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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

Nuke the oilsands: Alberta’s narrowly cancelled plan to drill for oil with atomic weapons – by Tristin Hopper (National Post – August 3, 2016)

http://news.nationalpost.com/

It’s often forgotten what a technological feat it was to pump oil out of the Fort McMurray area. While it’s long been known that the Athabasca region is swimming with petroleum, geologists spent decades banging their head against the problem of how to turn oily sand into something that could be refined into gasoline.

Which makes it all the more fortunate that — just before science figured it out — Alberta kiboshed a plan that would have simply thrown nuclear bombs at the problem. “Nuclear miracles will make us rich,” declared famed physicist Edward Teller in a 1959 syndicated editorial.

As the first seeds of the anti-nuclear movement began to show themselves, Teller was trying to assure a worried public that they should welcome atomic bombs as bringers of “as rich a harvest as man’s ingenuity ever has produced.”

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Franc Joubin – The Father of Elliot Lake – by Dit Holt (Northern Miner – March 19, 2001)

http://www.northernminer.com/

Without the foresight, initiative and leadership of Franc Joubin (1911-1997), the mines of Elliot Lake, Ont., might never have come about. Joubin was one of the most outstanding explorers in North America, if not the world. His achievements, awards, degrees and world-wide experience speak for themselves.

I first met Joubin back in 1949 at a gathering in Toronto to kick off the Beaverlodge uranium campaign. A young geologist who knew him turned to me and asked if I had met the man before. When I said no, he said “mark my work words: he’ll set the world on fire.” How prophetic that turned out to be.

Joubin inspired and affected our lives dramatically. With his natural wit and warmth, this quiet-spoken man was a born leader. “Knowledge is power,” he would often say, and he was living proof.

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How Saskatchewan remade uranium mining – by Vladimir Basov (Mining.com – March 31, 2016)

http://www.mining.com/

String of high-grade high-tonnage discoveries reestablishes Canadian province as the world’s richest uranium jurisdiction

It’s a fact that new high-grade high-tonnage metal deposits are becoming extremely scarce, with falling grades and a lack of new world-class deposit discoveries. While it is next to impossible to imagine, for example, discovery of a new 200g/tonne 25 million ozt gold deposit, it is just has become a routine process for one particular commodity in one particular jurisdiction.

Athabasca sedimentary basin, located mainly in Canada’s Saskatchewan province, contains both high-grade and high-tonnage unique, a.k.a “unconformity” bonanza-type uranium deposits.

Just for comparison, Priargunsky underground uranium mine in Trans-Baikal region of Russia has approximately 0.15% grade of uranium in resources, while in Saskatchewan the world’s highest-grade and second-biggest Cigar Lake underground uranium mine boasts an average 15% grade of uranium in resources. And this is a mind-blowing 100-times difference.

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Feds say no to Kiggavik uranium mine, back Nunavut Impact Review Board – by By Sima Sahar Zerehi (CBC News North – July 26, 2016)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister supports the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s decision

The minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs has reviewed the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s final report on the proposed Kiggavik uranium mine and agreed with the board: “the project should not proceed at this time.”

The review board issued its final report on the proposed mine near Baker Lake in the spring of 2015.

The report rejected Areva Resource’s proposed Kiggavik mine on the grounds that it lacks a definite start date and a development schedule. The board concluded that without this information it was impossible to assess the environmental and social impacts of the mine.

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US, Navajos settle over uranium mine cleanup – by Susan Montoya Bryan (Tucson.com – July 20, 2016)

http://tucson.com/

The Associated Press – ALBUQUERQUE — The federal government has reached another settlement with the Navajo Nation that will clear the way for cleanup work to continue at abandoned uranium mines across the largest American Indian reservation in the U.S.

The target includes 46 sites that have been identified as priorities due to radiation levels, their proximity to people and the threat of contamination spreading.

