The Conversation (0)
Aug. 22, 2013 04:30AM PST
News that toxic leaks out of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are still going strong are raising concerns about the status of Japan’s nuclear future
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has come forward with the fact that 300 and 600 tons of water that cools the Fukushima reactors is draining into the Pacific Ocean every day. The discovery has led the watchdog to the decision to build a 1.4-km underground wall of frozen soil around the perimeter surrounding buildings 1 through 4. Engineers working on the project anticipate it to cost somewhere between $300 million and $410 million.
This would not be the first time that ice was used in mining. Cameco (TSX:CCO, NYSE:CCJ) used the technique at Cigar Lake. However, in the case of Fukushima, it would be the world’s largest ice wall.
The containment system proposed for the Japanese plant does not come without its skeptics. Engineering.com reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga voiced his concerns relating to the wall saying, “There is no precedent in the world to create a water-shielding wall with frozen soil on such a large scale (as planned now at the Fukushima complex). To build that, I think the state has to move a step further to support its realization.”
Despite naysayers, Japanese work crews are moving forward with the wall. The expectation is that the wall won’t be completed until 2015, Bloomberg reported.
What about uranium miners?
In an interview with Reuters, Vanessa Guthrie, managing director of Australia’s Toro Energy Ltd (ASX:TOE), was firm in her belief that despite the the concerns raised by Japan’s radiation leaks, the overall expansion of the uranium industry won’t be dissuaded.
Nuclear plants are still being commissioned which means that, when long-term supply projections are taken into consideration, the supply picture still comes up short.
“I don’t believe that this will delay or defer ongoing developments of the nuclear industry,” Guthrie told Reuters. “For example, it will certainly not cause the Chinese to stop building new plants.”
According to the World Nuclear Association, China, now with 15 operating reactors on the mainland, is is well into the next phase of its nuclear power program. Some 26 reactors are under construction and additional reactors are planned, the association says, resulting in a four-fold increase in nuclear capacity by 2020.
With the end of the U.S.-Russia Megatons to Megawatts Program, Guthrie sees a tightening of uranium supplies once the 24 million pounds of secondary uranium is removed.
What’s in a spot price?
In light of all the bad news in the uranium industry, August spot prices are down at $35 per pound of U3O8. But Will Smith, senior portfolio manager at New City Investment Managers, is recommending that investors focus on what is going on with strategic players and not the spot price.
Smith says investors should direct their attention to activities such as those of a state-owned Chinese nuclear group which has absolved Namibia-focused uranium miner Kalahari Minerals (LSE:KAH). Furthermore, Cameco has been busy acquiring assets from more diversified miners.
Smith says that these transactions are indicative that bulls are pulling confidence from uranium’s supply and demand dynamics.
Securities Disclosure: I, Vivien Diniz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Featured Energy Investing Stocks
Investor Insight
Generation Uranium offers investors high-leverage exposure to a potential major discovery in Canada’s underexplored and resource-rich Thelon Basin, led by a management team with a proven track record of securing high-value exits.
Overview
Generation Uranium (CSE:GEN, OTCQB:GENR, FRA:W85) is a Canadian exploration company focused on wealth creation through discovery within the uranium sector. The company’s primary strategy is to build a high-caliber exploration team that can rapidly test and drill high-potential targets, de-risking projects for potential takeover by larger producers. Currently centered in the prolific Thelon and Angikuni Basins of Nunavut, the company is also actively evaluating additional project acquisitions in the Athabasca Basin to expand its portfolio.
The company is led by a veteran management team with nearly 30 years of experience in mineral development. CEO Michael Collins has a significant track record of building and exiting public companies, including the co-founding of Bluerock Resources, a conventional uranium producer during the 2000-2008 cycle. This expertise is paired with a focused business model that leverages modern geophysical targeting to accelerate exploration timelines and reduce costs, ensuring the company can deliver results quickly in a bullish uranium market.
Company Highlights
- Strategic Location in a Premier Uranium District: The flagship Yath Project is located in Nunavut’s Thelon Basin, contiguous to ATHA Energy’s Angilak Project, which hosts the high-grade Lac 50 deposit.
- High-Grade Discovery Potential: Historical surface sampling at the Yath Project has yielded exceptional uranium grades, including boulders testing at 9.81 percent, 3.95 percent, and 2.14 percent U3O8.
- Expert Management with Exit Experience: Led by CEO Michael Collins, the team has decades of experience in mineral exploration and a history of co-founding companies that were later acquired, such as Prime Mining and Nuclear Fuels.
- Low-Cost, Rapid Exploration Strategy: By leveraging modern geophysics and extensive historical data, the company aims for a "short road to discovery," de-risking projects quickly to maximize shareholder value.
- Bullish Market Fundamentals: Generation Uranium is well-positioned to meet the growing global demand for carbon-free nuclear power, supported by a projected supply deficit and increased interest from major tech companies seeking clean energy.
Key Project
Yath Project - Nunavut, Canada
The Yath Project is Generation Uranium’s flagship project. This 100 percent owned property covers about 120 square kilometers within the underexplored Thelon Basin in Nunavut, Canada. The project is located where the Yathkyed and Angikuni sub-basins meet, which is a region known globally for high-grade uranium potential. It sits directly along the same trend as the Angilak Project owned by ATHA Energy (TSXV:SASK, OTCQB:SASFK, FWB:XSU.F), which contains the Lac 50 deposit, one of the highest-grade uranium resources found outside of the Athabasca Basin with a historical mineral resource estimate of 43.3M lbs at an average grade of 0.69 percent U3O8.
The Yath Project is contiguous to the Lac 50 trend and is crossed by several regional faults and basin boundaries. Past exploration work has already identified high priority targets, while surface sampling in the area has produced uranium grades from boulders, with some testing at 9.81 percent, 3.95 percent, and 2.14 percent U3O8.
The company has commenced its initial field program at the site, set to define and rank drill targets. Historic showings will be combined with new anomalies from the MMT geophysics survey, preparing the project for an anticipated drill permit.
Management Team
Michael Collins - CEO & Director
Michael Collins is a professional geoscientist with nearly 30 years of experience in mineral exploration. He has co-founded several public companies, including Exploits Discovery, Prime Mining (acquired in 2025), and Nuclear Fuels (merged with Premier American Uranium in 2025). He is also currently a director of First Atlantic Nickel.
Christoph Bruening - Director
Christoph Bruening is the founder and managing partner of Value Relations GmbH, a full-service investor relations and public relations agency in Frankfurt with over 25 years of excellence, focusing on mining, exploration, biotech and health care. In addition, he has listed over 600 companies on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is a speaker and author of several publications, including on rare earths and uranium.
Dallas Miller - Director
Dallas Miller has been working within the international mining industry for over 15 years, working with BHP and Santos Ltd. He has experience on the ground from an operational standpoint, as well as being an integral part of raising millions of dollars in capital funding for both private and public companies in recent years.
Roger Leschuk - VP Corporate Development
Roger Leschuk has been in corporate management for over two decades, with the past 15 years dedicated to corporate development and investor relations. He has experience participating in and assisting with mergers and acquisitions, and was an investment advisor for various services such as stocks, mutual funds and tax-sheltered investments. He is a Chartered Investment Manager and a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute.
Monty Sutton - CFO
Monty Sutton brings over 35 years of experience in public markets and corporate governance. He previously served as CFO for Nuclear Fuels from its IPO through its acquisition.
Investor Insight
Metals.io is a real-world asset platform built within the Tezos ecosystem, enabling direct investment exposure across uranium, gold, cobalt, nickel, and a diversified basket of strategic metals via tokenization. It reflects the ecosystem’s expansion into precious metals, rare earth elements, and critical minerals that underpin energy systems, industrial supply chains, and advanced technologies.
Overview
Metals.io is a unified real-world asset platform built on Tezos infrastructure, designed to simplify access to physically backed commodities through blockchain tokenization. It enables investors to gain exposure to uranium, gold, and strategic metals through a single digital interface, reducing fragmentation, limited accessibility, and opacity traditionally associated with commodity markets.
The platform builds on the foundation of tokenized uranium and expands into a broader multi-asset framework aligned with growing global demand for critical resources. Uranium remains central due to its role in nuclear energy and long-term decarbonization efforts, while gold continues to function as a global store of value in periods of macroeconomic uncertainty.
Alongside these core assets, Metals.io incorporates exposure to strategic and rare earth metals that are increasingly vital to modern industrial systems. These materials underpin semiconductors, electrification, defense technologies, and AI-driven infrastructure, reflecting their growing importance in global supply chains.
By integrating blockchain infrastructure with real-world commodity markets, Metals.io enables fractional ownership, real-time settlement, 24/7 global trading access, and programmable financial utility. The platform represents a streamlined gateway to tokenized commodities that are central to both energy transition and technological advancement.
As of June 2026, the company has also purchased and tokenized cobalt and nickel, allowing investors to own the metals through xCo and xNi tokens. This allows for easier access, ownership and trading of both metals, which are utilized in high-demand sectors such as electric vehicles, battery storage systems and clean energy technologies.
Company Highlights
- Multi-Asset Commodity Platform: Provides access to tokenized uranium (xU3O8), cobalt (xCo), nickel (xNi), gold (VNXAU), a diversified strategic metals basket (RARE) through a single interface, with more coming soon
- Built on Tezos: Utilizes Tezos smart-rollup technology to enable scalable, low-latency and energy-efficient real-world asset tokenization.
- Physically Backed Assets: Tokens represent ownership of underlying physical commodities or allocated reserves, ensuring a direct link between digital assets and real-world commodity.
- Institutional-Grade Custody: Archax, an FCA-regulated digital asset custodian, provides secure and compliant custody, with uranium stored in regulated facilities operated by Cameco, and physical nickel and cobalt stored at industry-certified bonded warehouses in the Netherlands
- Established Supply Chain: Curzon Uranium supports sourcing and logistics for uranium; Steinweg / C. Steinweg are physical custodian of the underlying cobalt and nickel; while VNX and Noemon Tech contribute gold and strategic metals exposure.
- Global Market Access: Enables 24/7 access to tokenized commodities through digital asset infrastructure, supporting broader investor participation.
- Enhanced Market Transparency: Integrates pricing and data systems aimed at improving visibility in traditionally opaque commodity markets.
- On-Chain Financial Utility: Tokenized commodities can be used within decentralized finance applications, enabling liquidity access without selling underlying assets.
- Aligned with Global Demand Trends: Provides exposure to commodities central to nuclear energy, monetary hedging, industrial production, and advanced technologies, including AI and electrification.
Key Assets
xU3O8 – Tokenized Uranium
xU3O8 provides direct exposure to physically backed uranium ore concentrate, a core input in nuclear energy generation. Each token represents ownership of uranium stored in regulated facilities, enabling fractional access to a historically institutional market.
Uranium plays a critical role in the global energy transition as nuclear power expands to meet rising electricity demand and decarbonization targets. xU3O8 enables investors to participate in this sector through a transparent, digitally accessible structure linked to physical supply.
On July 2026, Metals.io announced that xU3O8 is now available for trading on global crypto platforms Kraken and Kraken Pro. Aside from the Metals.io website, xU3O8 is also accessible via Gate, KuCoin, MEXC, Bitrue, LBank, BingX, the decentralized exchange Hanji and uranium.io.
The company highlighted the value of access to uranium with fractional ownership, no minimums, 24/7 global availability and near-instant settlement, providing individual investors with ownership options amidst the growing global electricity demand.
VNXAU – Tokenized Gold
VNXAU represents allocated physical gold stored in secure, regulated vaults. Each token reflects direct ownership of gold reserves, combining the stability of gold as a traditional store of value with the efficiency and divisibility of blockchain infrastructure.
Gold continues to serve as a hedge against inflation, currency volatility, and macroeconomic uncertainty. Tokenization enhances accessibility and transferability while preserving full physical backing.
RARE – Strategic Metals Basket
RARE provides diversified exposure to strategic and rare earth metals essential to modern industrial and technological systems. The basket includes metals used in semiconductors, renewable energy infrastructure, defense technologies, and advanced manufacturing.
As global supply chains tighten and demand accelerates for critical inputs, strategic metals have become increasingly important to economic and technological resilience. RARE enables diversified exposure through a single tokenized instrument.
xCo - Tokenized Cobalt
xCo enables investors to own and trade physical cobalt in an investment-friendly and transparent manner by administering fractional ownership of physical cobalt in the form of a smart contract ledger. Each xCo represents a right of ownership of cobalt held by Archax as a trustee for investors.
Over 70% of cobalt comes from one country. Supply is tightening as the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) caps exports at 96,600 metric tons per year. Global EV (Electric Vehicle) battery demand is projected to increase cobalt consumption.
xNi - Tokenized Nickel
xNi enables investors to own and trade physical nickel in an investment-friendly and transparent manner by administering fractional ownership of physical nickel in the form of a smart contract ledger. Each xNi represents a right of ownership of nickel held by Archax as a custodian for investors.
Nickel powers the modern industry, essential for stainless steel and increasingly critical for EV (Electric Vehicle) batteries. Indonesia controls over 60% of supply and is tightening quotas. Trade restrictions, export bans, and policy shifts influence price movements, making real-time investment access vital.Key Technology Platform
Tezos Infrastructure
Metals.io is built on Tezos smart-rollup architecture, enabling high-speed execution, low latency, and scalable tokenization of real-world assets.
Physically Backed Asset Framework
Each token is backed by physical commodities or allocated reserves, ensuring verifiable linkage between digital assets and underlying real-world holdings across uranium, gold, cobalt, nickel, and strategic metals.
Institutional Custody & Supply Chain
- Archax provides FCA-regulated custody
- Cameco-operated facilities store uranium reserves
- Curzon Uranium manages sourcing and logistics for Uranium
- VNX supports allocated gold issuance structures
- Steinweg / C. Steinweg are physical custodian of the underlying nickel and cobalt, with material held in LME (London Metals Exchange)-approved or equivalent warehouse facilities
Market Infrastructure
Metals.io incorporates pricing and transparency systems designed to improve visibility in historically opaque commodity markets, particularly uranium and strategic metals.
On-Chain Utility
Tokenized commodities can be used as collateral in decentralized finance applications, enabling access to liquidity without requiring asset liquidation; currently available for Uranium and being expanded to other metals.
