Global uranium mine production is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%, reaching 76 493 t in 2020, according to a report by research and consulting firm GlobalData.
‘Global Uranium Mining to 2020’, published last month, states that growth in production is needed to meet upcoming demand from new nuclear reactors.
There are 22 new reactors scheduled for completion this year, with a total capacity of 22 444 MW. These include eight reactors in China, with a combined capacity of 8 510 MW; two in South Korea, with a combined capacity of 2 680 MW; two in Russia, with a combined capacity of 2 199 MW; and four in Japan, with a combined capacity of 3 598 MW.
Global uranium consumption is forecast to increase by 5% to reach 88 500 t of triuranium octoxide in 2017. The major expansions in nuclear capacity are projected to occur in China, India, Russia and South Korea over the next two years. The US is forecast to remain the largest producer of nuclear power in the short term, following the recent completion of the 1 200 MW Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor, in Tennessee.
Commercial operations at the Cigar Lake project, in Canada, started in 2014, with a uranium metal capacity of 6 900 t/y. The project produced 4 340 t of uranium in 2015, compared with 130 t in 2014, says GlobalData mining research and analysis head Cliff Smee.
Meanwhile, production at the Four Mile project, in Australia, rose from 750 t in 2014 to 990 t in 2015, he adds.
However, US and Namibian production contrasts the successes in Canada and Australia, he notes. Production declined 32% in the US, with declines of 33% each at the Smith Ranch-Highland and Crow Butte mines; and 20% in Namibia, with declines of 20% and 13.6% at the Rossing and Langer Heinrich mines respectively, Smee concludes.