Cleanup is supposed to be done at 16 abandoned mines while evaluations are planned for another 30 sites. Studies will be done at two more to see if water supplies have been compromised. The agreement announced by the U.S. Justice Department settles the tribe’s claims over the costs of engineering evaluations and cleanups at the mines.

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Kazakh-Chinese talks build on cooperation agreements (World Nuclear News – July 18, 2016)

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/

The heads of Kazakh uranium producer KazAtomProm and China’s CITIC Group have met to discuss attracting investment to the Central Asian country’s nuclear energy sector. Askar Zhumagaliyev and Chang Zhenming met as part of the working visit to China of Kazakhstan’s first deputy prime minister, Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

CITIC Group, formerly the China International Trust and Investment Corporation, is a state-owned investment company established in 1979.

The talks build on agreements KazAtomProm signed with Chinese companies at the end of last year. These include one for the development of Kazakh uranium mines and the construction of a nuclear fuel plant in Kazakhstan.

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BHP: Fukushima set uranium industry back for years – by Michael Owen (The Australian – June 27, 2016)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/

A key reason for BHP Billiton’s decision four years ago to indefinitely mothball a $30 billion plan to turn Olympic Dam into the world’s biggest uranium mine was the Fukushima nuclear plant explosion rather than cost concerns, it has been revealed.

Senior BHP executives told The Australian that although lingering effects from the global financial crisis in 2008 were used to publicly justify the 2012 decision by BHP’s board not to proceed with the original expansion plan, the real concern was the effect of the Fukushima disaster on demand for uranium and its price.

“You have to consider the events that occurred around that time … Fukushima changed everything and probably set the nuclear energy and uranium industry back years, if not decades,” one senior BHP executive said.

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Documentary: The Bomb (2015)

 

http://www.pbs.org/

The Bomb is a 2015 American documentary film about the history of nuclear weapons, from theoretical scientific considerations at the very beginning, to their first use on August 6, 1945,[1][2] to their global political implications in the present-day.

[3][4][5][6][7] The two-hour PBS film was written and directed by Rushmore DeNooyer, who noted the project took a year and a half to complete, since much of the film footage and images was only recently declassified by the United States Department of Defense.[5]

According to DeNooyer, “It wouldn’t take very many bombs to really change life on Earth, … The idea that there are thousands of them sitting around is pretty scary. I don’t think people today realize that. They don’t think about it. I don’t think they are scared.

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China’s nuclear war on coal – by Frik Els (Mining.com – June 23, 2016)

http://www.mining.com/

Beijing’s already cut coal miners working hours by 16% and plans to eliminate 500 million tonnes of coal capacity within just 3–5 years

After 13 years of rapid growth, China burns more coal than the rest of the world combined. The country was responsible for more than 80% of global growth in coal usage since the start of the century.

Even these numbers were upped in a recent study by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) that showed energy-content-based coal consumption from 2000 to 2013 was up to 14% higher than previously reported at nearly 4.5 billion tonnes, while coal production was up to 7% higher.

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Documentary: Uranium – Twisting The Dragon’s Tail (2015)

 

The story of uranium is part science, part history and all epic adventure. It’s a journey through place and time, around the most dangerous and wondrous rock on Earth.

Born violently in the collapse of a star long ago, uranium is woven throughout the fabric of Earth. It has properties like no other rock: the element spits energy which can transform DNA, shaping the very nature of what it means to be human. Once considered worthless, this rock has become the most desirable, most expensive and most feared substance in the world. And on a warming planet with limited fossil fuel, uranium may transform once again—into our savior.

Uranium: Twisting the Dragon’s Tail is an action-packed journey to explore this dangerous, wondrous and controversial rock. Join physicist Dr. Derek Muller, creator of YouTube channel Veritasium, as he travels to Russia, Japan, North America, Europe and Australia to explore the vast world of this fascinating element.

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Mining companies, northern communities renew uranium development partnership (Saskatoon StarPhoenex – June 22, 2016)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

Seven northern communities have renewed their agreement with Cameco Corp. and Areva Resources Canada Inc. to support uranium mining operations in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin.

