Swedish government considers lifting domestic uranium mining ban

• The Swedish Government is launching an inquiry into uranium mining
• Sweden currently bans domestic uranium mining but an inquiry has been launched investigating this
• The inquiry has the backing of the national climate minister
• Aura Energy (ASX:AEE) owns a project in Berg set to be benefit
• Shares in AEE last traded at 23.5 cents

Aura Energy (ASX:AEE), which helms the Häggån project in Sweden, flagged today that the country’s government is launching a process to investigate overturning an existing domestic uranium mining ban.

Currently, no miner in Sweden can mine uranium, but an inquiry looking at whether this is the best practice will wrap up on May 15 2024 – giving EU-looking investors something to watch.

“If the European union is to become the first climate-neutral continent, access to sustainable metals and minerals must be ensured,” Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari said.

“We need to use the uranium we have.”

The inquiry come as uranium prices remain at record levels and ASX-uranium companies witness a resurgence in mainstream interest.

According to Aura, the Häggån project contains a uranium mineral resource of up to 800Mlbs of uranium but did not immediately note the confidence ranking on this.

At any rate, Aura says that were Sweden to allow uranium mining, its project could see its overall value jump 37 per cent with projected revenue likely to track 14 per cent higher.

“Releasing the value of uranium within the Häggån Project has a significantly positive economic impact on an already robust project,” Aura CEO Andrew Grove said.

“The Swedish Government’s stated aim aligns well with the ability to mine domestic uranium, reducing foreign dependency and strengthening domestic and European energy supply.

In turn, Aura reported, it can help the government meet those climate-neutral targets it’s focused on.

The company posits it will “support the government to allow safe and environmentally responsible extraction”.

If Sweden does overturn a ban on uranium mining, and move ahead to building out nuclear reactors, that would well and truly make Australia a laggard among its Western counterparts.

Shares in AEE last traded at 23.5 cents.