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Laramide Increases Uranium Resource at Westmoreland Project
Mar. 03, 2025 09:30AM PST
According to Laramide, Westmoreland has the potential to be a top 10 global uranium mine.
Violka08 / iStock
Toronto-based Laramide Resources (ASX:LAM,TSX:LAM,OTCQX:LMRXF) announced an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Westmoreland uranium project in Queensland, Australia.
In a February 28 release, the Australia and US-focused uranium company said that the updated estimate demonstrates 34 percent and 11 percent increases in its indicated and inferred resource categories, respectively.
The total indicated resource is 48.1 million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) at an average grade of 770 parts per million, accounting for 70 percent of the total resource. The remaining 30 percent is classified as inferred and totals approximately 17.7 million pounds of U3O8 at an average grade of 680 parts per million.
Westmoreland is 100 percent owned by Laramide through its wholly owned subsidiary Tackle Resources. Its last MRE was released in 2009, four years after Laramide began further advancing the project.
The 2025 MRE consolidates drilling results from 2012, 2023 and 2024.
“This updated MRE reiterates our long-held view that Westmoreland is a genuinely world class deposit. At 65-plus million pounds it ranks as one of the largest undeveloped uranium deposits in the world and has the potential to be a top 10 global uranium mine,” Laramide President and CEO Marc Henderson commented.
Henderson added that the project holds potential to be a long operation that could support jobs and regional development in Northwest Queensland, and on a larger scale provide the uranium needed for the nuclear power industry as part of the move towards achieving net zero emissions.
“Pending the support of the new Liberal Queensland Government, we will look forward to quickly transitioning the Project to a Development Phase while concurrently continuing with high-impact exploration to further grow the resource base,” Henderson stated.
Australia's uranium potential
According to the Minerals Council of Australia, Australia currently possesses the largest known uranium reserves globally. A report mentioned that it accounts for approximately one-third of the world’s resources and was recorded to have uranium export earnings of approximately AU$1.2 billion in the 2023/2024 fiscal year.
It is the world’s fourth largest uranium producer but remains banned from utilising nuclear power domestically.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently told the Guardian that he “would love to see Australia get in the game of supplying uranium and maybe going down the nuclear road themselves.”
Australia is among the countries that the US depends on for uranium, alongside Canada, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia. In fact, the US itself only supplies enough uranium to meet 5 percent of its demand.
Strained relationships with several of those countries may result in the US needing alternative uranium suppliers to meet demand, creating an opportunity for Australian uranium.
While Canada has a longstanding relationship with the US, President Donald Trump's trade war has been damaging. On March 4, Trump instituted 10 percent tariffs on energy imports from Canada, as well as 25 percent blanket tariffs on other goods. The situation has led Canadians to look for other trade partners to reduce their dependence on the US.
Additionally, back in May 2024, the US signed a law banning the importing of Russian uranium, disrupting approximately US$1 billion in annual trade. However, it remains to be seen whether this will remain in place now that Trump is in office as he is friendlier with Russia than previous President Joe Biden.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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