The company reported that in recent discussions, the bank confirmed its intention to approve a $295 million debt facility, which would cover 60% of the project’s projected costs.

Dasa is the highest-grade uranium deposit in Africa, surpassed only by grades found in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, and is scheduled to achieve commercial production in early 2026.

“The approval timelines outlined by the bank support yellowcake deliveries in 2026 as anticipated in the four off-take agreements we have in place with American and European nuclear power utilities,” said President and CEO of Global Atomic, Stephen G. Roman.

“To help fund the continuing development of Dasa until the bank funds are available, earlier this month we raised C$40 million ($29 million) in an oversubscribed public offering,”

Global Atomic shares traded at C$1.15 apiece on Tuesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at C$304 million ($218 million). 

In addition to the development bank, Global Atomic is in discussions with parties regarding potential joint venture investment in the Dasa Project and other financing solutions.

Processing plant

According to Global Atomic, earthworks and civil engineering are progressing in preparation for the installation of plant equipment, components of which are now arriving at the site. More than 1,200 metres of mine development finished at Dasa.

The main fresh air raise is complete, and the return air raise is underway.  Once the fans have been installed, the expansion to the underground ventilation system will allow mining activity to advance beyond the first-level development.

Construction of a 400-person facility is expected to be completed in early Q1 2025.

Earlier this month, the company said 10,000 tonnes of development ore had been brought to the surface.

Niger coup

A military coup in July last year led the US to suspend government funding for Dasa. Still, the company managed to raise C$15 million ($11 million) in January and C$20 million ($14 million) in July by selling stock.

The Nigerien government has pledged its full support for the project, but other uranium developers in Niger faced major setbacks this past summer.

In June, the government withdrew a mining permit for Orano’s Imourare project, and in July, it revoked the mining licence for GoviEx Uranium’s (TSXV: GXU) Madaouela project.

According to the feasibility study, Dasa hosts 73 million lb. in probable reserves of uranium oxide in 8 million tonnes, grading 4,113 parts per million uranium oxide. Global Atomic has signed offtake agreements for 1.3 million lb. of uranium a year.

The study, published just a day after the United Nations warned the world is falling “miles short” of what’s needed to curb devastating global warming, indicates that an investment of $78 trillion will be needed to change this course and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations committed to limiting global warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius above the average temperatures recorded between 1850 and 1900, aiming for a target of 1.5 degrees Celsius if feasible. Efforts to date have not succeeded in meeting this challenge, the annual “Energy Transition Outlook” from Wood Mackenzie shows.

Unlike the UN pessimistic outlook, the Scottish consultancy believes that while major obstacles hinder short-term targets, particularly for 2030, a 2050 net-zero goal remains feasible. Immediate and coordinated global action would be necessary, WoodMac warns.

Threats to climate progress

A series of global crises, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, escalating Middle East violence, rising populism in Europe and global trade tensions with China, are undermining the pace of the energy transition, Wood Mackenzie’s vice president head of scenarios and technologies, Prakash Sharma, said. 

He explains that without urgent policy changes and enhanced investment, a warming trajectory of 2.5˚C to 3˚C could become inevitable.

“We are under no illusion as to how challenging the net zero transition will be, given the fact that fossil fuels are widely available, cost-competitive and deeply embedded in today’s complex energy system,” Sharma added. “A price on carbon maybe the most effective way to drive emissions reduction but it’s hard to see it coming together in a polarized environment.”

Key investment are needed across several critical areas, according to WoodMac. As renewable energy sources grow, substantial upgrades to power supply and grid infrastructure are essential to meet the growing demand. Additionally, the need for critical minerals, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, is projected to increase five- to ten-fold by 2050, as demand for batteries and other technologies essential for the energy transition continues to grow. 

WoodMac sees the need to back the development of emerging technologies, including carbon capture, low-carbon hydrogen, and nuclear power, are vital for facilitating the shift towards cleaner energy sources.

Securing this funding won’t be easy, the consultants noted. “Doubling annual investments to $3.5 trillion by 2050 will be necessary in our net zero scenario,” Sharma said, adding that it will require unprecedented policy coordination globally.

The role of electrification

The electrification of energy systems will play a pivotal role in decarbonization. Transitioning from fossil fuels to electric power, Wood Mackenzie forecasts that electricity’s share of global energy demand will increase from 23% to 35% by 2050 in a base case, and could reach as high as 55% in a net-zero scenario.

Wood Mackenzie’s analysis reveals that global energy demand is set to rise by 14% by 2050. Emerging economies are projected to see even steeper growth at 45%, driven by rising populations and economic advancement. 

In parallel, data centres, electric vehicles, and AI are emerging as new drivers of electricity consumption, with AI-related energy use alone expected to increase from 500 TWh in 2023 to up to 4,500 TWh by 2050.

Including renewable energy source to meet electrifications demand could help reduce emissions, the report says.

According to Wood Mackenzie, solar and wind currently account for 17% of the global power supply, and renewables capacity is expected to double by 2030 in its base case. Yet, this increase still falls short of the COP28 commitment made in 2023 to triple renewables by 2030.

Transition or coexistence?

While nuclear energy holds promise for providing consistent, zero-carbon electricity, its high cost and frequent project delays pose significant challenges. WoodMac says that nuclear power could play a more significant role as it has attracted interest, particularly from tech companies looking to power data centres sustainably.

While fossil fuels is expected to plateau in the 2040s before beginning a gradual decline, Wood Mackenzie predicts that the high capital costs of low-carbon technologies coupled with strong demand for energy, will require the continued use of oil and gas in the near term.

Wood Mackenzie says to meet climate targets there will be necessary that nations gathered at the COP29 meeting in Azerbaijan next month finalize Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This section focuses on carbon markets and aims to establish a new climate finance goal to replace the previous annual target of $100 billion, which experts consider insufficient.

The consultancy’s report echoes concerns included in a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) study released last week. The document says the next decade is crucial in the battle against climate change, adding that failing to act now will jeopardize any chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to the UN body, the current rate of climate action could lead to a catastrophic increase of 3.1 degrees Celsius this century. 

“Either leaders bridge the emissions gap, or we plunge headlong into climate disaster, with the poorest and most vulnerable suffering the most,” Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned.

Even if all existing commitments to reduce emissions are fulfilled, global temperatures would still rise by 2.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, experts agree.

The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies is up a fairly modest 8% year to end-September and despite the good run is still $240 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022. And judging by the performance of the top tier in the final quarter (BHP down 8% QTD, Rio Tinto –5%, Vale –3%, Glencore –5%, Newmont –9%, Zijin –5%, Freeport –7%) the gap won’t be closing anytime soon.

In contrast, Nvidia — the maker of chips highly prized for artificial intelligence (AI) computing — is up nearly 200% so far this year (and 2,600% over five). When comparing the graphics card maker’s stock valuation to the mining industry’s collective worth, it’s difficult not to wonder if something is not awry with how global investors appraise the industrial economy.  

Should Nvidia (or Microsoft or Apple for that matter) be worth more than twice the top 50 miners? Outside the top 50 the average market cap quickly shrinks to the low teens so Nvidia is in fact worth more than the entire listed mining industry. 

Even when extending the top 50 into metals and energy –  steel, aluminium and electricity companies often operate their own mines – Nvidia can still throw shade. BHP does not even crack the top 100 most valuable companies in the world and is worth less than Booking.com, and Temu and Zara’s owners, none of which can exactly be called the building blocks of the global economy. 

Nvidia briefly surpassed Apple on Friday to become the world’s most valuable company. Its market capitalization is approximately $3.5 trillion, just below Apple’s, which remains the highest-valued firm globally.

Australian space exploration company Fleet Space Technologies announced on Wednesday plans to deploy its AI-powered mineral exploration technology, ExoSphere Discovery, in partnership with Canadian uranium developer IsoEnergy (TSXV: ISO) at its Larocque East project in the Athabasca Basin.

The Larocque East project is home to the world’s highest grade indicated uranium mineral resource, the Hurricane deposit, with 48.6 million lb. of uranium oxide (U₃O₈) at 34.4% U₃O₈, plus 2.7 million lb. of inferred resource at 2.2% U₃O₈.

After drilling targets identified in 2023 with the real-time 3D imaging, IsoEnergy confirmed an extension of a hydrothermal system on strike with the Hurricane deposit and alteration consistent with potential uranium mineralization.

The company conducted an expanded summer deployment of ExoSphere, which identified six new priority targets and, together with the four areas identified from 2023 work, became the focus of the summer 2024 drilling campaign.

Using the latest advances in AI for mineral exploration, IsoEnergy will build on these findings, pioneering the use of ExoSphere Discovery at the Larocque East project to predict new opportunity zones and optimise data-driven drill targeting at the project.

The Hurricane deposit is only 40 km away from the McLean Lake mill. With a diversified portfolio, IsoEnergy is positioned to be a near-term uranium producer, deploying scalable technologies to further ESG objectives and advance exploration in Canada’s premiere uranium producing region.

The company also holds more advanced projects, including past-producing uranium mines in the United States. Earlier this month, it said it would acquire Anfield Energy (TSXV: AEC) in a C$126.8 million ($91.6m), all-stock deal for its Shootaring Canyon conventional mill in Utah.

Pioneering AI exploration technology

Built on the end-to-end hardware foundation of Fleet Space’s smart satellite-enabled seismic sensors (Geodes) for global multi-physics data acquisition, ExoSphere’s real-time 3D ANT surveys have accelerated and enhanced data-driven targeting decisions across five continents.

For the end-to-end capabilities and sustainability benefits ExoSphere has unlocked for the global exploration industry, the tech company was recognized at the Banksia Foundation’s 35th National Sustainability Awards as winner of the Climate Technology Impact Award for 2024 and winner of the Innovation category of the 2024 Mining Technology Excellence Awards.

