Overview

Norfolk Metals (ASX:NFL) is an ASX-listed exploration company focused on its uranium in South Australia and Argentina. The company’s flagship property is the Orroroo uranium project in South Australia. It also holds a gold-copper project, the Roger River Property in Tasmania. Norfolk Metals is currently focused on advancing its uranium project and evaluating uranium assets for acquisition. In April 2024, the company announced it is acquiring the Las Altares uranium project in Argentina, through an exclusivity agreement with Green Shift Commodities.

Uranium prices have been on an upward trajectory since 2023, with prices rising from less than $50/lb to over $100/lb in 2024. The prices are currently hovering around $90/lb and could increase further, driven by a supply deficit. Kazatomprom, the world's largest uranium miner, announced in February 2024 that it is reducing uranium production. The company said production levels at its operations in Kazakhstan are anticipated to remain 20 percent lower, chiefly attributed to the sulfuric acid shortage prevailing in the country. Cameco, the world’s largest publicly traded uranium supplier, has provided a 2024 production guidance which is also not very bullish.

While the supply remains challenging, the demand continues to ramp up. The surge in uranium demand has been predominantly fueled by heightened utility contracting, a trend that offers robust support and sustainability to elevated price levels. The World Nuclear Association’s Nuclear Fuel Report indicates that global nuclear reactor demands are projected to almost double by 2040, rising from 65,650 tU in 2023 to 130,000 tU in 2040. According to Sprott, utilities have nearly 1.5 billion pounds of uncovered uranium requirements through 2040, compared to current annual production of around 150 Mlbs. Further, substantial underinvestment in new mining projects has exacerbated an already constrained supply side, leading to prolonged strain in the years ahead.

The uranium market appears to remain firmly in an uptrend driven by rising demand and constrained supply. Elevated prices also enhance the prospects for junior miners to progress their projects and potentially secure future supply agreements with utilities.

Norfolk Metals boasts uranium assets in a tier-1 mining jurisdiction of South Australia. The recent maiden drill program at the Orroroo project intersected a uranium-bearing floodplain, boosting confidence in the potential of the project.

Norfolk continues to review complementary projects with plans to expand its uranium project suite. In 2024, the company signed an exclusivity agreement with Green Shift Commodities (TSXV:GCOM) to acquire Las Alteras uranium project in Argentina. Las Alteras is surrounded by non-JORC foreign estimates at URAmerica’s Meseta Central deposit (19.1 Mlbs U308), CNEA’s Cerro Solo deposit (11.49 Mlbs U308), ISO Energy’s Laguna Salada deposit (10.1 Mlbs U308), along with the Cerro Condor and Los Adobes historical uranium mines.