70 starters for yellowcake cup

Interesting article from the Uranium conference in Freo, especially the very last line. Bodes well for CMR as we could be up and running within 4-5 years.

Cheers all.. TCG


Global uranium exploration spend to hit $US185m


Ben Sharples


Wednesday, October 12, 2005
THE number of players searching for the hottest commodity in town has surged exponentially over the past two years, with expenditure on uranium exploration in Australia expected to triple this year.

During a speech at the Australian Uranium Conference in Fremantle yesterday, Cameco Australia's exploration manager Ron Matthews said over the past two years 65 players had joined in the hunt for yellowcake in Australia.

"In 2003 just five companies were actively exploring, 15 in 2004, and today over 70," Matthews said. "There has been incredible growth over the last twelve months [in Australia] with roughly 283 active projects."

On the exploration expenditure front, Matthews said despite tapering off during the late 1980s and 90s, an increasing spot price had perked people's interest with worldwide expenditure expected to hit $US185 million in 2005, up from $US55 million in 2000, and expenditure in Australia expected to triple on last year's figure to $40 million.

Matthews also gave an insight into what it costs to get a successful mining operation off the ground - based on the Canadian experience – indicating the cost of finding and economic discovery was in the order of $C65 million ($A73.5 million) to $C90 million, taking around 25 years from discovery to first production.