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urAniuM

As the uranium sector begins to

simmer once again, Paydirt looks

back at its coverage of the last

uranium bull market

2004-2006 with China alone planning more than 60, Borshoff was certain
the company was timing its run to production at its Langer Hein-
rich mine in Namibia perfectly.
Markets were beginning to appreciate the argument. Spot
prices rose from $US10/lb at the turn of the millennium to
$US25/lb in April 2005 and $US41.50/lb by April 2006.
Politically, the mood was also starting to turn. For 20 years the
Australian Labor Party (ALP) had been opposed to the construc-
tion of new uranium mines but with the country’s undoubted re-
source potential, the policy was up for continued public debate.

t may have been a little slower than other commodities to get 2007-2010
Ion, but when uranium eventually caught the China Commodi-
ties Super Cycle wave in 2004, the sector quickly got the ride of
its life.
At the beginning of 2004, nuclear fuel was entering its sec-
ond decade of oversupply, accidents at Three Mile Island and
Chernobyl, and the de-escalation of Cold War hostilities kept
demand in check and non-mine supply of uranium abundant.
By the end of the year, however, signs were beginning to
emerge that a new generation of uranium explorers would find
space in a market now dominated by four key players; French
group Cogema (now Areva), Canadian miner Cameco Corp,
Rio Tinto Ltd and WMC (now BHP Ltd).
It was a situation John Borshoff, managing director of the only hree years later, Borshoff was looking like a nuclear Nos-
ASX-listed uranium explorer, Paladin Resources (now Energy) Ttradamus. By the time of the second Paydirt Uranium Con-
Ltd, had been preparing himself for over the last decade. ference in February 2007, yellowcake spot prices had reached
“We are now in a period when supply shortages are predict- $US70/lb as decades of underinvestment began to show.
ed and new mine production is essential,” Borshoff said at the The big company dominance was also starting to break. Paladin
2004 Africa Down Under Conference. had opened its Langer Heinrich mine in December 2006 and
At the time, there were 440 nuclear reactors in operation but quickly ramped up production to 1,180 tpa of uranium oxide by

Page 38 aPRIL 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT