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A brief look at the 10 countries that produced the most uranium last year.
Soft uranium prices may have put a dent in the uranium market, but they certainly haven’t stopped production. Here’s a look at 2013′s top 10 uranium-producing countries and their largest mines.
Numbers are based on statistics from the World Nuclear Association.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan retained its spot as the world’s largest uranium producer for the fifth year in a row. In 2013, the country produced 28 percent of the world’s supply of uranium from mines, putting out 22,574 tons.
Kazakhstan’s largest mine is Tortkuduk, owned by Katco, a joint venture between AREVA (EPA:AREVA) and Kazatomprom. The mine produces uranium through in-situ leaching, or ISL, and produced 2,563 tons in 2013.
Canada
Canada was the world’s second-largest uranium producer in 2013, accounting for 16 percent of production of uranium from mines. In total, the country produced 9,332 tons of uranium last year, an increase over 2012. At one time Canada was the largest uranium producer in the world, but it lost that place to Kazakhstan in 2009.
Its largest uranium-producing mine is McArthur River, which is owned by Cameco( TSX:CCO,NYSE:CCJ). It is an underground operation and produced 7,744 tons of uranium in 2013. The McArthur River mine is in Saskatchewan, like all of Canada’s operating uranium mines.
Australia
Australia produced 11 percent of the world’s uranium from mines in 2013, with a total production level of 6,350 tons. The country’s largest mine, Olympic Dam, is owned by BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP,ASX:BHP,LSE:BLT) and produced 3,399 tons of uranium in 2013. It is a by-product and underground operation. According to the World Nuclear Association, Australia has the largest amount of known uranium resources in the world, amounting to 31 percent of the global total.
Niger
Niger produced 4,528 tons of uranium in 2013. The country only began to produce uranium commercially in 1971, and already produces 7.5 percent of the world’s uranium from mines. It has the highest grades of uranium ore in Africa, according to the World Nuclear Association, as well as strong governmental support for expansion in the industry.
Its largest mine is SOMAIR, owned by AREVA. It produced 2,730 tons in 2013. Both SOMAIR and COMINAK, the country’s other uranium mine, were shut down for maintenance at the end of 2013 and still await the renewal of their licenses.
Namibia
In 2013, Namibia produced 4,315 tons of uranium. The country has two significant uranium mines, one of which is Langer Heinrich. The mine, owned by Paladin Energy (TSX:PDN), is an open-pit operation that produced 2,098 tons of uranium in 2013. Commercial production of uranium in Namibia began in 1976, nearly half a century after uranium was discovered in the Namib Desert.
Russia
Russia produced 3,135 tons of uranium in 2013. The country has about 10 percent of the world’s uranium resources, as per the World Nuclear Association. Russia also has substantial reserves of uranium. Priargunsky, owned by AtomRedMetZoloto, or ARMZ, is an underground mine that produced 2,133 tons of uranium in 2013. It is the country’s largest uranium mine. ARMZ is a state-owned company that took over existing uranium mining and exploration assets between 2007 and 2008.
Uzbekistan
In 2013, Uzbekistan produced 2,400 tons of uranium. Uzbekistan accounted for a large part of Russia’s uranium supply until it achieved its independence in 1991, along with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Now, the country mines most of its uranium in its central region. Its mining directorate #5, largely in Bukhara province with headquarters in Zafarabad, is the most productive region, accounting for up to 2,100 tons of uranium each year. The mines in mining directorate #5 are North and South Bukinay, Beshkak, Istiklol, Kukhnur, Lyavlyakan, Tokhumbet and South Sugraly.
USA
The United States ranks ninth in the world for known uranium resources, and had about 207,400 tons of reasonably assured resources as of 2011. In 2013, the country produced 1,835 tons of uranium. Uranium mining has gone on in the US since the 1950s, when it was backed by government subsidies. Now, the US produces less uranium than it uses, importing the rest; it plans to expand its domestic production.
In 2013, the US operated six ISL uranium operations and three underground mines. The top-producing mine in 2013 was the Smith Ranch-Highland ISL site, owned by Cameco.
China
China produced an estimated 1,450 tons of uranium in 2013. The country wants to produce one-third of its uranium domestically, and is working toward this goal by increasing its mining activity. Its largest mine is the Fuzhou project in Jiangxi province. It’s an underground mine with a nominal capacity of 500 tons a year.
Malawi
Rounding out the top 10 uranium-producing countries, Malawi produced 1,132 tons of uranium in 2013. Up until 2009 the country was not known as a uranium producer. Its largest mine is the Kayelekera project in Northern Malawi, owned by Paladin Energy. The mine produced all of Malawi’s uranium in 2013. The mine is currently not producing and is on care and maintenance as a consequence of low uranium prices.