• Stockpiling. The Trump Administration supported and the Harris campaign supports increased mineral stockpiling. According to the Department of Defense, the National Defense Stockpile (NDS), as of March 2023, only had inventories to cover 6 percent of the US military’s and essential civilian demand’s estimated material shortfalls in a hypothetical one-year conflict with China, followed by a three-year recovery. The president could tap the NDS Transaction Fund for mineral stockpiling, as well as the Defense Production Act (DPA) fund. The Eisenhower Administration used DPA funds for mineral stockpiling during the Cold War, and the president still has this authority (50 USC §4533). Importantly, the next administration’s Department of Defense should prioritize stockpiling minerals extracted and processed in the United States.

• Subsidies. The Trump Administration supported and the Harris campaign supports subsidies for critical mineral projects. The Trump Administration deemed critical mineral processing projects eligible for direct loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, and the Biden-Harris Administration has loaned to such projects. The next administration’s Department of Energy could also deem mining projects eligible under the ATVM program by issuing a draft rule that adds “mining” to 10 CFR 611.2 “Eligible Project” (3). To specifically lower costs for US mineral processing facilities, the next administration’s Internal Revenue Service could propose new regulations extending the production costs covered by the Section 45X 10-percent production tax credit to feedstock acquisition, as has been urged by several organizations and mining companies.

• Procurement. Both the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations support increased domestic content requirements for government procurement. Under the authority of Executive Order 14005, the next administration’s Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council could issue a draft rule that adds a new part to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, requiring that acquisitions of specified clean energy technologies contain a certain threshold percentage of minerals extracted in the United States. For example, the draft rule could ultimately require that the General Services Administration—the federal government’s main source for procuring non-tactical vehicles—only acquire electric vehicles with batteries containing a high percentage of chemicals derived from US-extracted minerals. The next administration’s US Postal Service could adopt a similar content requirement in its Supplying Principles and Practices for electric vehicle acquisitions.

• Tariffs. Trump has pledged significant tariff increases, while the Biden-Harris Administration increased tariffs on several minerals imported from China. Domestic mineral projects like South32’s Hermosa manganese-zinc project support such trade protections to reduce US reliance on foreign minerals. The next president could (likely) impose tariffs on any mineral imports immediately under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The only prerequisite is a national emergency declaration, like the now-expired critical minerals executive order. If concerned about the legality of levying tariffs under IEEPA, the president could also direct the secretary of commerce to open a Section 232 investigation into mineral imports, although the tariff imposition would likely take several months to occur.

• Permitting. Both Trump and Harris support expedited permitting for building major projects. Previously, most US mining projects required Clean Water Act section 404 permits—which trigger the National Environmental Policy Act—but the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (2023) circumscribed the areas requiring these permits, possibly lowering the permitting requirements for many mine projects. Determining whether a project requires a section 404 permit, however, can take up to one year based on the district. To expedite this process, the next administration’s US Army Corps of Engineers could issue a regulatory guidance letter directing district engineers to prioritize the review of approved jurisdictional determinations for sites of potential mining projects.

In short, the next president’s administration has significant unilateral authority to support US mining of critical minerals. First, it could increase mineral stockpiling by tapping both the NDS Transaction Fund and DPA fund for mineral acquisitions.

The next administration could also expand existing subsidies—like the ATVM direct loan program—to mining projects. For government acquisitions of clean energy technologies, it could set content requirements for US-extracted minerals.

The next administration could, additionally, impose tariffs on mineral imports of their choosing by issuing a national emergency declaration concerning mineral imports under IEEPA.

Lastly, it could expedite permitting by prioritizing jurisdictional determinations for sites of potential mining projects. On January 20, 2025, the next US president could—and should—take these actions to bolster US mining of critical minerals.

** Gregory Wischer is the founder of Dei Gratia Minerals, a critical minerals consulting firm.

Latin America’s biggest economy holds 5% of the world’s uranium resources and only produces a tiny amount of the nuclear reactor fuel, according to the World Nuclear Association. Brazil’s resources rank eighth globally, well behind Australia, Kazakhstan and Canada. The last assessment of Brazilian reserves took place 40 years ago, but elevated uranium prices are reviving the nation’s ambitions to seek out new deposits.

Nuclear Industries of Brazil — or INB — is seeking to collaborate with global companies to carry out new research in regions known for their mineral potential. The state-owned company plans to call for bids from partners interested in exploring areas in Brazil’s northeast, midwest and south by year end.

“We aim to move forward 40 years in four,” INB President Adauto Seixas said in an interview. “We have already received visits from companies from Russia, India, Korea, France, Australia, the United States and China.”

Brazil’s push comes amid surging interest in uranium, with investors piling into a radioactive metal that underpins a global push to tap carbon-free energy in the form of nuclear power. Uranium prices this year peaked in early February and though they’ve since retreated, levels are still above the historical average.

The Brazilian initiative is called the Uranium and Associated Mineral Resources Prospecting and Mining Partnership Program — or Prouranio. Exploration will be in areas that hold other minerals including copper, gold and rare earth elements that occur alongside uranium. INB’s strategy includes mining already mapped areas with help from private firms.

Yet, Brazilian minerals research industry group ABPM argues that a partnership model doesn’t suit the private sector, which would want to operate independently. The group’s head, Luis Mauricio Azevedo, suggests that Brazil should open up uranium exploration and development — a move that could help boost global supplies.

“If we have the reserves we imagine, Brazil could be a storehouse of energy for the world,” he said.

Miners are already approaching INB to collaborate on developing potential uranium from its rare earth deposits. Australia’s OAR Resources signed a memorandum of understanding in August to determine the potential for some projects. Brazil produces 105 tons a year — enough to cover about a quarter of uranium the country uses to feed two nuclear reactors west of Rio de Janeiro.

Despite Brazil’s desire to go big in uranium, government bureaucracy may be a hurdle. Fertilizer producer Galvani partnered with INB to extract and process phosphate products and uranium concentrate more than a decade ago, yet the company is still waiting for permits to operate a project known as Santa Quiteria.

Galvani expects to get its first environmental license for the mine this year after Brazil’s nuclear regulator approved the location and authorities agreed to analyze the project’s environmental impacts, chief executive officer Marcelo Silvestre said. He said the operation, which could start by 2028, may produce 2,300 tons of uranium a year — enough to turn Brazil into an exporter.

Galvani expects to invest 2.5 billion reais ($438 million) in Santa Quiteria, according to the CEO, who also said the firm would consider bidding in future INB auctions.

INB is also seeking partners for production in the southeast mining area of Gandarela as well as northeast Brazil’s Lagoa Real, which would involve expanding its Caetite mine and concentration plant — the country’s only operational facility. INB plans to raise 66.7 billion reais through production partnerships over three decades.

(By Mariana Durao)

The JV will include 10 projects in the eastern Athabasca Basin: IsoEnergy’s Geiger, Thorburn Lake, Full Moon, Edge, Collins Bay Extension, North Thorburn, 2Z Lake, and Madison projects, along with Purepoint’s Turnor Lake and Red Willow projects.

Both parties have the option to adjust ownership to a 50/50 split within six months.

As part of the agreement, IsoEnergy will invest C$1 million in Purepoint through a concurrent equity financing. The funding will give IsoEnergy exposure to Purepoint’s other exploration projects in the Athabasca Basin, including Hook Lake, where drilling previously cut 10 metres of uranium at 10.3% U₃O₈.

IsoEnergy also holds more advanced projects, including past producing uranium mines in the United States. Earlier this month, it said it would acquire Anfield Energy (TSXV: AEC) in C$126.8 million, all-stock deal for its Shootaring Canyon conventional mill in Utah.

“This collaboration underscores the confidence our partners—Cameco, Orano, Foran Mining, and now IsoEnergy—have in the potential of these projects,” Chris Frostad, president and CEO of Purepoint said in a release. “It further solidifies Purepoint’s position as a leader in uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin.”

Prospective trend

The deal consolidates a large land position immediately east of IsoEnergy’s Larocque East project, covering several kilometres of the prospective Larocque trend. The trend hosts the company’s Hurricane and Full Moon projects, as well as Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) and Orano’s Dawn Lake joint venture, where drilling is under way.

“While small, we like this transaction for ISO,” Canaccord Genuity mining analyst Katie Lachapelle wrote in a note to clients today. “Through this transaction, ISO will gain access to the Turnor Lake property, which sits on trend between the Hurricane discovery and ISO’s Full Moon property… We believe there is good discovery potential throughout the entire Larocque Trend.”

The Athabasca Basin is home to some of the world’s largest and most profitable uranium mines, including the McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines, and it produces roughly 20% of the world’s uranium supply.

Turnor Lake is geologically connected to Cameco’s high-grade La Rocque showings and IsoEnergy’s Hurricane deposit. It is located on the eastern edge of the Athabasca Basin, near several uranium deposits, including Orano’s mined-out JEB deposit (10 km southwest) and Cameco’s Eagle Point deposit (about 10 km south).

Purepoint will operate the exploration phase of the joint venture, and IsoEnergy will take over as the operator during the pre-development phase.

Shares in IsoEnergy fell nearly 3% on Tuesday morning in Toronto to C$3.75 apiece, valuing the company at C$671 million. Purepoint shares jumped 16%, valuing the company at C$17.5 million.

The agreement, following a visit by a Nigerien delegation to Turkey, aims to help Turkish companies undertake exploration in Niger, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar wrote on X, without elaborating on the nature of potential projects.

The two sides met to see where “Turkish companies could get involved in Niger’s mining sector,” said Ibrahim Hamidou, head of communications for Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine.

It’s unclear if Niger, which has been controlled by a junta since a coup last year and is one of the world’s biggest uranium producers, is weighing giving Turkey access to undeveloped or existing mines.

The military government revoked uranium permits from French and Canadian companies shortly after coming to power. Since then Russia has sought to take over some assets, capitalizing on improved relations with a string of African nations rocked by coups last year.

