The Globe and Mail reports on renewed interest among uranium companies in mining uranium-rich Labrador.
As a teenager, Mark O'Dea spent his summers on fishing boats, hauling cod from the waters off Newfoundland.
These days, he's angling for a different catch, drilling for uranium in the rocky ground of Labrador.
"I spent my first season as a geologist up in that same belt of rocks, so things have come full circle," says Mr. O'Dea, now 38 and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Aurora Energy Resources Inc., one of a clutch of junior companies hunting for uranium in Labrador.
"What drew us to the region was the uranium that was historically known to be there. And we thought it would be a proxy for maybe other metals, like copper and gold. And what we realized was that this was a bona fide uranium district."
That prospect is a tantalizing one for exploration companies such as Aurora and for utilities, commodity funds and others keen on uranium.
Currently, the world's leading uranium district is Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp., the world's biggest uranium producer, accounts for about 20 per cent of global production from its mines in that area. Australia is the world's second-biggest uranium exporter, behind Canada.
The uranium sector is dominated by a handful of big players, with eight companies -- led by Cameco -- accounting for about 80 per cent of world production.
Prospectors discovered uranium in Labrador in the 1950s and companies pursued projects until the 1970s, when interest tapered along with the price of uranium.
But since 2002, prices have soared as stockpiles have shrunk and China and India announced plans to build dozens of new reactors. In 2002, the average uranium price was under $10 (U.S.) a pound; it's currently about $45 a pound.
In a recent report, RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analysts issued forecasts of $50 a pound through 2008, falling back to $40 a pound after 2009, when new mines are expected to be in production . . .
As a teenager, Mark O'Dea spent his summers on fishing boats, hauling cod from the waters off Newfoundland.
These days, he's angling for a different catch, drilling for uranium in the rocky ground of Labrador.
"I spent my first season as a geologist up in that same belt of rocks, so things have come full circle," says Mr. O'Dea, now 38 and chief executive officer of Vancouver-based Aurora Energy Resources Inc., one of a clutch of junior companies hunting for uranium in Labrador.
"What drew us to the region was the uranium that was historically known to be there. And we thought it would be a proxy for maybe other metals, like copper and gold. And what we realized was that this was a bona fide uranium district."
That prospect is a tantalizing one for exploration companies such as Aurora and for utilities, commodity funds and others keen on uranium.
Currently, the world's leading uranium district is Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp., the world's biggest uranium producer, accounts for about 20 per cent of global production from its mines in that area. Australia is the world's second-biggest uranium exporter, behind Canada.
The uranium sector is dominated by a handful of big players, with eight companies -- led by Cameco -- accounting for about 80 per cent of world production.
Prospectors discovered uranium in Labrador in the 1950s and companies pursued projects until the 1970s, when interest tapered along with the price of uranium.
But since 2002, prices have soared as stockpiles have shrunk and China and India announced plans to build dozens of new reactors. In 2002, the average uranium price was under $10 (U.S.) a pound; it's currently about $45 a pound.
In a recent report, RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analysts issued forecasts of $50 a pound through 2008, falling back to $40 a pound after 2009, when new mines are expected to be in production . . .
