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Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

Uranium mining: A Colorado company pumps out ore, with implications for economy and national security – by Scott Weiser (Denver Gazette – July 7, 2024)

https://denvergazette.com/

Travis Chiotti puts a brass tag bearing his name on a hook on the “in” board before heading 1,400 feet down-shaft. It’s a pair — the other tag goes in his pocket. Just in case. Helmet, headlamp, heavy steel-toed rubber boots, emergency respirator. Check.

Mining is hard work. Simply moving around is taxing. In these wet tunnels, the slopes are steep and slippery. The mud clings, and calf-deep pools of water can trap a boot. Underground miners are a special breed. Absent the cacophony of pumps, ventilation air blasting at 140,000 cubic feet per minute, drilling, blasting, and moving rock with diesel skip loaders, the absolute silence is deafening.

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U.S. Nuclear Fears as Iran Targets African Uranium – by Hugh Cameron (Newsweek Magazine – July 2, 2024)

https://www.newsweek.com/

Iran is trying to source uranium from West Africa, signaling a further expansion of the nuclear program that has long rattled states in the West.

Despite continued scrutiny and multiple efforts at curtailment, Iran still hosts one of the most advanced nuclear programs in the world, and reports have emerged that the country’s weapons program is gaining steam. One expert told Newsweek that, while the country has not definitively begun weaponizing its nuclear capabilities, continued attempts to boost its enriched stockpile should raise concern.

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Coalition nuclear policy leaves traditional owners of Kakadu uranium mine worried – by Jane Bardon (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – July 2, 2024)

https://www.abc.net.au/

Mirarr traditional owner Corben Mudjandi is desperate for his spectacular land at Jabiluka to be incorporated into Kakadu National Park, which surrounds it, rather than mined for its uranium. “Its sacred to us, and it’s a piece of human history, 65,000 years, we want Jabiluka not mined; we want to show people the beauty of nature, and what we call home,” he said.

Mr Mudjandi is worried the federal Coalition’s plan to open nuclear plants if it wins government could drive demand for Jabiluka’s uranium. The Mirarr are also concerned that almost a year after Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) applied to extend its uranium mining lease over Jabiluka for another decade, the Northern Territory and federal governments have not yet decided whether to reject or approve it.

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Judge hearing case on whether federal agency should order removal of mining waste from Elliott Lake properties – by Kate Rutherford (CBC News Sudbury – July 03, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says remediation of properties outside its jurisdiction

Three Elliott Lake homeowners are being represented in federal court today and tomorrow by the Canadian Environmental Law Association. They’re asking a judge to order the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to compel the clean-up of mining waste from their properties.

The three all own properties where waste rock from Rio Algom uranium mines was used as fill under and around their homes when they were built in the 1970s. The homes all have higher than acceptable levels of radon gas and require special mitigation to keep them safe.

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Unable to effectively operate its lone existing nuclear reactor, New Brunswick is betting on advanced options – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – July 2, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Mike Holland was among Canada’s leading evangelists for small modular nuclear reactors. During his tenure as New Brunswick’s energy minister, from 2018 to when he stepped down on June 20, he vigorously supported plans by the province’s Crown utility, NB Power, to construct two different small reactor designs from startup companies: U.S.-based ARC Clean Technology and Britain’s Moltex Energy.

This represents Canada’s most ambitious – and perhaps riskiest – foray into bleeding-edge nuclear technology. In an interview shortly before he resigned to pursue an opportunity in the private sector, Mr. Holland recalled how SMRs arrived on his agenda soon after he assumed office.

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Can Niger’s military junta seize the country’s uranium opportunity? – by Jason Mitchell (BNE Intellinews – July 2, 2024)

https://www.intellinews.com/

Niger — one of the world’s poorest countries — could become considerably wealthier if its uranium resources were fully exploited, but political instability is hampering its development.

The land-locked country’s uranium resources total 311,000 metric tonnes (mt), the third highest in Africa after Namibia (470,000 mt) and South Africa (320,000 mt), according to Statista. It has the continent’s highest-grade uranium ores. In 2022, it produced 2,020 mt of uranium, down from 2,991 mt in 2020, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA).

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Australia’s Paladin Energy to buy Canada’s Fission Uranium for $1.14-billion – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 25, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Australia’s Paladin Energy Ltd. has reached an agreement to buy Canadian mining development company Fission Uranium Corp. in a friendly transaction worth $1.14-billion, as Fission lays down a big bet on a uranium project in Saskatchewan. Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission is developing the Patterson Lake South (PLS) project in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan, and hopes to be in production by the end of the decade.