Turkish state mining firm Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Mudurlugu has previously studied gold deposits in Niger, according to its website. In July, Turkish officials including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and spy chief Ibrahim Kalin visited as part of Ankara’s efforts to secure access to uranium.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long sought to deepen Turkey’s ties in Africa. As part of that, he’s seeking sources of uranium for the country’s nascent nuclear-power industry.

(By Patrick Sykes and Katarina Höije)

The rare earths company has agreed to purchase an 80% interest in these three projects by investing A$3 million ($2m) over three years, Havilah said. This investment includes a minimum of A$1 million in the first year for exploration and development activities.

The three assets, located in the uranium-rich Curnamona province, are situated near two operating in-situ leach (ISL) mines at Honeymoon, owned by Boss Energy (ASX: BOE), and Four Mile, owned by the private company Heathgate Resources.

“These agreements with HRE provide a way for Havilah to monetize a portion of its remaining uranium assets, for which it is currently receiving neither market recognition nor value,” said the company’s technical director, Chris Giles.

Havilah will retain 100% ownership of its exploration licenses and mineral rights, excluding rare earth elements and scandium at the Radium Hill extensions. Heavy Rare Earths will assume responsibility for further exploration expenditures and fieldwork.

Demand for uranium has surged after more than 20 nations committed to tripling nuclear capacity by 2050 at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai late last year.

Canada, Australia, and the United States have led the sector’s revival this year, with companies announcing production increases and the restart of previously halted projects.

Explorers and developers often overstate the certainty of mineral resource classifications based on inadequate data, Desharnais said at an event in Vancouver on Wednesday. The practice has in some instances led to unexpected analyst downgrades, soaring costs and debt, and the derailment of promising assets.

“That classification debt, unfortunately, needs to get paid,” he told about 430 conference participants from 21 countries at CIM’s first Mineral Resources & Mineral Reserves conference. “The CEO may be walking around with a 3-million-oz. resource estimate, but they haven’t earned that classification with sufficient drilling. When the debt comes due, it’s often through painful reclassifications and revisions.”

Decade of missteps

Several recent projects have demonstrated the high cost of classification debt.

Rubicon Resources’ catastrophic 91% downgrade in resource estimates in 2015 stands as one of the most glaring examples. After it began initial production at the F2 gold deposit on its Phoenix property in Ontario’s Red Lake district, the company found the deposit to be uneconomic, shuttering the operation. It had not completed a feasibility study for the high-grade project.

The size of the downgrade blindsided investors and stakeholders, and the company had to undergo a painful restructuring to survive. Rebranded as Battle North Gold, Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN) bought it and its renamed Bateman project in 2021 for $343 million.

In 2018, Pretium Resources promoted the Brucejack gold project in northwestern British Columbia’s Golden Triangle, now owned by Newmont (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT, ASX: NEM, PNGX: NEM), as a high-grade gold deposit. Yet, the asset disappointed when gold production grades fell far below expectations.

The nuggety nature of the gold, with Brucejack’s steeply dipping quartz veins and erratic grade distribution, made it difficult to consistently meet production targets, forcing the company to push tonnage through the mill to compensate for lower-than-expected grades.

Aurora (2018), Rainy River (2019), and Gold Bar (2020) show how resource overestimation hurt Guyana Goldfields, New Gold (TSX: NGD; NYSE: NGD) and McEwen Mining (TSX: MUX; NYSE: MUX). They had to downgrade estimates mid-operation. This triggered mine plan revisions, soaring costs, production delays, and financial strain.

Grade versus geometric risk

Desharnais identifies two types of risk that contribute to resource misclassification: grade risk and geometric risk.

Grade risk reflects patchiness in ore quality, while geometric risk involves uncertainty about the size and shape of mineralized domains within the deposit.

Conditional simulations help assess grade risk, Desharnais said, but tools to quantify geometric risk are lacking.

Companies often overestimate deposit geometry without tighter drilling, leading to costly misjudgments.

“Sparse drilling gives us a simpler picture than reality,” he explained, adding that only closely spaced drilling can reveal the true complexity of orebodies.

Best practices

Mathieu Doucette, a senior geologist at ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), talked about the difficulty of classifying resources at Canada’s largest iron mine, the Mont-Wright iron ore mine in Quebec, producing continuously since 1974. Outdated data can affect current resource estimates. He illustrated how mixing in fresh drill holes helps manage geological risk as part of a dynamic model essential to avoid misclassification.

“The first thing [a QP] will do is akin to lighting a torch,” he said. “But everything on the edges is dark, and you can’t really see it. Drill holes are our ability to try and get some information, but sparse data hides the full picture.”

David Machuca-Mory, a principal consultant at SRK Consulting, said fixed models are risky. Deposits can be more unpredictable than they seem. Adaptive methods help ensure estimates reflect reality, reducing the chance of costly surprises.

“Even with dense drilling, some areas remain highly uncertain,” Machuca-Mory said. “Confidence intervals are large, and relying solely on drill spacing doesn’t always guarantee accurate classification.”

Cognitive biases

Desharnais said that misclassification is not just a technical problem; human psychology plays a significant role.

Anchoring bias makes companies stick with initial estimates despite new data. Authority bias pressures geologists and consultants to confirm favourable results to please management or investors.

“The consulting firm wants the next contract,” Desharnais said. “The CEO has family and friends invested and needs good news. These biases create a system where classification debt builds up across projects, only to be paid through painful revisions later.”

Owning up

Desharnais argued for more conservative resource models and said benchmarking against operating mines would help set realistic expectations. He suggested that technical reports include histograms that show the distance between drill holes and classified resources, he added.

“It forces the QP or CP to look at what they’ve done and ask: Does this make sense?” he said. “Transparent reporting would help prevent overly aggressive classifications, ensuring companies earn their resource classifications with sufficient data.”

Such measures may slow development, but they could also reduce the prevalence of misclassified resources in the industry. Desharnais urged geologists to scrutinize each block of material above the cut-off grade.

“Over-promising today only delays the inevitable correction tomorrow,” he said.

The storms, which lashed the region with wind speeds exceeding 130 km/h and over 130,000 lightning strikes within 24 hours, severely impacted power supplies to the mine.

South Australian Energy Minister, Tom Koutsantonis, spoke to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), confirming that the Olympic Dam had been significantly affected. 

The authority explained that while BHP has managed to maintain essential power through backup systems, mining operations will remain shut down for about seven days. 

The reason for the halt is primarily due to ventilation concerns within the mine, a critical factor for maintaining air quality and preventing the accumulation of harmful gases that could potentially lead to fires or explosions.

BHP is now assessing the full extent of the damage and evaluating the timeframe needed to resume normal production at the mine, which is Australia’s second-largest copper operation. A spokesperson confirmed to MINING.COM that the mine’s surface operations have been switched to minimal maintenance mode, with on-site backup generators providing necessary power.

This disruption comes as a reminder of a similar event in 2016, when a statewide blackout caused by a storm kept the Olympic Dam idled for two weeks, reducing daily copper output by 567 tonnes. 

The giant mine, located 560 kilometres north of Adelaide, is a critical asset for BHP as it generates significant quantities of copper, uranium and gold.

The mining giant’s copper production from Olympic Dam in the 2024 fiscal year was reported at 322,000 metric tons. BHP aims to ramp up production in South Australia to 500,000 tonnes annually by the early 2030s, with a potential future increase to 650,000 tonnes by the mid-2030s.

The company is contemplating an expansion of the mine’s copper smelter and refinery, with a final investment decision expected in 2027.

Russia is currently the only country that makes the fuel called high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel, or HALEU, in commercial volumes. Funds to make the fuel domestically were included in a law to ban uranium shipments from Russia fully by 2028.

Centrus Energy said its subsidiary, American Centrifuge Operating, got a contract to produce HALEU, which is expected to be used in a variety of small modular reactors planned to be built starting around 2030.

The other companies are Urenco USA, which is a British, Dutch, German firm with operations in New Mexico; Orano USA, based in Maryland with global headquarters in France; and a company called General Matter.

Urenco said it got a contract for 10 years to make an “indefinite quantity” of HALEU.

President Joe Biden’s administration believes nuclear power, which generates virtually emissions-free electricity, is critical in fighting climate change and to meet rising power demand from artificial intelligence and other consumers.

“All contracts will last for up to 10 years and each awardee receives a minimum contract of $2 million, with up to $2.7 billion available for these services, subject to the availability of appropriations,” the Energy Department said.

The ultimate amount of money associated with the award depends upon orders issued by the US Department of Energy, Centrus said.

HALEU is uranium enriched to between 5% and 20%, which backers say has the potential to make new high-tech reactors more efficient.

HALEU’s critics say it is a weapons risk if it gets into the wrong hands and recommend limiting its enrichment to between 10% and 12% for safety. Uranium fuel used in today’s reactors is enriched to about 5%.

(By Timothy Gardner; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

The Irigaray processing plant is central to the company’s hub-and-spoke production strategy in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, supporting four fully permitted uranium in-situ recovery (ISR) satellite projects in the area.

Uranium Energy’s Powder River Basin portfolio has an estimated aggregate resource of 62.3 million lb. of U₃O₈ in the measured and indicated category, with an additional 10.7 million lb. in the inferred category.

“The extraordinary growth in nuclear power in the US is creating a new demand paradigm for uranium supply from stable domestic sources,” Uranium Energy CEO Amir Adnani said in a news release.

“Big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle are making significant financial commitments to nuclear energy to provide the electricity needed to power data centers. This approach, investing directly in nuclear generation infrastructure, reflects the realization that nuclear energy offers safe, highly reliable, economic and clean energy,” Adnani added.

By 12 pm EDT, shares of Uranium Energy were up 6% in New York, giving the company a market cap of $3.47 billion.

In September, Uranium Energy reached a $175 million deal to buy Rio Tinto’s (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) assets in Wyoming, which include the fully licensed Sweetwater plant and a portfolio of uranium mining projects.

The Sweetwater plant is a 3,000-tonne-per-day conventional processing mill with a licensed capacity of 4.1 million lb. of U₃O₈. The company estimates the transaction will add about 175 million lb. of historic resources.

