U3O8 Uranium.

[stolwyk]

I think that "61 mill tonnes" is incorrect. It could be 61 mill lbs but I doubt it.

The US gets much of the weapons derived uranium from Russia and Putin wants higher prices from the US. These deliveries date back to the nineties prior to Putin arriving on the scene.

Graph:
http://www.uxc.com/fuelcycle/uranium...d-vs-reqt.html

Gerry

[Skol]

Must admit, had my doubts about 61m tonnes.
Cheers

[nell]

It has just knocked a bit of steam out of the Uranium stocks. I would assume a nice bounce back if article is incorrect.

[Skol]

Clarification from the author of the above article in the 'Australian'.
Meant to be metric tonne units (1/100th of a tonne).

[Moonshine]

http://www.stockinterview.com/News/1...ng-frenzy.html

Largest Weekly Spot Uranium Price Jump in History

‘Feeding Frenzy’ Sends Weekly Spot Uranium Price to Record $72/Pound

[Snopig]

U308 $72.00

[steve fleming]

RCR Uranium Sector Review December 2006 Report Now Available

Available from http://www.rcresearch.com.au/index

[steve fleming]

quote:Originally posted by steve fleming

RCR Uranium Sector Review December 2006 Report Now Available

Available from http://www.rcresearch.com.au/index

Summary of above from miningnews.net
---------------------------------------------------
Rampant uranium price to continue into 2008

Wednesday, 20 December 2006
Paul Garvey

THE current boom in uranium prices is nowhere near slowing, says Resource Capital Research, with the group forecasting a rise in the price of uranium to $US90 per pound by mid-2007 and $115/lb by late 2008.



The price of uranium this week cracked through the $70/lb mark for the first time, with Ux Consulting putting the price of uranium oxide at $72.50.

However, RCR says that despite a 64% rise in the price of uranium over the past six months, uranium can add another 37% by the middle of next year.

RCR's bullish outlook for uranium is driven by the impact of delays at Cameco's developing Cigar Lake underground project in Canada, which earlier this year was affected by severe flooding.

In addition, the number of planned and proposed nuclear power plants has also continued to grow, with RCR saying an additional 70 reactors had been added since May to the 153 facilities already in the pipeline. There are currently 442 reactors in operation worldwide.

In RCR's latest Uranium Sector Review, the researchers said its selection of 65 Australian uranium junior stocks had outperformed its selection of 92 Canadian uranium explorers, with the market valuation of the Australian basket improving by 186% compared to Canada's 143%.

RCR's research also identified the big spenders among Australia's uranium explorers, with Equinox Minerals, Paladin Resources and Energy Resources Australia filling the first three positions, respectively.

Among the junior stocks, PepinNini Minerals has the biggest uranium exploration budget for 2007, ahead of Wildhorse Energy, Southern Gold and Energy Metals.

[steve fleming]

Story in today's SMH:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/...895360418.html

Uranium miners prepare for a glowing futureBarry FitzGerald
December 28, 2006

URANIUM stocks are finishing the year on a high in response to the mushrooming price of the radioactive material.

Spot prices recently hit $US72 a pound, double the price at the start of this year and a 605 per cent increase on the December 2002 price of $US10.20 a pound.

The price surge reflects the potential for near-term supply shortages at a time when nuclear power is enjoying unprecedented acceptance because of its role in fighting global warming.

Always ready to respond to a commodity price surge, the Australian mining and exploration industry has reacted with gusto. While there are only two listed uranium-only producers (ERA and Paladin), the number of companies that now claim to be involved in exploration is approaching 100.

Investors have joined the nuclear party by driving equity values sharply higher. At its closing price yesterday of $19.94, ERA is sporting a 100 per cent gain for the year. Paladin's close of $8.25 gives it a 325 per cent gain for the year.

Dozens of explorers and would-be developers have done better still.

They include Alliance Resources (up 1046 per cent in the year to date), Nova Energy (up 333 per cent), PepinNini (379 per cent), Summit Resources (373 per cent) and Compass (311 per cent).

