Last week, the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT) started buying up physical uranium, taking it out of market circulation.
This yellowcake will be sequestered for the long term.
Last week it was 900,000lb. On Tuesday another 400,000lb was bought and removed from the market, and there will be more to come.
A gigawatt-class reactor uses around 450,000lb per year, so this is no small amount, according to 808s Online, a blog run by a US nuclear professional.
US financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald â which gives SPUT a âbuyâ rating â says the Trust is now potentially the single largest participant in the spot market.
âWe expect this will prove to be a catalyst that will move spot uranium prices higher, along with the related uranium equities,â it says.
So far, Cantor Fitzgerald are âspotâ on. SPUT buying has now sparked a ~11% gain in the uranium spot price to fresh 12-month highs.
Next stop â 5-year highs of ~$US34/lb.
Sprottâs buying spree is sparking renewed investor focus on uranium stocks, which have already enjoyed solid gains over the past nine months on a consensus bullish outlook for the nuclear fuel.
15 of the 19 companies on our list made gains on Tuesday. Eight of the 19 stocks â Alligator, Bannerman, Elevate, Vimy, Deep Yellow, Paladin, Okapi and Gladiator â are up ~100% or more over the past year.
| CODE | COMPANY | 1 DAY RETURN [INTRADAY] % | 1 WEEK RETURN % | 1 MONTH RETURN % | 6 MONTH RETURN % | 1 YEAR RETURN % | PRICE | MARKET CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGE | Alligator Energy | 3 | 19 | -11 | 138 | 520 | 0.031 | $ 83,507,209.83 |
| BMN | Bannerman Energy | 11 | 11 | 3 | 20 | 257 | 0.15 | $ 162,650,400.03 |
| EL8 | Elevate Uranium | 10 | 8 | -2 | 97 | 243 | 0.285 | $ 59,338,147.96 |
| VMY | Vimy Resources | 4 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 224 | 0.12 | $ 120,922,345.79 |
| DYL | Deep Yellow | 6 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 188 | 0.69 | $ 215,878,217.75 |
| PDN | Paladin Energy | 6 | -3 | 1 | 22 | 172 | 0.465 | $ 1,178,272,071.24 |
| GLA | Gladiator Resources | 10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 130 | 0.023 | $ 9,660,000.00 |
| LAM | Laramide Resources | 0 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 98 | 0.595 | $ 695,760.28 |
| BOE | Boss Energy | 5 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 96 | 0.16 | $ 353,132,827.43 |
| PEN | Peninsula Energy | 8 | 8 | -7 | 0 | 87 | 0.14 | $ 129,482,364.05 |
| LOT | Lotus Resources | 10 | 10 | 3 | 18 | 38 | 0.16 | $ 158,060,000.00 |
| CXU | Cauldron Energy | -3 | 0 | -9 | -19 | 7 | 0.03 | $ 14,135,984.87 |
| TIN | TNT Mines | 6 | 3 | 13 | -8 | 6 | 0.17 | $ 19,207,716.64 |
| TOE | Toro Energy | 15 | 7 | -12 | -17 | 0 | 0.015 | $ 50,665,448.34 |
| VAL | Valor Resources | -11 | -11 | -20 | -20 | 0 | 0.008 | $ 21,230,000.00 |
| GTR | GTI Resources | 0 | 12 | 6 | -10 | -37 | 0.019 | $ 12,245,841.96 |
| BKY | Berkeley Energia | 2 | 2 | 5 | -56 | -62 | 0.305 | $ 77,694,570.00 |
| OKR | Okapi Resources | 11 | 14 | 14 | 121 | 91 | 0.42 | $ 22,110,000.00 |
| 92E | 92Energy | 13 | 0 | -7 | 0.255 | $ 8,862,750.23 |
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Tuesdayâs Standout Stocks
TOEâs âWilunaâ uranium project is one of WAâs only advanced uranium projects with environmental approval from the state and federal governments.
Last quarter, SRK Consulting was appointed to carry out a scoping level engineering study for the mining and processing of the âLake Maitlandâ uranium deposit at Wiluna.
The re-engineering work follows on from the successful subsequent redesign of the processing flowsheet which envisages a cheaper, more efficient stand-alone Lake Maitland mining and processing operation.
The freshly listed uranium explorer wants to unlock the potential of its tenements in Canadaâs Athabasca Basin, just 11km from Cigar Lake â one of the worldâs largest and highest-grade uranium deposits.
A recent survey over its âTowerâ and âGeminiâ projects has identified multiple prospective conductors that are prospective for high-grade, unconformity-type uranium.
Unconformity-type uranium deposits such as Cigar Lake and McArthur River are some of the largest and richest deposits globally, it says.
Drill targeting over Tower and the northern portion of Gemini will kick off upon receipt of the final processed geophysical data sets, the company says.
The $10.5m market cap stock is up 25% on its IPO price of 20c per share.
A recently released PFS on the Etango-8 project in Namibia envisages a 3.5 million pounds per annum operation with an initial life of 15 years.
This is an advanced project aiming to take advantage of the coming uranium boom.
Etango-8âs $US274m development cost would take 3.8 years to pay back at a projected uranium price of $US65/lb.
âThe underlying robustness of this streamlined development approach to the world-class Etango resource has now been confirmed to a PFS level of accuracy,â Bannerman boss Brandon Munro says.
âWe now look forward to the completion of a DFS for Etango-8 in the September 2022 quarter.â
LOTUS RESOURCES (ASX:LOT)
Lotusâ âKayelekeraâ project in Malawi â purchased from fellow Africa-focused Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) in March 2020 â will cost just $US50m to get up and running, the company says.
Kayelekera is a proven uranium operation having successfully produced 11Mlbs over five years, ceasing operations in 2014 due to sustained low uranium prices.
The Project Feasibility Study will commence during August 2021 and is anticipated to be completed by mid-2022.
Earlier this month the $9m market cap explorer secured exploration projects in Tanzania, East Africa, with a focus on uranium, rare earths, phosphate, and gold.
Tanzania, while mineral rich, can be an unstable jurisdiction for Aussie companies to operate in.
Gladiator has assessed African exploration opportunities in the past and approached this acquisition knowing the risks, Gladiator Resources chairman Ian Hastings says.
âThis transaction represents an opportunity to acquire well known and well documented uranium tenements which are also prospective for gold,â he says.
âAll three prospects have the potential of being transformative and Gladiator believes it has secured some of the best uranium ground in East Africa which may deliver shareholders great value over time.â