In addition to the two hub-and-spoke platforms in Wyoming, the company also operates an ISR production platform in South Texas centered around the Hobson central processing plant, with a licensed capacity of 4 million lb. of U₃O₈ annually.

The results showed a significant increase in uranium recovery rates compared to those outlined in the 2023 technical report. In particular, the main deposits, Muntanga and Dibbwi East, which account for 80% of the measured and indicated resources, achieved recoveries of 90% or better.

These results, said GoviEx, helped to demonstrate the efficiency of its heap leach process and validate the work completed by the previous project owners. They also raised the level of confidence in the company’s feasibility study, which it expects to complete before year-end.

The tests were carried out at Mintek, in South Africa, involving six-metre sulfuric acid column leaching for each of the six mineralization zones across the Muntanga project, based on new material derived from the 2023 diamond drilling program. The test work was considerably more extensive than the previous work undertaken, which was predominantly limited to two-metre leach columns.

GoviEx noted that the discovery of the Dibbwi East deposit occurred after the previous column test work was completed in 2013. Drilling conducted between 2021 and 2023 increased the total resource of the Dibbwi East deposit by 60% in contained tonnes. This not only expanded the deposit but also extended it into primary mineralization, in addition to the secondary (oxidized) mineralization that had been the focus of earlier test work.

“With high uranium recoveries of 90% or better for the Muntanga and Dibbwi East deposits and overall low acid consumption, the data provides further confidence in the project’s processing design, helping to refine key assumptions and parameters for the upcoming feasibility study,” GoviEx Uranium CEO Daniel Major said in a statement.

Zambia: new focus

The Muntanga project has become GoviEx’s main focus after seeing its mining permits for the Madaouela project in Niger revoked. The Muntanga property encompasses three mining licences plus three exploration licences with a total combined area of 1,226 km².

Two of the mining licences comprising the Muntanga, Dibbwi and Dibbwi East deposits were acquired from Denison Mines in 2016, while the mining licence covering the Njame (north and south) and Gwabi were acquired from AFR a year later.

Across the five deposits, located over a 65 km strike, there are an estimated 42.6 million tonnes in measured and indicated resources at an average grade of 359 ppm uranium oxide (U₃O₈), containing 33.7 million lb. of U₃O₈, and 15 million tonnes inferred at 330 ppm U₃O₈, containing 10.9 million lb. of U₃O₈.

Shares of GoviEx Uranium surged 11.8% to C$0.095 following the update, taking its market capitalization to C$77.4 million. The stock had plunged to a 52-week low of C$0.045 in August after the company’s setback in Niger.

“The transaction value, cumulative with the previously concluded transactions with CNUC and CNNC Overseas, comprises fifty percent or more of the total book value of the company’s assets,” it said in a statement.

Kazatomprom didn’t provide details on the volume of the deal, which will require shareholders’ approval at a Nov. 15 meeting.

(By Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

The Takeovers Panel’s decision ends a long-running dispute over whether Rio Tinto or its majority owned uranium producer Energy Resources of Australia (ASX: ERA) would assume the site restoration’s costs.

It also clears the way for Rio to assume full control of the uranium producer via the company’s capital raising, announced in August.

ERA halted activities at Ranger in 2021, after 40 years of operations. The initial goal was to finish the site cleanup by 2026. Rehabilitation costs for the site have surged to A$2.2bn ($1.4bn) and ERA warned in August it would run out of money by December. It said at the time it would launch a capital rising, with Rio as the most likely buyer of shares.

Willy Packer’s Packer&Co and Richard Magides’ Zentree, who collectively own around 12% of ERA, filed an objection with the Takeovers Panel, saying the move would unfairly allow Rio to increase its stake in the company from 86.3% to 99.2%, clearing the way for the mining giant to buy out ERA.

The Takeovers Panel upheld on Tuesday its previous decision to reject the objections from the two minority ERA shareholders.

“ERA now intends to proceed with the [A$880 million] entitlement offer as soon as possible,” the company said on Tuesday.

Jabiluka

ERA still seeks to have its mining permit for Jabiluka, a vast uranium deposit surrounded by the Kakadu National Park, restored. The licence, which has been under the same company’s control since 1991, expired in August.

The Australian government, led by prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has pledged that Jabiluka will “never be mined” and instead will be integrated into the adjacent Kakadu National Park.

ERA filed the petition to have the mining licence back, despite Rio Tinto’s stating that it had no plans to develop the mine site and that it was pleased to see the traditional owners’ wishes respected. 

The Mirarr people have long opposed to mining activities in the region, organizing protests in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Rio Tinto has backed the traditional owners’ position in recent years as it works to repair its ties with indigenous groups after destroying sacred rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia in 2020 for an iron ore mine expansion.

Australia is home to almost one-third of the world’s identified uranium reserves, yet the mining of this resource is permitted in only two of its six states and two territories — South Australia and the Northern Territory. 

The country’s only operating uranium mines are BHP’s Olympic Dam, which generates uranium as a secondary product of its copper mining activities and Boss Energy’s Honeywell mine. Together, they account for around 9% of the global reported production.

France’s Orano SA is boosting uranium mining and processing capacity as supplies of the nuclear fuel tighten on stronger demand and moves to reduce the world’s reliance on Russia.

The state-controlled company is investing to prolong the life of mines in Canada and Kazakhstan, while exploring adjacent and remoter areas in those countries, chief executive officer Nicolas Maes told reporters Thursday. Orano is also developing new projects in Mongolia and Uzbekistan, while remaining “in monitoring mode” for potential acquisitions, he said.

“We have interest in diversifying our projects as there are some tensions in the East and in Africa,” Maes said at the company’s uranium enrichment plant in central France. “Questions over where uranium will come from in the next decade are pulling prices higher.”

Uranium has soared over the past three years as investors piled into the commodity and governments from China to Europe plan more nuclear power plants, partly to curb carbon emissions. At the same time, production issues in Kazakhstan and a military coup in Niger have impacted uranium output.

In Niger, where the military junta revoked one of Orano’s mining permits earlier this year, the company’s other uranium mine will produce just 40% of its capacity this year, Maes said. That production can’t be exported out of the landlocked African nation due to persisting geopolitical issues, he added.

The cost of enriching uranium — a key step to transform the radioactive metal into fuel — has also jumped since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as some western utilities seek to replace Kremlin-controlled Rosatom for their processing requirements.

To help fill that gap, Orano broke ground on the expansion of its French enrichment facility this year. It expects to boost its global market share of enrichment services to 16% from 12%, when the project is completed by the end of the decade, the CEO said.

Rosatom is the world’s largest enricher of uranium, with 43% of total production capacity, according to Orano. That’s followed by Urenco Ltd., a UK-Dutch-German group with a 31% share, and China National Nuclear Corp. with 13%.

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed a ban on imports of enriched uranium from Russia, which provides about a quarter of the reactor fuel in the US. The country has just one commercial enrichment facility in New Mexico, owned by Urenco.

Orano may seek to further displace Russian supplies by building an enrichment plant in the US if it secures Federal government support, regulatory approval, and enough customer commitments, Maes said. The multi-billion-dollar facility could be built in Tennessee, Orano has said.

(By Francois de Beaupuy)

Read More: Orano sees progress developing uranium mine in Mongolia

Highlights at the Pike zone of the West McArthur project in northern Saskatchewan show drill hole WMA082-11 on target L85E cut 25.8 metres grading 6.47% uranium oxide (U₃O₈) including 4 metres at 22.78% U₃O₈, CanAlaska said on Thursday.

Drill hole WMA082-8 returned 16.2 metres grading 7.63% U₃O₈, including 6.1 metres at 17.31% U₃O₈. On target L70E, drill hole WMA082-7 cut 11.4 metres at 6.22% U₃O₈, including 5.6 metres grading 11.4% U₃O₈.

The results from the drilling this summer follow 9.3% U₃O₈ over 16.2 metres from 797 metres depth in hole WMA082-12 reported last month. And there was the discovery in July showing 9.3 metres grading 11.62% radiometric equivalent U₃O₈ in hole WMA082-8. Cormark Securities has compared CanAlaska’s results to potential for “pearls on a string.”

The company found uranium mineralization in 11 of 12 unconformity tests at Pike this summer. The results indicate a strike length of about 200 metres including a high-grade area of 100 metres that remain open in all directions, it said. CanAlaska, which holds 83% of the project, is paying for this year’s exploration to increase its stake.

“Pike zone is starting to position itself into a possible world-class uranium discovery located just 12 km from the giant McArthur River uranium mine,” CanAlaska CEO Cory Belyk in a release. “Pike zone is growing rapidly in its footprint.”

More drilling

CanAlaska plans more exploration to start in January as companies scramble to take advantage of nuclear power’s renewed momentum to help replace fossil fuels and a uranium spot price that hit a 17-year record high early this year.

The West is keen to develop its own resources and shun production from pariah Russia. The Athabasca basin is one of the planet’s richest uranium hotspots, where companies such as Cameco, French state-owned giant Orano, and Denison Mines (TSX: DML; NYSE: DNN) are working to extract the energy metal. 

Shares in CanAlaska Uranium traded for C$0.71 apiece Thursday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at C$115.8 million. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of C$0.34 to C$0.79. 

Cormark Securities mining analyst Nicolas Dion said in a Sept. 27 note that the summer drilling program bodes well for the project. The company reported that day two holes with less mineralization: 13.2 metres at 3.88% U₃O₈ in hole MA094-2 and 9.9 metres at 3.41% U₃O₈ in hole WMA094-1.

“While not as thick as the intercepts in the original sections/discovery area, these results confirm the potential for additional pods of high-grade mineralization along strike at the Pike zone,” Dion said. “This opens up the blue-sky potential as we think about the common ‘pearls on a string’ analogy for other high-grade unconformity-hosted deposits in the basin.”

The drilling program was funded by Aero Energy (TSXV: AERO), which is earning a 70% interest in the Murmac and Strike Point projects.

