Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel on GLE and SLX

Cameco's Q4 investors report yesterday had some interesting questions and answers

Cameco Corporation (CCJ)CEO Tim Gitzel on Q4 2018 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Brian MacArthur

And the second thing just any industry, there has been a little more chatter about GLE actually going somewhere. Can you just update us on what's actually going on there?

Tim Gitzel

Yes, Brian, you've seen in the press reports from last week that an arrangement was made with us Cameco and Silex to take control of GLE from GE Hitachi. It’s a -- and you will see the contents of the deal. We didn't pay a lot upfront. That’s a technology that we think has a future. We really do. I'm not sure when in the future, but it was just something we didn’t want to see disappear and so we were able among the partners to strike a deal to take over the technology. We will be moving in along not at a rapid pace or not an expensive pace, but we will be moving it along. And so, that's where it's at today. In a better market and I joke with Grant that I was around to see the enrichment technology move from gaseous to fusion to centrifuge. We think this is an excellent that’s coming in the future we just don’t know when.

Brian MacArthur

But if prices they go up back to 50, you reopener your Tier1. Would it have a higher capital priority than reopening say your Tier 2 assets?

Tim Gitzel

That’s not even in our consideration Brian, not at the movement.

 

Operator

Our next question comes from John Tumazos with John Tumazos Very Independent Research. Please go ahead.

John Tumazos

There is some indications of slower economic growth in some places in the world. European auto sales were down about 8% late last year, Chinese 12% in the second half. China was exporting LNG are reselling at the Japan in the last few months. And they ended up not cutting I'll put in a lot of industries as they had last winter or the increased 10%. Are you concerned that the macroeconomic picture will impact the uranium market?

Tim Gitzel

That's a great question, John. This is a long-term game, as we've always talked about and if you want to talk from 30,000 foot level, we're talking about 7 billion people on the planet, 2 billion, no electricity, 2 billion more coming in rapidly growing economies that are going to need electricity in a now world, that's pretty concerned, I think with global warming and climate change, and especially clean air. And so, you see out of the U.S. and knew these new deal green plans, and everybody is got a plan and they all involve, I think, wind and solar which is wonderful.

But I think you've got to have something to back it up, and we really believe that there's a role for nuclear and we're seeing countries that have recognized that China, India, South Korea that are now in the Arab states so nuclear is both growth and replacement and for moving enough of coal and other carbon there is a roll for nuclear so we try not to go by the quarter-by-quarter growths in any country we look at the long-term picture and we think there is a big role to play for nuclear.

Operator

Our next question comes from Philip Chaffee with Energy Intelligence. Please go ahead.

Philip Chaffee

I just had quick follow-ups on those GLE questions. The first I'm just curious if you see this as an enrichment play or as a uranium play, particularly this prospect of [Indiscernible] enrichment plant. And then secondly, as part of that deal it sounds like there was just option for Cameco to increase its stake to 75% in GLE. I'm just curious what you would be looking to see before you did something like that?

Tim Gitzel

Thanks Philip. And I thought your article nailed this pretty good quite frankly on the February 8th. It's both an enrichment and a U play for us, we're quite interested in those GLE tales and they are quite interested in our technology and two together could make for a happy marriage, we think someday so that piece is out there. And then as I said, we think this is next-generation technology on enrichment and are we there yet no we don’t have the plans yet, but there -- when we were doing the gaseous diffusion nobody thought about centrifuge, and not it's all centrifuge. And we think laser beams are going to be the way the future. So it's both for us.

Now, we wanted to keep an option to move a little higher in the equity part, if the conditions were right. So, right now, I have this deal goes ahead than we have a term sheet, but if it went ahead it's a 51:49 split, but we do have the optionality to go up to 75%, if the conditions are right. So, that's were that's where we are at and will see -- I can't tell you what those conditions are at the moment, but that's it's where we are today.