Anyone who reads my articles often will know I’ve been predicting for a while we’re going to see a uranium-heavy year at the small end of town.
As lithium prices have sunk dramatically – and with ANZ expecting a further 40 per cent increase in overall supply this year – heat is leaving the EV thematic.
Perhaps, then, it’s fitting uranium becomes the new subject of interest. Nuclear power works by heating water with radiation, after all.
Uranium prices on the NYMEX have pared recent gains in the last week, declining from US$106/lb to US$103/lb, per TradingEconomics.
It goes without saying this isn’t a huge decline.
Week on week, that reflects a drop of 2.64 per cent.
But year on year, the uranium price is up 104.15 per cent.
All in all, this could be the moment uranium bulls have long been waiting for.
In fact, if you ignore the year 2006-2007 where we saw an anomalous spike, the price is at all time highs – so far as NYMEX CFDs go anyway.
Is the price running a bit too hard a bit too fast? Based on my market-watching career, I’d personally suggest that yes, we’ll probably see some more profit-taking.
And macro aside – supply shortages at Kazatamprom were recently offset by production boost announcements from Cameco – there’s also the risk that any other surprise commodity strength could steal some of uranium’s thunder.
But it’s clear that for now, at least, we’ve entered into a new epoch of uranium pricing.
And if you want further proof of my claim that uranium will continue to drive excitement in the microcap space this year (bar a shock decline in the price), just look at the ASX on Wednesday.
Today, we’ve got 5 different announcements out on uranium from junior explorers.
Let’s do a speedrun through each.
Osmond Resources
Osmond Resources (ASX:OSM) has today announced its definition of uranium targets at its South Australian Fowler Project.
This has occurred within a larger situational strategy for the company through 2024, per its own words: Osmond wants uranium targets, and it wants as many as it can get.
Sampling and analysis of existing drill samples remain ongoing.
The company expects to ink a deal with traditional owners to allow exploration in mid-2024.
- Share price: 8.5 cents
- Market cap: $3.99 million
- Shares on issue: 46.9 million
- 1Y return: down 57.66 per cent
Oceana Lithium
Oceana Lithium (ASX:OCN) – remember what I said about the heat falling out of lithium? – has today declared its NT-based Napperby Project has “uranium potential.”
The company has its eyes on data which show “outstanding uranium/thorium ratios almost fully encapsulated within Napperby.”
Those tests were conducted on granite rock targets named the Wangala Granite and Ennugan Mountains Granite respectively.
Follow up exploration activities will target uranium leads, the company reported on Wednesday.
- Share price: 5.5 cents
- Market cap: $2.97 million
- Shares on issue: 54.08 million
- 1Y return: down 83.08 per cent
Laramide Resources
Laramide Resources (ASX:LAM) is a bit of a chunkier company than the two featured thus far, and it’s also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).
The company is reporting “high-grade uranium expansion potential” at its QLD Westmoreland Project.
The company has reported a series of drilling results which show uranium mineralisation is present in low grades.
Assays are from a 2023 campaign; the company says this “improves confidence in the integrity of the deposit.”
- Share price: 98 cents
- Market cap: $238.1 million
- Shares on issue: 243 million
- 1Y return: up 66.10 per cent
Askari Metals
Askari Metals (ASX:AS2) has announced its acquisition of a uranium project in Tanzania, East Africa. The company has previously been working on lithium in Namibia.
The company now boasts 100 per cent ownership of the Matemanga Uranium Project, though, did note that the project remains “under application.” I didn’t add those italics, Aksari itself did.
Clearly, the company is banking on this being a potential winner. Askari has hired local teams with specialist knowledge along with one noted expert in the local uranium space.
The value proposition as it currently stands?: geophysical data indicating a potential 10km x 6km area with the right conditions for a uranium deposit.
- Share price: 8.5 cents
- Market cap: $6.63 million
- Shares on issue: 77.95 million
- 1Y return: down 84.82 per cent
NickelX Limited
NickelX (ASX:NKL) has today issued an amended version of an announcement that it put out yesterday, reporting “significant uranium mineralisation” at Elliot Lake.
That project is in Ontario, Canada, and NickelX describes the project as “recently staked, 100 per cent owned.”
You can probably guess why NickelX has gone into uranium: the same reason lithium explorers are. Low commodity prices for lithium and nickel.
One catch in today’s amendment: “All exploration results reported here are historic in nature and most date back to the 1950s or 1960s. A Competent Person has not done sufficient work to verify the historical drilling and probe data in accordance with the JORC Code.”
- Share price: 4.3 cents
- Market cap: $3.78 million
- Shares on issue: 87.82 million
- 1Y return: down 35.82 per cent