Paladin is offering 0.1076 of its shares for each Fission unit, or $1.30 a share, a premium of just under 26 per cent compared to Friday’s closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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Niger revokes French nuclear group’s licence at major uranium mine (Al Jazeera – June 21, 2024)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Removal of Orano licence highlights tensions with France, with Russia said to be eyeing the major site.

Niger’s military government has revoked the operating licence of French nuclear fuel producer Orano at one of the world’s biggest uranium mines, as it continues to cut ties with former colonial power France.

State-owned Orano said on Thursday that it had been ordered out of the Imouraren mine in northern Niger which sits on an estimated 200,000 tonnes of the metal, used for nuclear power and weapons.

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Tensions with First Nations threaten to delay nuclear waste facility – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – June 17, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The eight-reactor Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, ranks among the world’s largest nuclear power plants. With four more in the early planning stages, it might become larger still. But for the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON), behind its engineering grandeur lies a painful history – which it has described as one “of exclusion.”

Its people were not consulted before the plant’s construction during the 1970s and 80s, which resulted in quantities of radioactive waste stored within what they regard as their traditional territory. Nor did they see many of the economic benefits that flowed to neighbours.

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Orano at Risk of Losing Niger Uranium Mine Sought by Russia – by Katarina Höije (Bloomberg News – June 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Orano SA could lose the right to mine uranium at one of the largest deposits in the world by June 19 after Niger rejected the French nuclear company’s plan for developing the asset.

The move comes as Russia’s seeks to take over mining assets in the West African country controlled by the French company, Bloomberg reported on June 3. Niger’s Paris-allied president was overthrown in a coup last July, the latest in a string of military takeovers in the region that has seen strongmen spurn ex-colonial power France and forge closer ties with Moscow.

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Deadly and Wildly Profitable, Uranium Fever Breaks Out – by Geoffrey Morgan and Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – June 12, 2024)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The radioactive metal’s price is up 233%, revealing the speed at which the world is embracing nuclear power once again.

Along the western edge of Canada’s Saskatchewan province, by a bend in a lake ringed by endless stands of black spruce, a small outpost has been carved out of the forest to mark what just might be the hottest new mining project on Earth today. It is a desolate, unforgiving spot.

Even in April, the snow is still caked hard to the ice that coats the lake. Bone-chilling winds howl day and night. And there are no towns or villages or, for that matter, signs of life at all — beyond the occasional black bear or wolf — within a 50-mile radius.

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Investors should heed growing supply after uranium’s recent runup – by James Cooper (Northern Miner – June 10, 2024)

Global mining news

Uranium prices surged from just over US$50 per lb. in April 2023 to more than US$100 per lb. by January 2024. Since then, there has been a moderate pull-back; uranium is now consolidating just above US$90 per pound.

So is it too late for investors to join the uranium bandwagon? Well, that depends. Last year’s terrific run was driven by strong demand outlooks. Uranium, the fuel for nuclear reactors, has benefitted from renewed interest in building global nuclear capacity. That’s partly due to the push to go green.

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Two small communities are competing to receive Canada’s inventory of nuclear waste. They can’t be sure what they’ll get – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – June 10, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Two Ontario municipalities are vying to become hosts for an underground disposal facility for Canada’s nuclear waste. Both must formally announce in the coming months whether they’ll accept the facility – but they cannot know exactly what wastes they’d be agreeing to receive.

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) designed its $26-billion facility, known as a deep geological repository, to receive spent fuel from Candu reactors located in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. This year, it plans to choose between the last two sites still in the running: the Municipality of South Bruce, Ont., located more than 120 kilometres north of London; or near Ignace, Ont., a town of 1,200 more than 200 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.

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Russia Said to Seek Takeover of France’s Uranium Assets in Niger (Bloomberg News – June 3, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Russia is seeking to take over uranium assets in Niger held by a state-controlled French company, according to people informed about the matter, in a further challenge to Western interests in Africa.

Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear company, has had contacts with Niger’s military-led authorities about acquiring assets held by France’s Orano SA, according to a person in Moscow familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. A western diplomat based in the region said talks were likely centered around mining permits. Niger accounted for about 4% of global uranium mine production in 2022, according to the World Nuclear Association.

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NexGen CEO optimistic about future of Rook I uranium project as ‘unprecedented’ era dawns – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix – May 29, 2024)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Northern Saskatchewan uranium mine is currently the largest development stage project in Canada

The chief executive of a company looking to build a large uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan says it’s getting closer to final approval for the project.

Leigh Curyer, who founded NexGen Energy Ltd. in 2011, said the company has been given provincial approval for its Rook I project and has also reached agreements with local governments around the site. He said environmental approval from the federal government is still pending, though that process is starting to wrap up.

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