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.
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.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Energy Resources of Australia forecast that long term demand for uranium remains strong.
ERA, which is 68% owned by Rio Tinto, forecasts that demand will remain strong, despite recent weakness in spot prices.
Uranium long term market prices in September settled at $95 US dollars per pound. During the same period in 2006 prices were $54 USD per pound. Uranium prices have begun to rebound after 16 weeks of falling or flat prices.
TradeTech LLC reported Monday that spot uranium price rose $3 USD to $78 USD per pound. Spot uranium hit a high of $138 USD in June.
December 2007 Contract
$85
January 2008 Contract
$90
February 2008 Contract
$90
The uranium bull market has dramatically increased the market caps of uranium producers. The world's largest uranium miner, Cameco Corp., is seeking to increase production while avoiding paying inflated prices for smaller uranium producers.
Other large uranium player such as Uranium One and Areva have spent billions this year making acquisitions. In contrast, Cameco is choosing to make smaller investments in joint ventures with smaller uranium prospectors. These joint ventures provide powerful leverage for Cameco, giving the company up to 70% stakes in prospective developments.
Recent Cameco investments and joint ventures:
Cameco acquired a 10% stake in Western Uranium for $20.5 million.
Cameco acquired 19.5% of UNOR inc.
$19 million investment in Cue Capital to explore for uranium in Paraguay.
Joint venture with Vena Resources to explore for uranium in Peru.
Cameco issued the following information in a press release on Thursday........
The following information provides an update on major activities at Cigar Lake since the second quarter report.
Cameco continues to make progress on its remediation plan, following the flooding of the underground development at Cigar Lake last year. The initial remediation activities included drilling holes to the source of the inflow and to a nearby tunnel, pumping concrete through the drill holes, sealing off the inflow with grout and drilling dewatering holes. Regulatory approval is required for each phase of the remediation plan.
All of the holes for pouring concrete and dewatering are now complete as well as reinforcement of the adjacent tunnel. Pouring of the concrete plug in the tunnel at the vicinity of the inflow began at the end of July and is nearly complete. Pouring cement and injecting grout into the rock fall pile and up into the location of the water inflow source has commenced and at this point it is expected to take another six to 10 weeks to complete. The effectiveness of the plug will need to be assessed and will not be known until dewatering is underway.
Cameco is also drilling a number of new diamond drill holes to assess the pore water pressure and rock quality and structure to determine if depressurization, reinforcement or other precautionary measures may be necessary in two other areas of the mine prior to dewatering. We expect this assessment to be complete by year end.
The next steps of the remediation will include dewatering the mine, verifying that the inflow is sufficiently sealed, and installing the contingency surface freezing pipes, if required. Subsequent remediation activities will include restoring underground areas and resumption of mine development and may include ground freezing in the area of the inflow. Following regulatory approval, dewatering pumps and infrastructure are now installed and electrical work is underway.
A revised production forecast will be provided after the decision is made on the timing of the second shaft completion, the mine has been dewatered and the condition of the underground development has been assessed. As previously announced, completing the second shaft as a priority item and the delay in some remediation activities would set back the planned production startup date from 2010 to 2011.
This update on Cigar Lake will replace the scheduled update for September 19 unless there are material developments to report. The next update will be available with the third quarter report.
The scientific and technical information related to Cigar Lake in this news release was prepared under the supervision of C. Scott Bishop, a professional engineer employed by Cameco as the chief mine engineer of the Cigar Lake project and a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101.
Uranium producer Cameco has announced that it will repurchase up to 5% of the company's common shares. This represents an investment of roughly $750 million based on today's trading price.
"Cameco's strong financial position provides us with the opportunity to invest further in the nuclear industry," said Jerry Grandey, Cameco's president and CEO. "We are committed to strengthening our core asset base for the long term. And, in the near term, as attractive assets have not been available at reasonable valuations, the best investment today is repurchasing our own shares."
Cameco plans to use cash on hand to finance the stock repurchase and will purchase the shares on the open market between September 11 2007 and September 10 2008.
December 2007 Contract
$80
January 2008 Contract
$80
March 2008 Contract
$80
Ux Consulting lowered its spot price Uranium indicator to $90 (US) on Monday, down from $105 the previous week.
TradeTech continues to price spot Uranium at $105.
NYMEX Uranium futures are also under pressure with the December 2007 contracts hitting $68 per pound.
Uranium prices have been under pressure due to weak demand from speculators as well as seasonal shifts within the nuclear industry.
December 2007 Contract
$70
January 2008 Contract
$70
March 2008 Contract
$80
September 2008 Contract
$85
December 2007 Contract
$109
January 2008 Contract
$99
March 2008 Contract
$99
ADVFN is an excellent resource for uranium news and analysis.
Russia's oldest investment bank Troika Dialog is forecasting that Uranium prices may fall as low as $95 per pound within the next few months. However, Troika reiterated its target price of $115 for 2007 and $140 for 2008.
"We expect price growth to resume in autumn, when the active purchasing season starts," Mikhail Stiskin, an analyst at Troika Dialog stated in a report issued this week.
Ux Consulting reports that spot prices for Uranium slipped to $110 a pound for the week ending August 4.
Prices have been pressured by The U.S. Department of Energy’s sale of up to 200 tons of uranium hexafluoride (UF6,). Bids for this sale are due August 17.
July 2007 Contract
$120
December 2007 Contract
$118
January 2008 Contract
$118
February 2008 Contract
$118
July 2007 Contract
$120
December 2007 Contract
$118
January 2008 Contract
$118
February 2008 Contract
$118
ADVFN is an excellent resource for uranium news and analysis.
Cameco Corp.'s recent production disruptions could lead to a spike in Uranium prices.
On Friday Cameco announced that it was suspending operations at its Port Hope uranium conversion plant after uranium was found in the soil beneath the plant. Cameco has not speculated on the cost of the delay which is anticipated to last at least two months.
Spot uranium prices have been slipping in recent weeks but the loss of Cameco's conversion facility is likely to impact the supply of UF6 to the point where prices will be pushed upward.
July 2007 Contract
$140
December 2007 Contract
$140
January 2008 Contract
$152
The New Uranium Thread on the ADVFN
