Hale, of the Mining Journal, opined in November 2023 that uranium prices had been in the doldrums since the Fukushima incident of 2011. However, a perfect storm of events has seen it recently undergo a swift and remarkable surge.
When Ukraine was invaded by Russia in early 2022, the West resolved to wean itself off Russian energy supplies. However, it soon became apparent the only way to achieve enhanced security of the uranium supply while staying on net zero target was via nuclear power. Hence, new reactors being built at pace and scale, all of which will need uranium.
Yet, with so little investment in uranium mining projects when nuclear was out of fashion, it will take time to scale up production. In the meantime, demand will continue to grow, exacerbated by exhausted stockpiles. Geopolitical maneuvering and what looks like a profound supply deficit to come has led to a surge in the uranium spot price and ignited investor interest in uranium explorers, developers, and producers.
The author looks in this report at how and why uranium has come in from the cold and what the future may hold for it. By way of evidence, it profiles six
companies in the industry [i.e., Blue Sky Uranium, Purepoint Uranium, Elevate Uranium, Western Uranium & Vanadium, and Aurora Energy Metals, and
Forsys Metals with stories to excite in what looks like a collective light-bulb moment, governments across the world appear to have finally realized that adding reliable nuclear power to the existing renewables mix is the only chance they have of hitting clean energy targets and keeping the lights on. The Sprott Physical Uranium Trust buys yellowcake.
Geopolitical dramas rippling out from Ukraine, alongside a general retreat from globalization sees developed countries urgently seeking to end their reliance on bad international actors to achieve enhanced security of energy supply, [e.g., like Russian natural gas and uranium].
A sharp increase in the construction of new nuclear reactors and the re-starting of old ones is being backed up by empowering and enabling policy and legislation that aims to ensure the facilities in question can be adequately supplied with uranium. It marks a remarkable rehabilitation for an industry that
has gone from pariah to savior almost overnight.
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