Uranium Consumers Delay Purchases

According to TradeTech uranium-oxide concentrate for immediate delivery fell $2, or 3.7 percent, to $52 a pound last week as utilities delayed purchases until the 2009 calendar year.

“The severe economic environment seems to have created a greater sense of urgency for some year-end sellers than in previous years,” TradeTech said. “The majority of the buyers have no budget left in 2008.”

Uranium prices gained $10 a pound in November after major producers such as Cameco (NYSE CCJ) announced production cuts.

Uranium Spot Prices Continue To Decline

Spot uranium prices are at levels not seen since January 2006. Amid the credit crisis many utilities are holding back on purchases.

TradeTech’s Uranium Spot Price Indicator dropped $4.00 this week to $47.00 per pound U3O8.

Strike Halts Uranium One Operations

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Uranium-miner Uranium One has temporarily suspended mine operations at its troubled Dominion project, near Klerksdorp, in South Africa, after it was unable to reach an agreement with striking workers.

The miner said in a statement to shareholders on Monday that the move follows labour disruptions last week, which had culminated in a general illegal strike.

Most of the labour force at Dominion had refused to return to work, despite a court order, issued by the Labour Court of South Africa on October 9, which prohibited the continuation of the illegal strike.

Subsequently, Uranium One had, on Friday, started issuing termination notices to the striking workers at Dominion.

"In the meantime, the company is actively exploring all options available to it at Dominion," the company said in a statement to shareholders.

On October 8, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had reported that workers were failing to go to work at the project, as they were being threatened by a group of armed men.

The group of armed men were recently dismissed by the mine and had started calling themselves the "crisis committee", said the NUM.

Uranium Leader Cameco Trading Below Net Asset Value

Shares of uranium producer Cameco (NYSE CCJ) are 50% off their highs and are now trading below net asset value.

Desjardins Securities analyst John Redstone:

"Previous valuations accorded by the market used earnings with a high multiple based on the anticipation of a sharp increase in the price of uranium, he said in a note to clients. "Since then, however, the price has dropped considerably to US$53 from a high of US$146. It is highly debatable whether such high multiples will be applied anymore."

Mr. Redstone said he still believes Cameco stock can rise to its net asset value, adjusting his price target from $34.20 to $29.55. Reflecting the current share price, he also upgraded his recommendation from "hold" to "buy."

Uranium Supporters Score Political Victory In WA

The pro-uranium mining stance of Colin Barnett's newly installed Western Australia Government will spark a significant drilling program in the state that is likely to deliver billions of dollars to both state and federal coffers, according to analysts and the industry.

The most advanced uranium projects in Western Australia include BHP Billiton's Yeelirrie project, the Cameco-Mitsubishi's Kintyre joint-venture, Energy and Minerals Australia's Mulga Rocks and Paladin's Oobagooma/Yampi and Manyingee projects.

continued.....

Uranium Industry Faces Labor Shortage

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - The growing uranium and wind industries in Wyoming both face constraints with finding workers, panelists at an energy economics summit said.

Wyoming has seen rapid growth recently in wind projects, and uranium companies are looking to ramp up mining in the state. Both must compete for workers with the booming oil, gas and coal industries.

"Labor is an issue, skilled labor, top to bottom," Glenn Catchpole, president of Uranerz Energy Corp. in Casper, said during a break in Thursday's summit held at the University of Wyoming.

Chuck Foldenauer of Cameco Resources, which operates the only active uranium mine in Wyoming near Glenrock, said uranium mining companies are in need of workers for jobs ranging from construction to chemists.

"As the coal mines expand, and they are, and as more uranium mines come into production, and they will, it's just going to continue to be a very difficult problem," Foldenauer said.

Cameco employs 160 people in Wyoming and is currently looking to fill 30 additional positions, he said.

"I think availability of managers and geologists has definitely slowed down some projects with our company as well as other companies and other industries," Foldenauer said.

In trying to fill the jobs, Cameco is recruiting in Wyoming and nationwide, working with colleges and improving wages and benefits, he said.

Jonathon Naughton, director of the UW Wind Energy Research Center, said the rapidly growing wind energy industry has resulted in a need for more workers in the field.

"They can't hire the people they need for wind energy," Naughton said.

