Year-to-date gain: 26.43 percent; market cap: AU$3.74 billion; share price: AU$12.39

Paladin Energy owns a 75 percent stake in the active Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia, and also has an exploration portfolio that spans both Canada and Australia.

First brought into production in 2006, operations at Langer Heinrich were suspended in 2018 as ultra-low uranium prices averaging US$24 made the mine uneconomical. The dramatic rebound in the uranium market over the past year prompted Paladin to return Langer Heinrich to commercial production in April. First customer shipments are expected this monty of July.

Paladin is set to acquire Canadian explorer and developer Fission Uranium (TSX:FCU,OTCQX:FCUUF, FSE:2FU) and its Patterson Lake South project in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada, by this September.

Shares of the company reached AU$17.80, their highest point of 2024 so far, on May 21. At that time, they were up more than 76 percent since the start of the year.

Year-to-date gain: 23.47 percent; market cap: AU$1.29 billion; share price: AU$1.315

Deep Yellow's portfolio of uranium assets spans Namibia and Australia, with its two most advanced projects being Tumas and Mulga Rock. The former is located in Namibia, while the latter is in Western Australia; according to the company, together they have a potential production capacity of over 7 million pounds per year of U3O8.

Deep Yellow released a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Tumas in early February 2023, outlining uranium output of 3.6 million pounds of U3O8 annually and vanadium output of 1.15 million pounds of V2O5. The property's mine life is set at 22.25 years, but additional resources could increase it to over 30 years.

In December 2023, Deep Yellow did a review of the DFS, updating costs and forecast financial outcomes to reflect the more settled economic environment. Tumas received a mining licence from the Namibian government that same month. The company is targeting late Q4 2024 for a final investment decision, and as of July 1 is on track for first production in Q3 2026.

In terms of Mulga Rock, Deep Yellow has been working on an evaluation program geared at boosting the project's value by looking at its critical minerals potential. In late February, the company updated the mineral resource estimate for the Ambassador and Princess deposits, resulting in a 26 percent increase in the project's total contained uranium. Deep Yellow is currently advancing through an update to its DFS for Mulga Rock with the new data.

Shares of Deep Yellow reached their 2024 peak on May 22, coming in at AU$1.80.

Year-to-date gain: 16.48 percent; market cap: AU$496.75 million; share price: AU$3.11

Uranium development company Bannerman Energy has honed its efforts on its Namibia-based Etango uranium project, which it says is one of the world’s largest undeveloped uranium assets. The company has been moving forward at Etango for 15 years and is currently targeting a final investment decision for this year.

Bannerman's latest news on its progress at Etango came on June 10 with the announcement that the company has completed front-end engineering and design and control budget estimate processes, effectively refining the DFS completed in December 2022. In addition, the company is currently advancing early works construction, offtake marketing and strategic financing work streams.

Bannerman's share price reached AU$4.74, its highest point of 2024 so far, on May 21.

Year-to-date gain: 12.07 percent; market cap: AU$604.30 million; share price: AU$0.325

Lotus Resources is an ASX-listed uranium company that's working to revive operations at a former mine. Its flagship asset is the Kayelekera uranium mine in Malawi, which it acquired from Paladin Energy in 2020.

Kayelekera has been on care and maintenance since 2014 due to the years-long low price environment for the nuclear fuel. In August 2022, Lotus completed a definitive feasibility study for restarting the mine, setting a target of Q4 2025.

Last November, Lotus completed a merger with A-Cap Energy, adding the Letlhakane uranium project in Botswana to its portfolio. The company’s plans for the project in 2024 include fast tracking delivery of a scoping study through the completion of infill drilling aimed at optimising the mine plan and upgrading the mineral resource estimate (MRE).

The MRE revision was completed in May, resulting in 155.3 metric tonne at 345ppm U3O8 for 118.2 million pounds U3O8, including 34.4 million pounds of Indicated Resources. Infill drilling is currently underway to further define resources and produce a fully updated MRE.

Shares of Lotus Resources reached a year-to-date high of AU$0.49 on May 21.

Year-to-date gain: 6.76 percent; market cap: AU$195.84 million; share price: AU$0.79

Uranium exploration and development company Laramide Resources has a portfolio of advanced projects in Australia and the United States. The company’s Australian assets are the adjacent Westmoreland project and Murphy greenfield project, which are located along the border in Queensland and the Northern Territory respectively.

Its US assets are the Crownpoint-Churchrock in-situ recovery uranium project and the La Jara Mesa project in New Mexico, and the La Sal underground project in Utah.

Laramide kicked off 2024 with the publication of a completed preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Churchrock, which didn't include resources from Crownpoint. The PEA shows 31 year life of mine with total production of 31 million pounds over that period.

Shortly after, shares in Laramide hit their year-to-date peak of AU$0.92 on February 8.

Also in February, the company announced that last year’s drill campaign at Westmoreland in Queensland confirmed the high-grade uranium expansion potential at the project. In June, Laramide commenced its 2024 drill campaign in Australia to include up to 12,000 meters over 100 drill holes across multiple targets at Westmoreland and in the Murphy project, which is also along the Westmoreland trend.