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Speaking at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, Curtis Moore of Energy Fuels (TSX:EFR,NYSEAMERICAN:UUUU) weighed in on uranium market dynamics, from supply and demand to prices.
He also discussed how Energy Fuels is navigating the sector given today’s much-improved dynamics.
‘These are great (price) levels for us as a uranium producer. We can profitably produce uranium at these levels,’ he said. ‘And so again, this is something we’ve been waiting for for a long time now. It’s time to capitalize.’
At the end of 2023, Energy Fuels started production at three of its uranium mines in Arizona and Utah, and is currently preparing an additional two mines in Colorado and Wyoming with the goal of starting production there within a year.
‘Ultimately the reason we brought these mines back into production was price,’ said Moore. He added that while it’s impossible to know where uranium’s top will be, he sees many reasons for prices to move higher.
Although uranium is Energy Fuels’ focus, it is also taking the opportunity to further develop its rare earths business while prices in the sector are depressed. Moore spoke about the company’s recent non-binding memorandum of understanding to develop the Australia-based Donald rare earths and mineral sands project with Astron.
‘Our source of our feed is a by-product of other mining — it’s a by-product of titanium mining primarily,’ he said. ‘This monazite sand just occurs as a by-product, and so your cost to produce monazite sand at a mineral sand operation is very low … what we’ve been doing is getting involved in some mineral sand projects with the idea that we’ll get the low-cost monazite product — a very low-cost feed, possibly even free feed in some instances.’
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.