The mining supercycle and its demise

Shares of top Canadian uranium producer Cameco (CCO.TO: Quote) slipped as much as 4.4 percent on Monday, after Germany said that it plans to shut all its nuclear reactors by 2022. The move to shut down its nuclear program comes just nine months after Berlin announced an extension to the lifespan of its plants by an average 12 years.

Zambia has approved the proposed takeover of Equinox Minerals by Barrick Gold on condition the government keeps its 2.2 percent stake in Equinox, a regulatory body said on Friday. The Zambia Competition and Consumer Protection Commission granted final conditional authorisation of the acquisition as the deal did not raise any competition concerns, it said in a statement.

A Conference Board of Canada report says high energy and metals prices "are prompting resource companies to invest billions in iron ore projects, nickel processing and offshore oil developments" in Newfoundland and Labrador, generating the largest growth in real GDP this year of all the Canadian provinces." The board's Provincial Outlook - Spring 2011 report issued Wednesday also forecasts that Saskatchewan "will benefit from tax breaks and a hot mining industry."

Reuters reports: China wants to help build nuclear power generation in East Africa, uranium mining and investment company IBI Corp said in a statement after meeting Chinese officials in Beijing, revealing China's undimmed appetite for overseas nuclear expansion despite the Japanese nuclear crisis this year. IBI, which has uranium-prospective land in Uganda, said its director, A.J. Coffman, held an "encouraging meeting... with the relatively new umbrella organization overseeing China's research and development of Generation 3 and Generation 4 nuclear power plant designs."

Data Explorers reports the prediction of recovery of the uranium sector. The market news is quoted as saying: The Fukushima disaster caused the largest fall in the price of uranium for two years, yet a floor may have been reached as aggressive nuclear plans announced by China and India will double global uranium production, according to Bloomberg.

Hathor Exploration has released a new resource estimate that effectively doubles its uranium deposit in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. The company said Tuesday it has identified over 30 million pounds of uranium oxide (inferred) at the East Zone of the property. That works out to 118,000 tonnes of U308 graded at 11.58%. According to the technical report, exploration consisted of a 21-hole drilling program, with about 368 sample intervals assayed for U308 and other metals, including arsenic, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, nickel and selenium. Image of mineralization in drill core, Far East Zone, by Hathor Exploration Limited

In results released on Friday, Australia’s Paladin Energy showed a 47% increase in production from its Namibian and Malawian operations and record revenues of $208.7m on the back of a 31% increase in sales volumes for the nine months to March. The company said despite the concerns about the nuclear energy market following the tsunami damage to Japan’s Fukushima plant, it believes supply and demand imbalances will only widen in future as more plants, such as the 25 under construction in China, come on stream. Paladin is on an aggressive growth drive. Stage 3 of the expansion of its Langer Heinrich mine that would bring capacity to 5.2m lb is 92% complete and in February 2011 the company announced that it completed its acquisition of the uranium assets of Aurora Energy in Labrador, Canada for C$260.8m.

Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE-AMEX: UEC) is pleased to announce that, effective May 11, 2011, the Company has entered into a Share Exchange Agreement with a Nevada company hereby the Company is acquiring a Paraguayan company which holds a 100% legal and beneficial interest in two unencumbered prospecting permits covering 247,000 acres located in the area of Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay, subject to a gross overriding royalty. The total purchase price for the Paraguayan company is the issuance of 225,000 restricted common shares in the capital of the Company. Image by Uranium Energy Corp.

Uranium Resources does not expect to return to production in Texas in 2011 given current uranium pricing, unfavourable sales contracts and less than lucrative resources that are available. Uranium Resources made the statement in its 2011 first quarter update on Thursday. Instead the company is focused on reclamation activities in Texas since its two remaining operating wellfields were fully depleted in June 2009.