Uranium - what are the prospects post-Fukushima?

摘要

It seems that the Fukushima Daiichi incident has been generally bad for the uranium market. The period prior to Fukushima was characterized by market prices well in excess of those of the long period of market depression in the 1980s and 1990s, with the possibility of developing new mines opening up once again. Annual world production has risen by 20,000 tonnes in the first decade of the new century, reaching 53,000 tonnes in 2010, the best level since the early 1980s. Most of the increase, however, has been concentrated in Kazakhstan, where production has risen by about 15,000 tonnes over the same relatively short time period (in nuclear terms) . The application of in situ leaching mining technology there has been very successful, leading to substantial production advances at low costs from relatively low-grade deposits. The remainder of the increase in world production has essentially been achieved by just one company, Paladin Energy, through its commissioning of two new mines in Namibia and Malawi.