Uranium Investing News

By Luke Brocki - Exclusive to Uranium Investing News and U3O8.biz

Let the poker game begin. After shooting up for five consecutive weeks, the spot price of uranium is now at an impasse as buyers and sellers pause to re-evaluate their positions.

In recent weeks, the excitement allowed sellers to raise their offers at will, and buyers jumped along, raising bids to match. But that willingness has dissipated for now and both price publishers—Ux Consulting and Tradetech—have left their price indicators unchanged at US$64.50 a pound of U3O8.

In its web update, Tradetech reminded readers that the recent 13 per cent price jump had roused a sleepy spot market from slumber. According to the publisher, demand remains steady, with numerous buyers still looking to buy about three million pounds of U3O8… the only question being, at what price? Analysts still expect utilities to return to the market, perhaps even before the summer’s end. This is expected to  strengthen the spot market, further.

The Wednesday morning session on the TSX was busy for uranium juniors. Come midday, Crescent Resources was up 12.5 cents, or 100 per cent, to 25 cents a share. This, after it had announced plans to acquire a major potash exploration project in western Australia. The move, a departure for the miner whose traditional focus was on uranium and gold in South America, was clearly welcomed by investors.

Crescent is to acquire 100 per cent interest in the Carnarvon Basin Project from the Australian Potash Company Pty. Ltd. The exploration property covers over 4000 square kilometres of prospective potash horizons, with previous drilling indicating significant potential for potash and other sodium and magnesium salts.

In news from Canada’s beleaguered Labrador regions, Universal Uranium has closed on the agreement with Crosshair Exploration & Mining to acquire all of Universal’s 60 per cent interest in its Central mineral belt uranium project. The area consists of more than 4500 claims, including the Two Time uranium deposit which sits outside the Labrador Inuit land area and is now off limits to mining activities as per a three-year moratorium put into place recently by the Nunatsiavut government.

The Two Time zone is the most advanced prospect in the area. It is a joint venture with Silver Spruce Resources, which retains a 40 per cent ownership. Crosshair will step in as the operator of the project. The company proudly announced that it now controls the only two NI 43-101-compliant uranium deposits (along with its c zone/Armstrong corridor) in the western portion of the Central Mineral Belt, reminding investors that both are outside the Labrador Inuit land area. By midday, investors thought the sale was beneficial for both parties. Accordingly, shares of Universal were up one cent, or 4.8 per cent, to 22 cents; and shares of Crosshair were up three cents, or 6.3 per cent, to 51 cents.

Other midday winners included Erdene Resource Development, which was up 13 cents, or 20 per cent, to 78 cents, after announcing the reverse takeover of Beta Minerals earlier this month; Geodex Minerals, which was up six cents, or nearly 15 per cent, to 47 cents; and Continental Precious Minerals, which was up seven cents, or nearly 10 per cent, to 80 cents. The last two had no news releases accompanying the upward moves.

In the global nuclear community, news of international agreements continue to roll out. The latest is from Jordan. The country plans to sign nuclear cooperation deals with Russia, the United States and China in the fall. The southwest Asian country is after a civilian nuclear energy program and has been busy establishing other cooperation deals this year with Canada, France, and the UK.

To wrap up, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei is calling for the creation of a global energy institution to help the world with its energy crisis. ElBaradei feels a global energy body would bring a new perspective to issues of new energy technology, the role of nuclear power, distribution of energy where it’s needed, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.