Categories: Energy
Topics: General Energy

Uranium price predicted to surge again in 2013

THE price of uranium is forecast to soar to $100 (£64) for 1lb in 2013 once the supply of the fuel from decommissioned Russian weapons dries up.

The prediction comes from Dev Randhawa, the chief executive of Fission Energy, a Canadian uranium explorer that will start drilling what could be a major resource next month.

The price of uranium per lb stands at about $55 (£35), well below its 2007 peak when it hit $136 (£87).

Randhawa says several nuclear reactor construction programmes around the world, including those in China and Saudi Arabia, will keep demand high.

Fission's Waterbury prospect in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, is a joint venture with a Korean consortium.

It is next to the Roughrider resource recently bought by mining giant Rio Tinto.

A study due out before Christmas will show its potential, with the hope it may contain 11 million tonnes of uranium ore or "yellow cake".

It is understood that Fission, listed in the US and Canada but with some British investors, has already received several expressions of interest in Waterbury. It is likely to sell to a producer if sizeable amounts of uranium are found to focus on its other exploration assets.

Waterbury benefits from good transport links and a processing mill, as well as the high grade of ore.