Shallow, elevated concentrations of uranium in graphitic rocks were confirmed in all four of the recent holes.

Drill hole M24-017 returned 8.4 metres at 0.30% uranium oxide (U₃O₈) including 1.2 metres at 1.79%. Individual assays of up to 13.80% and 4.54% U₃O₈ over 0.1 metre in the same hole. Drilling encountered the mineralization only 64 metres below surface.

Fortune Bay said the mineralization was intersected within strongly graphitic and structured rocks, the favoured host rock for Athabasca Basin high-grade deposits. Planning is underway for the winter drill program.

The Murmac strike length is over 30 km. Assays from prospective electromagnetic conductors and uranium intercepts were released earlier this year. Fortune Bay first drilled the property in 2022.

“We’ve got some fantastic uranium ore bodies, and we’re looking to extend and expand those where we can,” chief executive officer Tim Gitzel said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Gitzel didn’t specify which projects the company might expand.

Uranium prices have soared over the past three years as investors piled into the commodity underpinning the world’s push for more nuclear energy. However, the spot price has fallen about 22% this year since hitting a record high of $106.40 per pound on Feb. 1.

Canada’s Cameco is one of the two biggest producers of uranium, alongside Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom.

Growing demand for nuclear power poses the “best fundamentals I’ve ever seen for nuclear in my 40-year career,” Gitzel said.

(By Jacob Lorinc, Matthew Miller and Katie Greifeld)

Read More: World’s top uranium miner backs nuclear plant in referendum

The company holds 16 early-stage properties on a combined total of 924 sq. km. that sit in and around the Athabasca basin, as well as one in Newfoundland, which it acquired in September.

“It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done,” CEO Sean Wade told The Northern Miner in a Zoom interview. “You don’t get many deals like this with a £20-million market cap and below (company). It’s a great validation of our model.”

Power Metal shares traded for 16 pence apiece on Monday after markets closed in London, valuing the company at £18.3 million. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of 10 pence to 25.68 pence.

The tie-up follows the spot price for uranium oxide rising to $82 per lb. this week from $78.50 per lb. at the end of August. It’s among various tailwinds for the uranium market, including a deal last month between Microsoft and Constellation on a 20-year power purchase from the restarted Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.

Cash for spring drilling

Under the yet-to-be named JV, UCAM is to hold a 70% interest, according to a Power Metal news release. London-based private investment firm JCAM LP owns UCAM, which also has investments in Greenland-focused Amaroq Minerals (TSXV: AMRQ; LSE: AMRQ).

The GCAM investors formed the JV because they recognized the rising demand for clean energy sources such as nuclear and uranium, Wade said.

“These are the things that have driven that,” he said. “We were there in the right place at the right time, with a fantastic set of projects. But there is also incredible value and returns to be made the earlier stage you are.”

The £10 million investment in the JV will finance exploration and drilling in northern Saskatchewan, such as at its Perch River, Tait Hill and Reitenbach projects, where the company has already done surveys and geochemistry work. Power Metal could also receive another investment of up to £4 million depending on UCAM achieving returns of three times the initial investment.

Results from the surveys are to define an upcoming drill program, which Power Metal is planning now and could start next spring.

“All the exploration costs are going to be borne by the investor,” Wade said. “We can really go after the discoveries. We’ve got the firepower to do it that perhaps we wouldn’t have had before.”

The JV will also focus on Power Metal’s Drake Lake-Silas project in Newfoundland, which cover 12.5 sq. km. and 5 sq. km., respectively. It hosts 5 million indicated lb. of uranium oxide (U₃O₈) and 5.8 million inferred lb. U₃O₈, as well as 15.8 million inferred lb. of vanadium grading 0.088% V₂O₅, according to a resource from 2008.

Commercial output from the Zuuvch Ovoo mine could begin after five years of construction, pending the signing of an investment agreement, according to Olivier Thoumyre, Orano’s representative in Mongolia. A confirmation vote on the project in the country’s parliament is scheduled for the current legislative session.

Global uranium demand is rebounding as China continues to add plants, while other nations in Europe and Asia prepare to build reactors as part of strategies to curb emissions. If it goes ahead, Zuuvch Ovoo stands to be the largest mining project in Mongolia since the development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine led by Rio Tinto Plc, a venture that took decades to bring fully online, including an underground expansion that opened last year.

Mongolia has the possibility of becoming a “major player” in uranium, Thoumyre said at an industry convention in Nalaikh, a town near the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Zuuvch Ovoo has been in development since before 2013, when Areva SA, Orano’s forerunner, formed a joint venture with Mongolia’s nuclear company, Mon-Atom, to develop uranium resources.

The reappointment of Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai as prime minister in July has boosted confidence in policy continuity from the previous administration, which agreed to negotiate with Orano over the mine a year ago. “Discussion never stopped” over terms, Thoumyre said on Thursday.

(By Terrence Edwards)

Read More: World’s top uranium miner backs nuclear plant in referendum

Kazakhstan’s central election commission said on Monday that 71% of voters cast their ballots in favor of the government plan to build a new reactor. Turnout was about 64%, well above the threshold necessary for the result to be valid, the commission said, citing preliminary calculations.

Central Asia’s largest oil producer hasn’t used nuclear generation since 1999. The country has been grappling with a power shortage partly due to growth in the energy-intensive crypto industry and emergency shutdowns at old plants. The nation is seeking to significantly expand power generation by 2035, with nuclear sources as part of the mix, according to the Energy Ministry. The ministry said an initial estimate for the cost of the nuclear power plant was about $10 billion-$12 billion.

Kazakhstan’s backing for atomic energy underscores rising global interest in stable, round-the-clock nuclear power as countries attempt to meet rapidly rising energy demands while also reducing dependence on fossil fuels to slash emissions.

China National Nuclear Corp, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Russia’s Rosatom Corp and Electricite de France SA were on a list of possible builders, according to a presentation from the Energy Ministry.

“My personal opinion is that an international consortium, consisting of global companies with the most advanced technologies, should work in Kazakhstan,” President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said after he cast his vote on Sunday, according to his press office.

The nation had a 1.5 gigawatt power deficit last fall and winter, according to the Energy Ministry. Kazakhstan covers the shortfall by buying electricity from Russia.

(By Nariman Gizitdinov)

At the end of the third quarter of 2024, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, up just under $76 billion from end-June, largely on the back of gold and royalty stocks.

The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies is up a fairly modest 8% year to end-September and despite the good run is still $240 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022.  

Ranks, value of gold stocks swell

The value of precious metals and royalty companies climbed by a combined $42 billion or 16% during the quarter and gold counters dominate the best performing ranks. 

Were it not for the limited tradability of stock in Russia’s Polyus, which lost some ground over the three months despite gold’s stellar performance, bullion’s effect on the Top 50 would have been even more pronounced. 

Canada’s Alamos Gold joins the top 50 for the first time with a  more than 31% jump in value lifting it six places to number 48 with a valuation of $8.2 billion at the end of the quarter while the second quarter’s newcomer Pan American Silver (following its absorption of Yamana Gold) hangs on at no 50.

Alamos Gold last month raised its production guidance by over 20% for 2025-2026 with the inclusion of the Magino mine and its integration with its Island Gold operation in Ontario. The Toronto based miner has long term ambitions to grow its production base to 900,000 ounces per year.

Uzbekistan is readying an IPO for Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combinat – the world’s fourth largest gold mining company and significant uranium producer in 2025. NMMC debuted a $1 billion bond offering last week, marking the first global debt market issuance from a gold mining company since June 2023.

Navoi should easily join the ranks of gold producers in the top 50 thanks to ownership of the world’s largest gold mine, Muruntau, and annual production of 2.9 million ounces at grades and per ounce extraction costs the envy of the sector.  

The Muruntau open pit mine southwest of the Kyzylkum desert, originally developed during the Soviet era as a source of uranium, has estimated reserves of around 130 million ounces of gold. 

Goldilocks copper

Copper specialists, and those with fat gold credits, have gained a combined 36% year to date as the copper price continues to flirt with the $10,000 a tonne level but momentum slowed dramatically during Q3 with the group contributing only $7.2 billion in added market worth during the quarter. 

Amman Mineral’s fierce rally also came to an abrupt halt during the quarter with the counter losing 18% over the three months and coming close to falling out of the top 10.

Investors who bought Amman, owner of the world’s third largest mine worldwide in terms of copper equivalent, at the IPO price in Jakarta a year ago, are still enjoying 400% gains since then however. 

Southern Copper’s position as the world’s third most valuable mining stock seems entrenched after a double digit percentage gain in Q3 compared to a much more sedate performance by Freeport-McMoRan which now has to gain a full $20 billion in market cap to haul in its Mexico City-based rival.

Light on lithium 

Rio Tinto’s vote of confidence in the long term future of the lithium sector (and its own ability to make M&A work) dominated the news at the start of the December-quarter but it’s worth noting that Arcadium’s more than 90% surge since the all-cash offer was first announced are not enough for the stock to enter the rankings.

Three lithium counters exited the rankings this year, Australia’s  Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources and China’s Tianqi Lithium as the deep slump in prices for the battery metal continues to take its toll.  

Last quarter’s no 50, Ganfeng Lithium jumps six places after being swept up in the stimulus-induced rally on Chinese stock markets at the end of the quarter while Tianqi’s performance so far in October should see it reenter the Top 50 in due course. 

Ganfeng was barely holding on at position 50 at end-June and with gold price momentum continuing and two gold mining companies waiting in the winds – Yintai and Alamos – only three lithium counters in the top 50 may be a reality for some time to come. 

After peaking in the second quarter of 2022 with a combined value of nearly $120 billion, the remaining lithium stocks’ market value has now shrunk to $34 billion.  

Iron ore ground down

Despite a modest improvement during the quarter, the mining industry’s traditional big 5 – BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Vale and Anglo American – remain in the red for 2024, losing $24 billion since the start of the year. 

