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Wyoming mines affected by low uranium prices
May 29, 2014

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Some uranium producers in Wyoming say they're being affected by weak demand that has caused prices for the nuclear fuel to slip to their lowest level in eight years.

Spot prices for yellowcake are down to $28 per pound. That's as low as they've been since 2006 and down from $75 per pound in 2011.


Prices are weak while Japanese nuclear plants remain shut down following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Meanwhile, U.S. utilities largely have booked their uranium purchases through 2016, meaning there is little demand for additional yellowcake on the spot market.

"Although there is a long-term supply deficit, the current situation is that we have oversupply due to excess inventories," said Rob Chang, an industry analyst at the New York-based investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald.

Wyoming is among the top uranium-producing states. Wyoming's uranium mines employ a process of dissolving uranium out of underground deposits and then pumping the ore-containing solution to the surface through wells.

Uranium One has stopped drilling new uranium wells and laid off eight employees since last year, said Donna Wichers, Uranium One vice president for the Americas.

"At $28 a pound you can imagine what that is doing to us," Wichers said.

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