While other metal prices enter 2007 with a generally weaker price outlook, uranium is forecast to remain strong.

Sydney equity research group Resource Capital Research (RCR) has forecast that the uranium price could reach $US90 a pound by mid-2007, a rise of 25 per cent on the current spot price, and $US115 a pound by 2008, an increase of 59 per cent on the spot price.

In his December quarter review of the uranium sector, RCR analyst John Wilson said there had been a dramatic increase between May and November in the number of planned and proposed nuclear power plants, with the total increasing by 70 reactors to 223.

The main nominated increases in planned and proposed reactors were in China (up from 24 to 63), Russia (nine to 26) and the United States (13 to 23).

That has increased pressure on new mine supplies to respond to demand.

For the past 20 years, the world's mines have met about two-thirds of global demand, with the remainder coming from inventories and the conversion of weapons-grade material under various nuclear disarmament treaties.

Some analysts predict that with the running down of weapons-grade material, mine supply plus inventory might not be enough to meet global demand in the near term.

Also driving the uranium price higher was the flooding in October of the Cigar Lake uranium project in Canada.

First production from the high-grade operation is not now expected until 2010, effectively delaying 37 per cent of the new uranium supply previously forecast to be available before then.

The World Nuclear Association has forecast that uranium demand could rise from about 65,000 tonnes in 2006 to 78,000 tonnes in 2015 and to 111,000 tonnes in 2030. Australia is poised to cash in on that growth, with BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam project in South Australia planning to at least triple annual production to 15,000 tonnes.

And subject to state Labor governments in Western Australia and Queensland lifting bans on uranium mining, the number of Australian mines could easily double before 2010, albeit from a current low base of four operations - Olympic Dam, Ranger, Beverley and Honeymoon.

The reporter owns BHP shares.

[steve fleming]

Very significant day today for the Australian Uranium Industry!!:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/...895423536.html

Report backs uranium industry
Mark Davis Political Correspondent
December 29, 2006

Australia should move quickly to export more uranium and could generate significant environmental benefits by developing a greenhouse-friendly nuclear power industry, a report for the Federal Government says.

The Prime Minister is expected to make public today the final report from a taskforce that has been examining whether Australia should move further into the nuclear fuel cycle.

The taskforce, headed by the former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski, issued a draft report in November calling for a major expansion of uranium mining in Australia while offering more qualified backing for domestic uranium processing and nuclear power.

It is understood the final version of the report, which was handed to John Howard last week, confirms most of the conclusions from the earlier draft while including considerably more material to support its findings.

Mr Howard will use the report to continue his campaign to persuade state Labor governments to remove restrictions on approving new uranium mines under the ALP's no-new-mines policy.

Mr Howard says there should be a community debate over expanding the uranium industry and has suggested nuclear power generation would have environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Labor leader, Kevin Rudd, has pledged to push for a change in the ALP policy against expanding uranium mining but will face opposition from the party's Left. However, Labor's factions are united in opposing nuclear power, and the Opposition has said it will campaign against the Government on the issue at the next federal election.

Today's report will give Mr Howard ammunition for this debate. It is understood to estimate that Australia could double its earnings from exporting uranium oxide to more than $1 billion a year by the end of the decade.
Production in Australia is set to rise from the record 12,360 tonnes of yellowcake last year to more than 20,000 tonnes by 2014-15.

The report says growth in global demand for uranium to fuel nuclear power industries provides Australia with a timely opportunity to expand the mining if barriers such as skills shortages and state government restrictions were removed.

It points to a strong increase in exploration activity in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory and concludes that there are many areas with the potential to yield uranium in coming years.

On the issue of whether Australia should allow local uranium conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication, the report says this could more than quadruple the value of locally mined uranium.

But the report expresses doubts about the feasibility of a full-blown uranium processing industry in Australia, saying access to enrichment technology would be a big barrier.

It is more positive about the feasibility of a local nuclear power industry, saying that if regulatory barriers were surmounted nuclear reactors could be generating electricity in Australia within 15 years.