The cold, hard reality of Cigar Lake’s lost uranium production...

The cold, hard reality of Cigar Lake’s lost uranium production dawned upon the crowd of uranium suppliers, near-term producers, fuel brokers and global utility fuel managers when the announcement was made at the commencement of last week’s Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Annual Uranium Conference in Quebec City. Cigar Lake’s mine flood was the big story – the trapdoor that spelled ‘doom’ for utilities lacking secure uranium supply sources beyond 2008.

Investors quickly reacted to the news with frenzied bidding for shares in near-term producers SXR Uranium One and Paladin Resources. Potential near-term producers Energy Metals Corp and UR-Energy got the nod. Others among this elite category began attracting the aggressive investor dollars: Forsys Metals, Uranerz Energy and Strathmore Minerals.

Logic dictated the loss of Cigar Lake would drive up the uranium price much higher, possibly to the very limit utilities might pay for nuclear fuel to ensure their reactors would not be closed down for lack of the now very-precious uranium oxide. “Where is the safe haven for my money?” investors asked. On the face of it, the answers appeared to be simple: (a) go the near-term producers and (b) uranium friendly U.S. states, such as Wyoming and Texas.


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