Global uranium resources have once again increased, but much more modestly so than reported in recent editions, as total identified recoverable resources increased by only 1% since 2017. The most significant increases occurred in lower cost reasonably assured resources (<USD 40/kgU) and higher cost inferred resources (<USD 130/kgU and <USD 260/kgU). Though a portion of these changes relate to new discoveries (e.g. Canada), the majority result from newly identified resources at known uranium deposits and re-evaluations of previously identified uranium resources.
Globally, Australia continues to lead with 28% of the world identified resources in the category <USD 130/kgU (equivalent to USD 50/lb U3O8), with over 64% of Australia’s national total endowment related to a single site, the world class Olympic Dam deposit. In terms of lower cost resources (<USD 80/kgU and <USD 40/kgU, equivalent to USD 30/lb U3O8 and USD 15/lb U3O8), Kazakhstan leads with 49% and 36% of the world total, respectively. Moreover, Kazakhstan reported overall increases in resources in all cost categories, owing to exploration efforts and monetary currency exchanges. Noteworthy changes in resources also occurred in other major producing countries, such as in Australia, Canada and Namibia, where ongoing assessment of
resources led to adjustments in resource values.
Total identified resources recoverable (reasonably assured and inferred) as of 1 January 2019 amounted to 6,147,800 tonnes of uranium metal (tU) in the <USD 130/kgU category, a slight increase of 0.1% compared to 2017. In the highest cost category (<USD 260/kgU), total identified resources amounted to 8,070,400 tU, an increase of 1% compared to the total reported for the previous edition.
Reasonably assured resources (RAR) decreased by about 2-3% in all high cost categories. The most notable changes in RAR are reported in the <USD 80/kgU category, with a decrease of 2.8%, and in the <USD 40/kgU category, with an increase of 4.4%, compared to values reported in 2017.
The overall changes in RAR can be primarily attributed to mining depletion or re-evaluation of uranium resources in countries such as Australia, China, Namibia and new resources identified as a result of exploration activities in Canada and Kazakhstan. In comparison, inferred resources in the <USD 260/kgU cost category increased overall from 3,173,000 tU in 2017 to 3,346,400 tU (5.5%) in 2019, mainly due to the re-evaluation of resources,
with Australia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Niger reporting the most significant increases.
A summary has been prepared of worldwide in situ identified resources. Overall, when they are reported as in situ instead of recoverable, resources increase by 17% to 31%. Compared with the previous edition, the total identified in situ resources slightly decreased from 10,652,900 tU to
10,584,500 tU. Reporting in situ resources provides a more optimistic view of the available resource base and gives some indication of how the resource base could increase with improvements in mining and processing methods, which would lead to better recovery.
Additions to the conventional resource base in the future could come from undiscovered resources (prognosticated resources and speculative resources), which as of 1 January 2019 amounted to 7,220,300 tU, a 4% decrease from the 7,530,600 tU reported in the previous edition.
Unconventional resources are another source of potential future supply, and currently amount to nearly 39 million tU. It is important to note that in some cases, including those of major producing countries with large identified resource inventories, estimates of undiscovered resources and unconventional resources are either not reported or have not been updated for several years. The uranium resource figures presented in this volume are a snapshot of the situation as of 1 January 2019. Readers should keep in mind that resource figures are dynamic and related to commodity prices.
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