“The renewed partnership agreement gives the Athabasca communities certainty, to help ensure that the companies operate sustainably, bringing positive changes for the future generation,” Diane McDonald, lead negotiator for the communities, said in a statement.

The Ya’Thi Néné agreement, which means “Land of the North” in Dene, builds on a previous deal struck in 1999. It confirms the support of Black Lake, Fond du Lac, Hatchet Lake, Stony Rapids, Wollaston Lake, Uranium City and Camsell Portage for the Cigar Lake, McLean Lake and now-shuttered Rabbit Lake uranium operations.

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[India] Mining of atomic minerals to be opened up to private sector – by Gireesh Chandra Prasad (Live Mint.com – June 15, 2016)

http://www.livemint.com/

The government, like it did with hydrocarbons, is set to open up exploration and production of atomic minerals to private mining companies.

It is part of a strategy to increase domestic supplies of fuel as the country readies to expand its nuclear power generation capacity, Balvinder Kumar, secretary in the ministry of mines, said.

India currently has a 5.7 gigawatts (GW) nuclear power generation capacity, which barely accounts for 2% of the total power capacity but is expected to witness a sharp increase over the next 16 years as the country moves away from fossil fuels for its energy needs.

The Department of Atomic Energy’s target is to have 63GW of nuclear power capacity by 2032.

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Cameco CEO Tim Gritzel on uranium market transformation – by Irina Dorokhova – Kursiv (Mining.com – June 10, 2016)

http://www.mining.com/

Uranium is having the worst start to a year in a decade. U3O8 is down more than 20% in 2016 with the UxC broker average price trading around the $28 a pound mark this week. Current levels are the cheapest spot uranium has been since 2005. At the same time the long term price, where most uranium business is conducted, is hovering at around $44 a pound, where it’s been since July 2015.

IntIrina Dorokhova of MINEX Central Asia sat down with Tim Gritzel, President and CEO of Cameco to talk about the changing dynamics of the uranium market, how the Canadian company is riding out the slump and its new agreement with Kazakh giant Kazatomprom.

Mr. Gitzel, what’s happening in the spot uranium market? Why do you think the spot price stabilized in 2015 and dropped in the first quarter of 2016?

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A tale of two minerals: Overproduction, low demand, weak prices dog potash, uranium mining – by Bruce Johnstone (Regina Leader-Post – May 27, 2016)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

With apologies to Charles Dickens, it was the best of times and worst of times for Saskatchewan’s mining industry in 2015.

Both production volume and value of Saskatchewan’s most important mineral resources — potash and uranium — were up in 2015 over 2014. And, for the first time ever, Saskatchewan was ranked second in terms of the value of mineral production among Canada’s mining provinces last year.

But by the fourth quarter of 2015 and first quarter of 2016, overproduction and low prices resulted in potash and uranium mine shutdowns and layoffs.According to Natural Resources Canada, the value of Saskatchewan’s mineral production was $8.5 billion in 2015, with a nearly 20 per cent share of Canadian mineral production.

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First Nations must pursue own interests in resource projects – by Doug Cuthand (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – April 30, 2016)

http://thestarphoenix.com/

Back in the 1970s and ’80s there was opposition to developing uranium mines
in Northern Saskatchewan. Our people were used as an ally by the opponents,
but in the end the mines were developed. Northern people expressed their
concerns for the environment, but they also saw the value of employment
and business opportunities.

The uranium industry became an economic engine, creating jobs and contract
opportunities for our people. Today there are indigenous companies that
provide camp catering, trucking, security and other spinoff services.

Pipeline building is once again in the news, and the pros and the cons are lining up. Our people once again are somewhere in the middle, seen either as an ally or an impediment.

First Nations have been left out of resource development instead of being treated as stakeholders. The same people who ignore our potential also are the ones to complain about indigenous poverty and suggest that we move away from traditional communities. Meanwhile, the environmentalists and anti-developers co-opt our people as allies in order to justify their cause.

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