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Historical uranium price 2006 - 2021

$US140

$US120

$US100

$US80

$US60

$US40

$US20
2006 2009 2012 2015 2018 2021

2011-current

the end of 2007. Behind it came a flood of ambitious ASX-listed
juniors. RCR research from March 2007 showed that the 65 jun- aydirt’s Uranium Conference 2011 had been looking like a
ior uranium explorers on the ASX were up 186% over the previ- Pcelebratory affair following uranium’s rebound from $US40/
ous 12 months, exceeding even the spot price rise. lb in May 2010 to more than $US70/lb in January 2011 However,
The juniors could be found across the globe, but the domes- the tragic events of the Japanese tsunami and subsequent ac-
tic scene was particularly fervent. In Western Australia, Nova cident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant on March 11 left
Energy was making progress on development of its Lake Way the conference, which took place 10 days later, feeling almost
and Centipede deposits near Wiluna while in South Australia, a like a wake.
slew of juniors led by Alliance Resources Ltd and Toro Energy Companies and speakers were defiant but reality soon be-
Ltd were trying to replicate the success of Heathgate Resources gan to bite. Uranium prices plunged as Japan took its nuclear
which had recently opened the Beverly mine in the State. power fleet offline, China and India suspended construction
Even by 2008, when the price was back in the $US60-70/lb programmes and established nuclear power states such as the
range following the widespread impact of the GFC, talk at Pay- US, France and Germany instigated widescale reviews of their
dirt’s Uranium Conference was about the expected rebound in systems.
uranium demand. By 2014, the spot price was below $US30/lb and Paladin had
The price correction did little to halt Extract Resources, which placed Kayelekera on care-and-maintenance and was in dis-
had seen its share price rise from 5c to a high of $7.27 on the cussions to bring in partners for Langer Heinrich. In Australia,
back of its Rossing South discovery in Namibia. ERA announced the Ranger mine in the Northern Territory
On the political front, the ALP had softened its stance on ura- would be closing and junior developers in WA, SA and Africa
nium following a vote at the national party conference. Even in found their ambitions stalled by an oversupplied market.
WA, once a stalwart of the anti-nuclear movement, the local There was a brief resurgence of $US40/lb in November 2014
ALP was accepting development plans from Nova and others. but the spot price didn’t move above $US30/lb between March
Back in Africa, Paladin had switched on its second mine, Kayele- 2016 and March 2020. Is the run of recent months a sign the
kera in Malawi, with much fanfare, setting itself up for years of uranium sector is finally to emerge from its long slumber?
unfettered growth.
The scene appeared set to flourish after the GFC correction but
there were dark clouds around the corner.

aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT aPRIL 2021 Page 39