The big 5 diversifieds now make up 29% of the total index, down from a height of 38% at the end of 2022.  

Iron ore’s less than rosy outlook – the late boost China’s recent stimulus package notwithstanding – saw Fortescue once again feature on the biggest losers list and Cleveland Cliffs exit the ranking with the US iron ore miner’s 37% decline this year exacerbated by its inability to capitalize on the blocking of the Nippon-US Steel tie up. 

Iron ore’s representation in the top 50 have diminished in the last couple of years – Brazil’s CSN Mineração dropped out during Q1 this year while Anglo-controlled and separately-listed Kumba Iron Ore has lost touch with the top tier after a 40% fall year to date.

Click on image for full size table.

NOTES:

Source: MINING.COM, stock exchange data, company reports. Share data from primary-listed exchange at close Oct 4, 2024 close of trading converted to US$ where applicable. Percentage change based on US$ market cap difference, not share price change in local currency.  

As with any ranking, criteria for inclusion are contentious. We decided to exclude unlisted and state-owned enterprises at the outset due to a lack of information. That, of course, excludes giants like Chile’s Codelco, Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining (the gold and uranium giant may list later this year), Eurochem, a major potash firm, and a number of entities in China and developing countries around the world.

Another central criterion was the depth of involvement in the industry before an enterprise can rightfully be called a mining company.

For instance, should smelter companies or commodity traders that own minority stakes in mining assets be included, especially if these investments have no operational component or warrant a seat on the board?

This is a common structure in Asia and excluding these types of companies removed well-known names like Japan’s Marubeni and Mitsui, Korea Zinc and Chile’s Copec. 

Levels of operational or strategic involvement and size of shareholding were other central considerations. Do streaming and royalty companies that receive metals from mining operations without shareholding qualify or are they just specialised financing vehicles? We included Franco Nevada, Royal Gold and Wheaton Precious Metals on the basis of their deep involvement in the industry.

Vertically integrated concerns like Alcoa and energy companies such as Shenhua Energy or Bayan Resources where power, ports and railways make up a large portion of revenues pose a problem. The revenue mix also tends to change alongside volatile coal prices. Same goes for battery makers like China’s CATL which is increasingly moving upstream, but where mining will continue to represent a small portion of its valuation.  

Another consideration is diversified companies such as Anglo American with separately listed majority-owned subsidiaries. We’ve included Angloplat in the ranking but excluded Kumba Iron Ore in which Anglo has a 70% stake to avoid double counting. Similarly we excluded Hindustan Zinc which is listed separately but majority owned by Vedanta.

Many steelmakers own and often operate iron ore and other metal mines, but in the interest of balance and diversity we excluded the steel industry, and with that many companies that have substantial mining assets including giants like ArcelorMittal, Magnitogorsk, Ternium, Baosteel and many others.

Head office refers to operational headquarters wherever applicable, for example BHP and Rio Tinto are shown as Melbourne, Australia, but Antofagasta is the exception that proves the rule. We consider the company’s HQ to be in London, where it has been listed since the late 1800s.

Please let us know of any errors, omissions, deletions or additions to the ranking or suggest a different methodology.

With more than 1,200 metres of mine development finished at Dasa, the mineralized ore is being segregated into different grades ahead of commissioning at the end of 2025, Global Atomic said in a progress update on Thursday. The company has paved a ramp into the proposed $425 million capex underground mine now developed to 1,200 metres deep.

“We continue to make excellent progress at the Dasa project site as we complete site preparation for civil works to begin and installation of the acid plant as the first major component of the Dasa processing plant,” Stephen Roman, Global Atomic president and CEO, said in a release.

“A committee with representatives from several key government ministries is being formed to expedite the resolution of any outstanding issues that may arise relating to mining, finance, transportation and labour within Niger.”

Global Atomic shares traded at C$1.47 apiece on Friday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at C$333.7 million. Despite the stock uptick, its shares remain in a slump, having lost 53% of their value almost six months after the Niger military government ordered United States troops to leave the Sahel nation. The stock traded between C$1.13 and C$3.91 this year.

Progress at Dasa comes almost two months after the Nigerien government pledged its full support for the project, but other uranium developers in Niger faced major setbacks this past summer. In June, he government withdrew a mining permit for Orano’s Imourare project, and in July, it revoked the mining licence for GoviEx Uranium‘s (TSXV: GXU) Madaouela project.

Meanwhile, the spot price for uranium oxide rose to $82 per lb. this week from $78.50 per lb. at the end of August. And a deal last month between Microsoft and Constellation on a 20-year power purchase from the restarted Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, is just one example of how a resurgent nuclear industry is buoying the uranium market.

Processing plant progress

Earthworks for the acid plant at Dasa are finishing up, with the contractor next preparing the site for the crusher, and the SAG mill location to follow.

Equipment for the plant is arriving at the site, as well as components for the acid plant, shipped through Nigeria to the south.

The camp is expanding in phases to support the roughly 450 employees and contractors now at Dasa, and the workforce expansion to 900 during the peak of construction next year.

The mine plan, announced in March, put output at 68.1 million lb. of yellowcake over a 23-year period starting in 2026, based on a throughput of 1,000 tonnes per day. The company expects the plant to produce up to 1,200 tonnes per day. It plans to update the flow chart this quarter.

Financing

An unnamed U.S. development bank is pledging to approve a $295 million loan covering 60% of Dasa’s costs, Global Atomic said. For the remaining 40% of the funding, the company has already invested about $120 million. Global Atomic expects confirmation of the approval schedule with the bank is this month.

It’s also seeking possible joint ventures in talks with other groups it declined to name.

The military coup in July last year led the US to suspend government funding for Dasa, but the company managed to raise C$15 million in January and C$20 million in July by selling stock.

American troops had been in Niger to fight regional Islamic insurgents since a 2012 agreement. The West African country supplies about 5% of global uranium demand making it the seventh-largest producer, including about 20% of the European Union’s needs. Numerous junior and large companies are exploring in Niger. French-state owned Orano said in February it was restarting production that was suspended after the coup.

Dasa hosts 73 million lb. in probable reserves of uranium oxide in 8 million tonnes grading 4,113 parts per million uranium oxide, according to the feasibility study. Global Atomic has signed offtake agreements for 1.3 million lb. of uranium a year.

Hole AK24-118 cut 8.5 metres grading 0.59% uranium oxide (U₃O₈) from 153 metres depth, including 1.5 metres of 1.25% U₃O_8, the company reported Thursday. Hole AK24-119 cut 21 metres grading 0.28% U₃O₈ from 141 metres depth, including 1.5 metres grading 1.55% U₃O₈. Both holes were drilled at Ackio’s easterly Pod 6 target.

“We are highly encouraged by the results from holes AK24-118 and AK24-119, as they are the best intersections in Pod 6 and rank among the top 20 drill holes at Ackio,” James Sykes, Baselode CEO and president said in a release. “These results strengthen our confidence in Ackio. It’s remarkable that, just over three years after discovering Ackio, we’re still achieving better-than-expected grades and widths.”

Baselode shares gained C$0.01 to C$0.13 apiece on Thursday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at C$17.3 million. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of C$0.10 to C$0.61.

The results are part of a 12,000-metre drill program at Ackio, where mineralization starts at 25 metres depth. Ackio is made of up nine targets, or pods, inside Baselode’s Hook project, 40 km southeast of the McArthur River mine and 60 km northeast of the Key Lake uranium mill, jointly owned by Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) and Orano in a 70-30 split.

Hook is hosted within the basement rocks of the Wollaston domain, which hosts some of the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world.

Increasingly higher grades

Hole AK24-119 was drilled to test the northern extent of Pod 6 and cut twice the grade and more thickness than AK22-039, which was 25 metres downdip of AK24-119 and was drilled in November 2022.

A third noteworthy hole, AK24-117, returned 7.5 metres grading 0.07% U₃O₈ from 128.5 metres depth. It was drilled to test the mid-lower reaches of Pod 6, 15 metres updip of hole AK22-020, drilled in August 2022.

Assays are pending from another 40 drill holes at Ackio and Hook.

The agreement values Anfield shares at C$0.103 apiece, a 32% premium to Anfield’s closing price on Monday, IsoEnergy said in a release. The purchase gives IsoEnergy 84% and Anfield 16% of the company.

IsoEnergy also gains several conventional uranium and vanadium projects in Utah, Colorado, Nex Mexico and Arizona. Shootaring is rare in the US for being a licensed, permitted and built conventional uranium mill. It will help the company “substantially” expand output potential as it advances the past-producing and permitted Tony M and Daneros projects near Shootaring in Utah. The company aims to become one of the country’s largest uranium producers as nuclear power gains traction to fight climate change.

“Today’s acquisition of Anfield strengthens both our resource base and near-term production potential,” CEO Philip Williams said. “The combined uranium mineral endowment will rank as one of the largest in the U.S., supported by a 100% owned processing facility, multiple fully permitted mines ready for rapid restart, and a strong pipeline of longer-term development projects.”

Shares fall

Shares in IsoEnergy fell nearly 6% on Tuesday morning in Toronto to C$3.14 apiece, valuing the company at C$566.7million. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of C$2.37 to C$4.40. Anfield stock rose nearly 30% to C$0.09 for a market capitalization of C$91.7 million. Their range has been C$0.055 to C$0.11.

The company has applied to increase Shootaring’s throughput to 1,000 tonnes a day from 750 tonnes per day, allowing IsoEnergy to triple output capacity to 3 million lb. U₃O₈ (uranium oxide or yellowcake) from 1 million lb. U₃O₈. IsoEnergy has toll-milling agreements with Energy Fuels’ (TSX: EFR; NYSE: UUUU) White Mesa mill in Utah for additional processing flexibility.

The acquisition more than doubles IsoEnergy’s uranium resources for a total of 17 million measured and indicated lb. and 10.6 million inferred lb. to rank it among the largest in the US, the company said. The consolidation of assets in Utah and Colorado offer cost savings in transportation and administration, it said.

M&A path

The deal comes exactly a year after IsoEnergy took over Consolidated Uranium in an all-stock deal including Tony M and Daneros, among others. Tony M is 6 km from Shootaring. IsoEnergy also holds Hurricane, the world’s highest grade indicated uranium resource, in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin. It has other projects in Quebec, Nunvaut and Australia.

IsoEnergy plans to use the Shootaring mill to process ore from Anfield’s Velvet-Wood and Slick Rock projects. The two projects together have 811 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.29% U₃O₈ for 4.6 million lb. yellowcake, according to an April 2023 resource.

The Anfield acquisition gives IsoEnergy larger scale for access to capital and even more M&A, CEO Williams said.

“IsoEnergy is committed to becoming a globally significant, multi-asset uranium producer in the world’s top uranium mining jurisdictions,” he said. “With the global shift towards nuclear power, we believe the outlook for uranium has never been stronger.

The Australian miner entered in June into an agreement with Fission Uranium to acquire it for C$1.14 billion ($846m), as strong prices for the fuel used in nuclear reactors has lit fire under market consolidations and deals.

Paladin, which would have become the third-largest publicly traded uranium producer with the planned acquisition, said it was considering the notice sent by Canada’s minister of innovation, science and industry, François-Philippe Champagne.

Ottawa has turned particularly strict on Chinese investment in natural resources over the past four years, and while Paladin’s acquisition of Fission is a deal between Australian and Canadian companies, there are Chinese state-owned entities involved on both sides of the transaction.

CGN Mining Company, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power, owns a 11.26% stake in Fission. It formally opposed the deal in late September, but its efforts to block the deal were unsuccessful.

A second Chinese state-owned entity, China National Nuclear Corporation, holds a 25% interest in Paladin’s flagship Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia, and is one of the company’s major lenders.

Paladin said it is exploring its available options and evaluating the prospects of obtaining an Investment Canada Act (ICA) clearance.

The matter is also before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, which is expected to issue a final ruling on the acquisition.

“There can be no certainty that the court will grant the final order, or that ICA clearance will be forthcoming, or that the arrangement will be successfully completed,” Paladin noted.

Foreign acquisitions of Canadian companies may be subject to a national security review, but investments from China have faced the most government scrutiny to date.

In 2020, the federal government blocked Shandong Gold’s bid for TMAC Resources due to the strategic Arctic location of its project. More recently, smaller investments by Chinese mining companies in critical mineral juniors, such as Solaris Resources (TSX: SLS) (NYSE: SLSR) and Falcon Energy Materials (TSX: SRG), were cancelled following national security review delays.

Closer to the US

Paladin Energy chief executive officer Ian Purdy has said the acquisition of Fission would provide investors an alternative in an industry dominated by two major players — Canada’s Cameco and Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom. 

Fission’s asset is also attractive because of its proximity to Paladin’s major customer, the United States, offering the chance to create a hub with Paladin’s existing tenement in Canada — Michelin.

The combined group would be worth $3.5 billion, hold dual listings in Australia and Canada, and churn out 10% of global uranium output. This would be the result of combining the output of its recently restarted Langer Heinrich Mine in Namibia with Fission’s Patterson Lake South project in Saskatchewan, once completed.

Paladin has been hunting for growth options outside the home country, as Western Australia and Queensland ban uranium mining. The company believes there’s a shortage of primary production coming out of the ground and that the trend is set to continue.

“We’ve seen very strong demand for our Langer Heinrich product. And we expect that when we’re ready to bring our customers to underpin PLS later this decade, that demand (will) be extremely strong,” Purdy said during a July visit to Toronto.

Paladin shares dropped after the announcement, but climbed later in the day, closing up 0.51% at A$11.83 each, leaving the company with a market capitalization of A$3.54 billion ($2.44bn).

The plan, part of a broader $100 billion industrial policy vision Harris’ campaign laid out Wednesday, also called for new incentives and the use of emergency government powers under the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to increase domestic processing of critical minerals.

“Increased domestic production will be paired with innovative and sustainable steps to build stronger critical mineral supply chains alongside our allies and partners, including by incentivizing investments that expand US and allied production of these resources,” the Harris campaign said in a statement. “These efforts will reduce our dependence on China, which leads production on many critical minerals.”

As part of the plan, the campaign said Harris was proposing “America Forward” tax credits to be used in the energy, manufacturing and agricultural sectors that would be “linked to the treatment of workers” and paid for in part by Harris’ proposal to overhaul the international tax system.

Critical minerals — which include dozens of materials including antimony, lithium, and cobalt — are those considered essential to the economy and at risk of supply disruption. The House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the US and the Chinese Communist Party in December recommended creating a reserve of critical minerals “to insulate American producers from price volatility” and protect against China’s “weaponization of its dominance in critical mineral supply chains.”

The committee also recommended spending $1 billion to expand an existing National Defense Stockpile, an inventory of critical minerals managed by the Defense Department that is used to provide emergency access to domestic manufacturers for defense purposes.

“Over the past several decades, China has cornered the market for processing and refining of key critical minerals, leaving the US and our allies and partners vulnerable to supply chain shocks and undermining economic and national security,” the White House said in a statement last week. “As the world builds a clean energy economy, demand for critical minerals is projected to grow exponentially.”

(By Ari Natter)

Foremost Lithium Resource & Technology (CSE: FAT; NASDAQ: FMST), a junior with early-stage projects in Quebec and Manitoba, is pivoting into uranium through a cash and shares earn-in deal with Denison Mines (TSX: DML; NYSE: DNN).

Foremost could acquire up to 70% in 10 of Denison’s northern Saskatchewan uranium projects after incurring C$12 million in exploration costs and paying about C$10.3 million in shares over six years, Foremost said on Tuesday. The projects cover some 1,350 sq. km in the Athabasca Basin uranium hotspot.

The deal and how Foremost is dropping lithium from its name show how poor prices for the light metal have quashed near-term development projects. Prices for battery grade lithium and for spodumene concentrate have tanked in the past year. Uranium producers continue to grow with a resurgent nuclear energy industry even as the heavy metal’s spot price has eased from a 17-year record high in January. Global moves away from fossil fuels are propelling the sector.

“This collaboration will advance significant near-term exploration and development efforts across numerous high-quality exploration projects to maximize the properties’ potential,” Foremost president and CEO Jason Barnard said in a release. “The Athabasca Basin is recognized as one of the world’s leading uranium jurisdictions.”

Shares in Denison Mines gained 2.3% to C$2.42 apiece by mid-Tuesday in Toronto, valuing the company at C$2.2 billion. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of C$1.91 to C$3.37. Shares in Foremost Lithium fell 1.2% to C$4.20 apiece, valuing the company at C$23.1 million. Their range has been C$2.60 to C$5.79.

Board member

The deal puts Denison president and CEO David Cates on the board of Foremost Clean Energy, as it will be known. Cates said his new partner’s exploration work concerns properties that would otherwise receive little attention from Denison. It’s focused on development and mining-stage projects. These include its main feasibility-stage Wheeler River, as well as Midwest, a joint venture with France’s Orano.

Seven of the deal’s properties are in the east part of the basin near existing infrastructure, and several of those have uranium mineralization in geology similar to regional discoveries, Foremost said.

One, Hatchet Lake, has been drilled this summer, while others contain drill-ready targets from previous exploration programs, the company said. Another, Torwalt Lake, is beside Orano’s McClean Lake operation, within 5 km of several uranium deposits and has potential to be similar in geology to Cameco’s (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) Key Lake or Collins Bay, Foremost said.

Three of the 10 properties are virtually unexplored and lie in the basin’s northwest. These so-called Blue Sky properties are Blackwing, GR and CLK, which encompass 1,016 sq. km. Holes drilled at CLK have intersected uranium mineralization, and regional geological surveys compiled by the Saskatchewan government indicate potential, the company said.

It isn’t Denison’s first venture with a lithium company. In January, it signed a deal with lithium explorer Grounded Lithium (TSXV: GRD) to earn up to three quarters of its Kindersley lithium brine project in western Saskatchewan.

A deal between US-based utility Constellation Energy and Microsoft to revive a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania triggered trades on heavily shorted Australia-listed uranium stocks, said Guy Keller, a portfolio manager with Tribeca Investment Partners.

Big Tech’s growing love affair with technology like artificial intelligence is resulting in a surge in electricity demand to power data centres, with relatively clean energy sources like nuclear power becoming more popular.

Perth-based Boss Energy, which is targeting uranium output of 850,000 pounds in fiscal year 2025, soared as much as 11.6% on Tuesday on top of its 8% gain in the previous day.

Paladin Energy, Australia’s biggest pure-play uranium miner in terms of market value, advanced 9.5% after a roughly 5% gain in the previous session, while Deep Yellow jumped 8.5% to scale a more than seven-week high.

All the three stocks were the among top five gainers in the ASX 200 benchmark index on Tuesday.

Paladin is Australia’s fourth most heavily shorted stock, according to data provider Shortman, while Boss Energy is ninth and Deep Yellow is thirteenth.

“There has… been fresh buying interest in the sector that had been waiting for a catalyst,” said Keller, adding that seasonal buying would likely keep the sector buoyant for the remainder of the calendar year.

Demand expectations for uranium have climbed after more than 20 nations vowed to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai late last year.

“The amount of annual uranium demand could lift to over 500 million pounds against currently mined supply of around 155 million pounds,” said Regan Burrows, a resource analyst at Bell Potter Securities.

(By Sameer Manekar and Melanie Burton; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

The uranium producer and explorer said the $175 million cash deal would give it key assets that will allow it to boost production, providing opportunities for synergy with its other projects in Wyoming’s Great Divide Basin. 

Uranium Energy estimates the transaction, to be closed in the fourth-quarter of 2024 calendar year, would add about 175 million pounds of historic resources.

“These assets will unlock tremendous value by establishing our third hub-and-spoke production platform and cement [Uranium Energy] as the leading uranium developer in Wyoming and the US,” chief executive Amir Adnani said in the statement.

