LAS VEGAS--(Mineweb.com) Uranium experts asserted Thursday that, like it or not, the United States is moving toward a nuclear society, and Australia is on the verge of allowing new uranium mines.
In a panel at the Las Vegas Gold & Precious Metals Conference, Dave Miller, Chief Geologist for Strathmore Minerals, predicted that a century from now, "90% of our energy will come from nuclear power." He suggested that uranium prices are high enough to stimulate new mine production.
Mineweb columnist Doug Casey, Chairman of Casey Research, claimed that nuclear power is the safest form of mass power generation, the cleanest form of mass energy generation, and the cheapest source of power.
Miller predicted that New Mexico, which has a long history of uranium mining for government purposes, will again allow the mining of uranium.
Marc Henderson, President of Laramide Resources, suggested mining investors "watch what the politicians of the world are doing, not what they are saying" when it comes to nuclear energy." For instance, one of the most environmentally conscious nations in the world, Sweden, gets half its power from nuclear energy, he noted.
Casey asserted that the real problem for uranium miners "is the politics of permitting," resulting in decade-long permitting timetables for project approval. Nevertheless, as oil continues to get more expensive, Casey feels interest in nuclear energy will become even stronger in the United States.
Miller noted that only one state, Virginia, has actually banned uranium mining. He also suggested that former uranium producer New Mexico will resume uranium mining,
Even Australia, which Henderson called the "Saudi Arabia of uranium," is rethinking its position against new uranium mines, thanks to economic and political pressures from China. In fact, he added, "we are quite surprised with the speed that the political winds are changing in Australia." Stewart Taylor, Vice President, International Operations for Maple Minerals, said he feels that "there is absolutely no problem with developing new mines in Australia. ...The situation, we feel, is going to change very quickly to be very favorable to uranium mining."
The panelists said they were more concerned about the multitude of junior companies which have jumped into uranium exploration and development, rather than the question of whether nuclear energy will become a major power source. Nevertheless, Henderson asserted that while "uranium is very abundant," it does not "aggregate well into deposits that are economic."
Taylor estimated that at least 230 junior exploration and major mining companies are currently looking for uranium. Nevertheless, he claimed only about 50 of these companies actually have uranium resources. Casey suggested that of the 140 publicly-traded companies in North America who say they are looking for uranium, "most of them aren't serious."
Casey declared that "I am not big on companies spending a lot of money finding new deposits," adding that he prefers companies that have identified historic uranium deposits. He also discounts "most of the juniors who are newbies to the game." Casey also speculated that most competent uranium mining and exploration professionals have "already been scooped up" by junior companies.
In response to a question by panel moderator Jim Dines, Casey refused to recommend any uranium exploration or mining stocks, noting that he examined 35 companies six months ago. "If you buy a stock based on a recommendation from a podium," he said, "that's a recipe for disaster."
Taylor suggested that there are a lot of uranium resources out there "that will never be mined." Maple is searching for resources "that can be mined at current prices." Therefore, "when prices go up, they make a lot of money," he added.
Taylor does not give much credence to predictions hat uranium supplies will meet demand until the year 2017 because it doesn't take into account that "so many factors could go wrong." For instance, he believes that reprocessing uranium tailings is more expensive and doesn't produce nearly the amount of energy that comes from newly mined uranium.
Miller suggested the pressure for cheaper, cleaner energy, combined with the current oil supply interruptions generated by Hurricane Katrina, may force the American public to seriously consider increased usage of nuclear energy.
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