US-based Energy Fuels said on Thursday it could start producing 500 000 lb/y of uranium within six months if prices for the nuclear fuel rise due to the political unrest in Kazakhstan.
Energy Fuels says its production could then ramp to 2.5-million pounds a year within 18 months if spot prices, which hit $45.50/lb on Wednesday, rose "moderately higher" and a customer signed a long-term contract.
Energy Fuels does not produce any uranium currently due in part to low prices - fueled by Kazakhstan's control of more than a fifth of the global market - though it has reserves in Utah, Texas and Wyoming.