to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s decision to build a nuclear waste facility in the Ignace-Wabigoon area of northwestern Ontario.

“My reaction is a little bit of anger, a little bit of sadness, but I’m not sure that I’m surprised,” Copenace said Nov. 28 just hours after the NWMO announced its selection of the Revell Lake site for its deep geological repository project.

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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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Russia temporarily limits nuclear-fuel shipments to US – by Liezel Hill (Bloomberg News – November 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Russia is temporarily limiting exports of enriched uranium to the US, creating potential supply risks to utilities operating American reactors that generate almost a fifth of the country’s electricity.

The Russian government didn’t provide details of the restrictions or their duration in a Friday statement on Telegram. Utilities tend to make purchases well in advance, so any impact is unlikely to be immediate.

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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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Niger embraces Russia for uranium production leaving France out in the cold (RFI France – November 13, 2024)

https://www.rfi.fr/en/

Niger has called on Russian firms to directly invest in uranium and other natural resource production, following the collapse of relations with former colonial ruler France and the eviction of French nuclear giant Orano from the country

Niger’s recent diplomatic shift away from France towards Russia has marked a turning point in the nation’s resource management strategy, particularly concerning its abundant uranium reserves.

Following the military coup in July 2023, which resulted in the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s military junta has been taking increasingly bold steps to redefine its international partnerships, especially in the critical mining sector.

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Paladin Energy’s Fission deal in limbo as Ottawa probes national security implications of China influence – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 11, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Investors are unsure whether Australia-based Paladin Energy Ltd.’s proposed acquisition of Fission Uranium Corp. will succeed, as Ottawa conducts a make-or-break national security review on the transaction, with Chinese influence under scrutiny on both sides of the deal.

In June, Paladin reached a friendly agreement 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, which is projected to eventually account for about 5 per cent of global supply.

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