The Sweetwater plant is a 3,000 tonne per day conventional processing mill with a licensed capacity of 4.1 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8), a compound of uranium.

Uranium Energy will also add Red Desert, a development-stage uranium project, encompassing approximately 20,005 acres of exploration and mining rights, and the Green Mountain project, located 35km (22 miles) north of the Sweetwater plant. 

The Texas-based company said the move was a response to “unprecedented” demand for uranium and nuclear energy. This spike, it said, is being fuelled by ongoing geopolitical events, the escalating need for reliable clean energy, and the rapid adoption of AI technologies.

Shares in Uranium Energy jumped on the news, up 2.7% to $5.69 in pre-market trading on the NYSE American exchange, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange, and more recently as NYSE MKT. This leaves the company’s market capitalization at $2.26 billion.

Reuters reported exclusively on Tuesday that the US Department of Energy and other relevant agencies are closely tracking the imports from China to “ensure the proper implementation” of the ban on Russian enriched uranium that President Joe Biden signed in May.

The US is concerned that China is importing and using Russia’s uranium in its own power plants, and then exporting domestically produced uranium to the United States – effectively undermining the US ban that is intended to deprive Moscow of revenue for its invasion of in Ukraine.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in response to questions from Reuters that “China has always opposed any illegal unilateral sanctions and ‘long arm jurisdiction'”. The comments included no denials that the shipments could circumvent the ban.

“The cooperation between China and Russia is an independent choice made by two sovereign countries based on their respective development needs, openly and honestly, without targeting any third party, and without being interfered or obstructed by any third party,” the ministry said.

It said China is willing to continue “normal economic and trade cooperation” with countries around the world, including Russia.

China’s comments reflect tensions between Washington and Beijing over Russia’s war on Ukraine. The US ban, which fully blocks the imports Russia’s state owned nuclear company in 2028, is part of a slew of sanctions on Moscow over its war on Ukraine.

The boost in enriched uranium shipments from China and potential circumvention of the ban, has also concerned the US uranium fuel supply chain industry which got a $2.7 billion boost in public funding in Russian import ban law.

The US has a couple of options to push back against the shipments if it finds that China is circumventing the ban, though either one could take time. It could either boost tariffs on imports of enriched uranium from China, which currently stand at 7.5%, or Congress could expand the ban on uranium from Russia to include China.

(By Timothy Gardner and Ryan Woo; Editing by David Evans)

The Western Australia-based miner revealed on Monday that CGN Mining Company, a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power with a 11.26% stake in Fission, is opposing the tie-up.

Paladin moved in June to buy the Canadian miner for C$1.14 billion ($845 million), contingent on at least two-thirds of Fission shareholders voting in favour of the transaction by Aug. 26. 

The bid came amid the global shift towards nuclear energy that took off a year ago, when a supply crisis unfolded and utilities sought to secure long-term contracts, driving the spot price to a 16-year high in January.

The company, which would have become the third-largest publicly traded uranium producer with the planned acquisition, failed to reach that threshold as nearly half of eligible shareholders did not submit their proxies by the deadline. A special general meeting was postponed to Sept. 9, in which 67.9% of Fission’s shareholders voted in favour of the deal.

The matter is now before the Supreme Court of British Columbia, which will issue a final ruling on the acquisition. The court proceedings began on September 13 and are scheduled to resume on September 26.

Paladin chief executive, Ian Purdy, says that Fission’s Patterson Lake South project in Saskatchewan, Canada, is a natural fit for the company. It provides medium-term development potential to complement production from the recently restarted Langer Heinrich Mine in Namibia, he says.

Closer to the US

Fission’s asset is also attractive because of its proximity to Paladin’s major customer, the United States, offering the chance to create a hub with Paladin’s existing tenement in Canada — Michelin.

The combined group would be worth $3.5 billion, hold dual listings in Australia and Canada, and churn out 10% of global uranium output.

Paladin has been hunting for growth options outside the home country, as Western Australia and Queensland ban uranium mining. The company believes there’s a shortage of primary production coming out of the ground and that the trend is set to continue.

“We’ve seen very strong demand for our Langer Heinrich product. And we expect that when we’re ready to bring our customers to underpin PLS later this decade, that demand (will) be extremely strong,” Purdy said during a July visit to Toronto.

Paladin shares dropped on the news Monday, reaching an intra-day low of $8.97 on the ASX. The stock closed 1.81% down at A$9.20 per share, leaving the company with a market capitalization of A$2.75 billion ($1.86bn).

Hole RR-961, drilled 840 metres northeast of the main Roughrider deposit, returned 2.4 metres grading 11.4% uranium oxide (U₃O₈) from 330.1 metres depth, with a high-grade sub-interval of 1 metre at 24.9% U₃O₈. Roughrider is located 13 km west of Orano’s McClean Lake uranium mill, on the eastern side of the Athabasca basin, about 750 km north of Saskatoon.

“The on-going drill campaign at Roughrider North has successfully identified additional high-grade mineralization along strike of what was reported in August,” Chris Hamel, vice-president for exploration in Canada, said in a release. “Drill hole RR-961 expands the high-grade core of this discovery and should help guide the field team to further success in the area.”

UEC’s results come as the uranium spot price, at $78.50 per lb. on Thursday, continue to trend slightly downward from a peak of $107 in February. But prices remain 30% higher than last year, giving tailwinds for producers of the nuclear metal. Analysts such as BMO Capital Markets expect the long-term trend of uranium to remain positive for years as China ramps up reactor production and the United States considers restarting idled plants.

Shares in Uranium Energy gained 1.6% to $5.27 apiece on Thursday morning in New York, valuing the company at $2.1 billion. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of $4.06 and $8.34.

High-grade follow-up

Hole RR-961 was a follow-up on hole RR-940 that UEC reported last month. It returned 7.2 metres at 12.7% U₃O₈ from 273.2 metres depth. RR-961 is 15 metres along strike, to the east of RR-940.

Another 20 holes remain in the current drill program, which is exploring along the northern trend, the company said. UEC has hit uranium mineralization at Roughrider North along about 200 metres of strike length, with the most recent hits delineating the high-grade core along around 55 metres of strike. High-grade mineralization at Roughrider North remains open to the east and west.

Roughrider North, identified along a trend that is parallel to the Roughrider project, hosts mineralization about 250 metres below the surface.

The Roughrider project, including its West, East, and Far East deposits, hosts 389,000 indicated tonnes grading 3.25% U₃O₈ for 27.8 million lb. of U₃O₈, and 359,000 inferred tonnes at 4.55% U₃O₈ for 36.0 million lb. of U₃O₈, according to a 2023 resource estimate.

UEC bought the Roughrider project for C$150 million from Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) in 2022.

Putin’s remarks to government ministers prompted a rise in nickel prices and drove shares in uranium mining firms higher.

In televised comments, he said such restrictions could also be introduced for other commodities, and noted that Russia was a major producer of natural gas, diamonds and gold.

But he said that measures did not need to be taken “tomorrow”, and must not cause damage to Russia itself.

“Russia is the leader in reserves of a number of strategic raw materials: for natural gas, this is almost 22% of world reserves, for gold – almost 23%, for diamonds – almost 55%,” Putin said.

“Please take a look at some of the types of goods that we supply to the world market … Maybe we should think about certain restrictions – uranium, titanium, nickel,” he told Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

“We just mustn’t do anything to harm ourselves,” he added.

Western countries have sharply cut purchases of Russian oil and gas since the start of the war in Ukraine but Russia remains a major supplier of metals to world markets, so a cut or halt to its exports could cause disruption, analysts said.

Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange (LME) surged 2.6% to $16,145 per metric ton shortly after Putin’s remarks.

Russia is home to Nornickel, the world’s biggest refined nickel producer. It is a major nickel supplier to China and Europe. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than a fifth of the nickel in LME-registered warehouses is of Russian origin, data showed on Tuesday. The metal is used in batteries and in alloys with a wide range of applications including armour plating and turbine blades.

Canadian uranium miners’ shares jump

Shares in uranium miners jumped following the news, with Canadian miners NexGen Energy, Cameco and Denison Mines up between 5.2% and 5.4% Russia is the world’s sixth largest uranium producer and has about 44% of global uranium enrichment capacity.

In 2023 the US and China topped the list of Russian uranium importers, followed by South Korea, France, Kazakhstan and Germany.

In May, US President Joe Biden signed into law a ban on enriched uranium imports from Russia, a trade worth around $1 billion annually. However, it contained waivers in case of supply concerns that would allow the Department of Energy to maintain normal levels of Russian uranium imports through 2027.

Russia accounted for 27% of the enriched uranium supplied to US commercial nuclear reactors last year.

“It will be really hard to replace, especially in the short term, the next 2-3 years,” said Citi analyst Arkady Gevorkyan.

“Western enrichers are only making plans to build additional enrichment capacity, which would require at least three years to be completed. We anticipate that utilities in the US might be able to partially replace it by importing low enriched uranium from China.”

Russia is also the world’s third largest producer of titanium sponge, which is turned into metal for industrial applications in the aerospace, marine and auto industries, but has low titanium mineral reserves of its own.

Russia’s largest titanium sponge maker VSMPO-Avisma, partly owned by sanctioned defence conglomerate Rostec, supplied titanium to both Boeing and Airbus before the Ukraine war.

Canada has placed VSMPO-Avisma under sanctions but has granted Airbus a waiver to allow it to use Russian titanium in its manufacturing.

Boeing stopped buying titanium from Russia less than two weeks after the start of the war with Ukraine in 2022.

Russian customs data shows that United States still buys Russian titanium, but the biggest purchasers are France, China and Germany.

(By Vladimir Soldatkin, Anastasia Lyrchikova, Gleb Bryanski, Julian Luk, Mrinalika Roy, Eric Onstad and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by David Gregorio and Philippa Fletcher)

Read More: Kazatomprom warns Ukraine war makes it harder to supply west