Since the mid-1980s uranium demand has outstripped uranium
production, with the difference being made up from secondary sources
of supply, such as the uranium liberated under the US-Russian
high-enriched uranium (HEU) agreement, and from other inventory
supplies. According to the World Nuclear Association, the world's
reactors will consume about 177.7-mil pounds of U3O8 in 2005, but in
2004 the world's mines produced only about 104.7-mil pounds.
According to Cameco Corp., the world's leading uranium producer,
through 2014 existing sources of uranium could fall some 375-mil
pounds short of consumption.
Established uranium companies have now--given the rise in
prices--beefed up their exploration programs and many "junior"
uranium companies are capitalizing on investors' renewed interest in
uranium to look at bringing many previously explored properties into
production.
But so far the only two new juniors have firm plans to bring
uranium mines into production this year--Australia's Paladin
Resources Ltd. with its Langer Heinrich open-pit mine in Namibia and
Mestena Uranium LLC with its Alta Mesa in situ leach operation in
Texas. Finding and developing a new world-class uranium deposit can
take many years, and may depend on a whole new generation of mining
engineers becoming interested in the uranium business.
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