Last year, installed capacity of wind generated energy in the United States increased by 50 percent, he said.

Don Blackmon, faculty associate for freshman engineering and advising at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said the United States has been short about 400,000 graduate engineering students the last four or five years.

"It's literally any engineering discipline that you could look at," Blackmon said.

Uranium Spot Price Unchanged

Ux consulting reports that spot uranium U3O8 was unchanged as of August 4, trading at $64.50 USD/LB.

The uranium futures market is showing a moderately bullish outlook with December 2008 uranium futures last settling at $72 USD on the NYMEX.

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain is calling for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030.


Senator McCain stated.........
"Every year, these reactors alone spare the atmosphere from the equivalent of nearly all auto emissions in America. Yet for all these benefits, we have not broken ground on a single nuclear plant in over thirty years,"....."And our manufacturing base to even construct these plants is almost gone."

In addition to the 45 new reactors by 2030 the McCain plan also outline a goal of an additional 55 nuclear reactors to serve the US market.
McCain outlines nuclear plan

Analysts Predict Uranium Prices To Stabilize

Industry analysts John Redstone and John Hughes of Desjardins Securities are predicting that uranium prices will begin to consolidate and settle around $60 US.

"We expect supply growth to match our most aggressive demand growth profile, keeping total inventories well above adequate levels," they wrote in a note to clients.

Article/Report

Cameco Warns Of Possible Contamination

Ottawa (NYT)---- Cameco (NYSE CCJ) the world’s largest uranium producer, has told the Canadian nuclear regulator that its refinery might have leaked uranium, arsenic and fluorides into Lake Ontario.

The plant at Port Hope, Ontario, across the lake from Rochester and down the shore from Toronto, first refined uranium for the Manhattan Project during World War II. It has been temporarily closed since July to remove contaminated soil.

“We’re anticipating that material may have been entering the harbor,” Mr. Krahn said, adding that Cameco did not know how long it would take to confirm any possible pollution.

Continued New York Times

Cameco Net Income Doubles

Cameco (NYSE CCJ) announced that first quarter net income more than doubled to $133 million as uranium demand resulted in increased sales.

The Toronto Star reports........

Cameco, the world's top uranium producer, earned $133 million, or 37 cents a share, in the quarter ended March 31. That was up from $59 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

The profit was shy of the 40 cents a share expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

The May 2, 2008 spot price for uranium provided by the Ux Consulting Company LLC was $65.00 US per pound.

Ux Consulting reports that spot uranium prices are unchanged as of 4-28-08 at $65USD per pound.

Uranium Spot Price Posts Further Decline

Ux Consulting reports spot uranium prices down $3USD to $65USD per pound.

TradeTech reports a decline of $4USD to $64USD.

Uranium Hits 16 Month Low

TradeTech reports that Uranium oxide for immediate delivery fell to $69 a pound, down $2 from the previous week.

``Although recent transactions have absorbed a significant quantity of supply from the spot market, additional supply continues to emerge,'' TradeTech said.

Uranium Sector Moves Higher Amid Takeover Rumors

Cameco and Uranium One are seeing increased buying interest following a signal that China Nuclear Corp. is seeking acquisitions and partnerships with Canadian uranium producers.

``It's definitely a bullish development for the uranium space,''....... ``It signals China entering the nuclear space and the uranium space in a big way.''.....analyst Max Layton quoted in Bloomberg.

Ux Consulting reports that spot uranium prices declined $2.00 U.S. per lb last week to $71.00 USD.

Uranium oxide inventories continue to build due to reduced processing capabilities. Cameco's (NYSE CCJ) processing plant remains offline and is not expected to resume production until the fourth quarter of 2008. Cameco's facility processes approximately thirty percent of the world's uranium oxide.

Shares of uranium provider USEC (NYSE USU) hit resistance at the 50 day moving average of $6.19 before closing slightly lower at $5.24, down 2 cents from Thursday.

Shares of Usec (NYSE USU) rocketed up more than 27% on Thursday.

"We are not hearing any rumors or news responsible for the bullish activity. But obviously people are betting that USEC shares might be running to fill the gap left on the charts created when they warned on Feb. 26 that their outlook would not match street estimates," said Jon Najarian, a founder of Web information site optionmonster.com in Chicago.

