Australia’s Ranger uranium mine ceases production

Era has operated the Ranger mine since 1980, producing about 132,000 tonnes of uranium oxide. (Image courtesy of Energy Resources of Australia.) Energy Resources of Australia (ASX: ERA) has ceased production at its Ranger uranium mine in the country’s Northern Territory after 40 years of operations. The company will now move to the rehabilitation phase …

Top uranium miner Kazatomprom sells 49% interest in two mines to China’s CGN

The world’s largest uranium producer Kazatomprom and China’s CGN Mining announced today that Kazatomprom will sell to CGN up to a 49% interest in its wholly owned subsidiary, Ortalyk, on market terms determined by a third-party valuation. Ortalyk owns 100% interest in the Mynkuduk and Zhalpak uranium deposits in Kazakhstan. Mynkuduk has a designed capacity …

Adequate uranium to meet demand, latest Red Book concludes

Sufficient uranium resources exist to support the long-term, sustainable use of nuclear energy, according to the latest edition of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) joint report on uranium resources, production and demand. However, the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the industry and recent reductions in uranium …

New stimulus bill includes $35.2 billion for new energy initiatives

The new economic stimulus proposal that has been approved by Congress includes roughly $35.2 billion for energy initiatives, according to summary documents seen by TechCrunch. “This is probably the biggest energy bill we’ve seen in a decade,” said policy analyst Dr. Leah Stokes, an Assistant Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management …

Russian NPPs fulfilled the annual plan for electricity generation ahead of schedule, generating 207.614 billion kWh

Last weekend, Russian nuclear power plants (branches of Rosenergoatom JSC, part of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom) fulfilled ahead of schedule the annual state task of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to generate electricity in the amount of 207.614 billion kWh. During the same period in 2019, 202.124 billion kWh were generated. Despite a …

Major mine shutdown could give red hot uranium stocks another boost

The world’s largest operating uranium mine will be temporarily suspended, further disrupting a market “already coiled like a spring”. In 2020, COVID-19 interruptions to uranium supply has doubled the structural deficit – the difference between supply and demand — to 40 million pounds. That’s more than 20 per cent of annual uranium consumption. Yesterday, major …

Cigar Lake suspended due to COVID-19

Canadian uranium miner Cameco has opted to temporarily suspend operations are its Cigar Lake operation in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, due to increasing risks posed by COVID-19. The company said that the entire province has been experiencing a “significant negative trend in the pandemic” that has left Cameco uncertain for the mine’s continuous operation as the pool of …

Nuclear electricity costs set to decrease, study finds

The levelised costs of electricity generation of low-carbon generation technologies are falling and are increasingly below the costs of conventional fossil fuel generation, according to a report by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The cost of electricity from new nuclear power plants remains stable, yet electricity from the …