In the last fifty years uranium has become one of the world's most important energy minerals in making electricity, though a small proportion is used for the important task of producing medical isotopes.

Uranium averages about 2.8 parts per million of the earth's crust. Traces of it occur almost everywhere. It is more abundant than gold, silver or mercury, about the same as tin and slightly less abundant than cobalt, lead or molybdenum. Vast amounts of uranium also occur in the world's oceans, but in much lower concentrations.

There are many uranium mines operating around the world, in some twenty countries, though more than two thirds of world production comes from just ten mines – one of the largest is Rossing in Namibia.

The Rossing open cut mine is 69% owned by Rio Tinto and has been in operation since 1976. It has recently had a new lease of life with further development work and produces about 7.5% of world supply.

Also in Namibia, just 25km from Extract EPL, the Langer Heinrich mine started up at the end of 2006.

Known Recoverable Resources of Uranium (tonnes U, % of world)   tonnes U % of world Australia 1,143,000 24% Kazakhstan 816,000 17% Canada 444,000 9% USA 342,000 7% South Africa 341,000 7% Namibia 282,000 6% Brazil 279,000 6% Niger 225,000 5% Russian Fed. 172,000 4% Uzbekistan 116,000 2% Ukraine 90,000 2% Jordan 79,000 2% India 67,000 1% China 60,000 1% Other 287,000 6% World total 4,743,000   Reasonably Assured Resources plus Inferred Resources, to US$ 130/kg U, 1/1/05, from OECD NEA & IAEA, Uranium 2005: Resources, Production and Demand.

Demand for Uranium

Demand for uranium is driven by the needs of the nuclear power industry worldwide, and by the demand for electricity by industry and consumers.  The industrialisation of nations such as China and India, combined with a revisiting of long term energy strategies by countries, to take account of many issues including global warming, all over the globe has resulted in a resurgence in the importance of nuclear power.
 
As new power stations are planned and built, and older ones are relicenced and refurbished, demand for uranium has the potential to outstrip supply by the end of the decade.  In this economic environment, uranium mining is growing in equal importance.

Key reasons for the new found support for the uranium industry include:

• Nuclear power will be a crucial component of base load electricity generation in developed and developing nations for decades to come due to the need for energy diversification, security of supply, economic competitiveness and environmental impact

• Secondary sources of uranium are limited and primary uranium supplies must increase to close the large and widening deficit between mine production and reactor requirements