Uranium's Renaissance In The Age Of Global Warming

Uranium Spot Price
as of March 24, 2008
u3o8 (lb) $73 USD down $1 USD
quote from Ux Consulting

President Bush Promotes Nuclear At Renewable Energy Conference

Excerpt from speech to Washington International Renewable Energy Conference.

.......And the truth of the matter is, you've got to be -- have a growing economy to be able to afford these technologies in the first place. So here are some ways that we're dealing with the issue of electricity. One, I strongly believe the United States must promote nuclear power here in the United States. Nuclear power -- (applause) -- if you're interested in economic growth and environmental stewardship, there's no better way to achieve both of them than through the promotion of nuclear power. Nuclear power is limitless. It's one existing source that generates a massive amount of electricity without causing air pollution or any greenhouse gases.

And yet the United States -- we haven't built any nuclear power plants in a long time. We have a promising technology available and yet we're stuck -- until recently. All of our citizens probably don't understand, but France, our ally and friend, gets nearly 80 percent of its power from nuclear power. Isn't that an amazing statistic? It's time for America to change.

My administration is working to eliminate the barriers to development of nuclear power plants. Last year we invested more than $300 million in nuclear energy technologies. We want our people to understand that this generation of nuclear power plants is safe. We want people to feel comfortable about the expansion of nuclear power.

There's regulatory uncertainty when it comes to permitting plants in the United States. You can't expect somebody to invest a lot of money and have the regulatory process at the very end stop that capital from being deployed. It makes no sense. Just like tax policy has to be certain, so does regulatory policy have to create a sense of certainty in order to get people to invest.

So in the energy bill I signed in 2005, we began to address that uncertainty with federal risk insurance for those who build nuclear power plants. This insurance protects the builders of the first six new plants against lawsuits -- we got a lot of them in America, by the way; too many lawsuits, in my judgment -- against bureaucratic obstacles and against delays beyond the -- that would cause people to hesitate to participate in this program.

We've also launched a program called Nuclear Power 2010. Sam Bodman is in charge of all these. It's a partnership between our industry and the U.S. government. Since we've started these programs, we've received six applications to build and operate new nuclear power plants in the United States. The paradigm is beginning to shift. And we anticipate that another 13 applications will be submitted this year.

Many of the construction projects will be supported by $18.5 billion in loan guarantees provided by the government. By the way, that's part of a loan-guarantee projects that we got out of Congress -- $18 billion for the nukes, $10 billion for renewable energy expansions in the United States. (Applause.) This will enable our plant owners -- guys that are applying for loans -- (laughter) -- the whole purpose is, is we want to expand our nuclear power industry. And we're taking specific actions to do it.
Speech transcript on WhiteHouse.gov

Facts from World Nuclear Association.....Mining companies produced 39,429 tons of uranium in 2006 (the most recent year for which data is available). This represents only 62 percent of the world's nuclear reactor demand.

Australia, Canada and Kazakhstan produce more than half of the world's uranium supply. In 2007 Australia and Kazakhstan posted gains in output while Canada's uranium production declined.

Virginia legislators derail uranium mining study

Efforts to study development of the uranium deposits of Pittsylvania County failed to win favor in the conference committee of the Virginia legislature.

“We took it out,” said Del. Clarke Hogan, R-Halifax, one of the 12 conferees.
“We said, ‘we’re not going to put that in the budget,’” Hogan said, speaking for the House’s six members of the conference committee.
“That was the end of that. It wasn’t something we debated,” Hogan said.

The Virginia General Assembly plans to study a proposal to develop what is described as " the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the U.S".

The site in Pittsylvania County, Virginia is estimated to contain as much as $10 billion of uranium ore.

The state of Virginia has banned uranium mining since 1983.

Virginia Uranium Inc. has offered up to $1M to fund the study.

Ian Howat, an analyst at National Bank Financial, is cited in today's Globe and Mail as having a bullish outlook for Cameco (NYSE CCJ).

Howat stated in a research report "We still view Cameco as the premier way to play the uranium markets for which we still have a positive outlook even though we have lowered our near-term prices".

Howat predicts CCJ will hit $44 within the next 12 months.