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Uranium Supply, Demand & Prices

IAEA Technical Meeting on Optimization of In Situ Leach (ISL) Uranium Mining Technology

15-18 April 2013, Vienna

Tom Pool International Nuclear, Inc.

The Market For Uranium

• Demand

• Supply

• Prices

• Fukushima Effect

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Historical World Uranium Requirements

Uranium Demand • Existing reactors: 435 in the world, 104 in US

– Retirements: Minimal In US – Life Extensions

• US 73 20-year Extensions Granted • US 13 Applications Filed • US 17 Applications Expected

– Uprates • US 8,800 MWe 1977 - 2016

– Outages • Refueling – Decreasing Duration • Unplanned – Declining pre-Fukushima • Capacity Factor

– US topping out at 90% +

• New Reactors: 65 under construction – Initial Cores – Periodic Refuelings

• Fukushima Impact – Japan: 48 reactors offline indefinitely – Early Shutdowns: Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan & Belgium

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Uranium Requirements - Japan

WNA 2009 WNA 2011 iNi 2013

Fukushima Impact – Japanese Requirements

• WNA 2009 Requirements Forecast for Japan – 2010 to 2030: 220,357 tU

• WNA 2011 Requirements Forecast for Japan – 2010 to 2030: 149,852 tU

– Net Loss = 70,505 tU

– @ US$50/lb U3O8 = US$9.2 Billion

• iNi 2013 Requirements Forecast for Japan – 2010 to 2030: 124,715 tU

– Net Loss = 95,642 tU

– @ US$50/lb U3O8 = US$12.4 Billion

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World Requirements - Future

WNA 2011 IAEA 2012 Low IAEA 2012 High

3.3%/yr

2%/yr

4%/yr

Uranium Resources - IAEA

• 373 Deposits

• ~15 Million tU (200+ years at the current rate of consumption) – Includes some deposits currently politically

inaccessible

– Includes substantial phosphate by-product: 2.7 Million tU

– Includes some black shale: 0.2 Million tU

– Does not include seawater: ~38 Million tU

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Uranium Production - World

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Price - Production Relationship - World

Production Price

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Uranium Production & Consumption - World

Consumption Production

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tU World Inventory

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World Uranium Production By Method

b-p conv isr

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World By-Product Output Of Uranium

S. Africa - Au S. Africa - Cu US - Cu US - P2O5 Australia - Cu

Mega-Projects

• Cigar lake – 6,300 tU/year – 2013/2014

• Imouraran – 5,000 tU/year – 2015

• Husab – 6,500 tU/year – 2016

• Yeelirrie – 2,900 tU/year - ???

• Midwest – 3,500 tU/year - ???

• Trekoppje – 3,000 tU/year - ???

• Etango – 2,300 tU/year - ???

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World - Scheduled Uranium Production

Other

Uzbekistan

United States

Ukraine

Russia

Niger

Namibia

Kazakhstan

Canada

Australia

Secondary Supply

• Inventory (Natural): Net Increase – Government: Almost Gone – Producers: Need to accumulate as production increases – Consumers: Need to accumulate as consumption increases – Hedge Funds/Speculators: Accumulating as in almost all

commodities and adding volatility

• Spent Fuel Reprocessing: Increasing • Government/Military – HEU – Plutonium – MOX:

Declining • Depleted Uranium: Increasing • Price Sensitivity: Relatively Low (Politically driven)

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Secondary Supply Sources - Projected

Spent Fuel Govt/Mil DU

Supply – Demand Balance

• Demand

– Post Fukushima Dip/Pause

– Long-term growth at 2 - 4% per year

• Supply

– Oversupply in the near-term

– Financing difficulties for “juniors”

– Project cancellations & deferments

– Increased competition for sales

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Supply - Demand Balance -Projected

Production Secondary Supply Requirements

Prices

• The 2007 price bubble was driven by speculation and manipulation. – Uranium spot price is very easy to manipulate because the

market is so thin – Hedge fund buying has taken over 10 M lbs out of the

market

• The 2007 price bubble dislocated production costs – Producers had very high expectations for future prices

• Lowered cut-off grades • Increased wages • Catch-up on maintenance • New equipment • Overall: A higher standard of living

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4-Feb-11 18-Feb-11 4-Mar-11 18-Mar-11 1-Apr-11 15-Apr-11 29-Apr-11 13-May-11

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Uranium Spot Prices - Fukushima Effect – Short-Term

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Uranium Prices – Post-Fukushima

Fukushima Effect Uranium Share Prices - Immediate

Company 8-Mar-11 15-Mar-11 Loss

Cameco $38.16 $29.30 23%

Paladin $5.00 $3.26 35%

Uranium One $6.02 $3.55 41%

European Uranium $1.50 $1.00 33%

Ur-Energy $2.57 $1.49 42%

Uranium Energy $5.63 $3.36 40%

Fukushima Effect Uranium Share Prices – Longer-Term

Company 8-Mar-11 2-Apr-13 Loss

Cameco $38.16 $20.87 45%

Paladin $5.00 $1.00 80%

Uranium One $6.02 $2.78 54%

European Uranium $1.50 $0.30 80%

Ur-Energy $2.57 $0.95 63%

Uranium Energy $5.63 $2.11 63%

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Uranium Price & Stock Indices

Uranium Price Index Uranium Stock Index

Prices & Costs

• Prices and costs are related – Ranger 2005: Cost = $16.66 per pound U3O8

– Rossing 2005: Cost = $16.07 per pound U3O8 • Uranium Price 2002-2004 = $13.26

– Ranger 2010: $66.74 per pound U3O8

– Rossing 2010: $62.63 per pound U3O8 • Uranium Price 2007-2009 = $70.35

• Higher prices mean higher costs – Decrease in cut-off grade

– Higher standard of living

Prices - Future

• Volatility due to speculation and manipulation

• Oversupply in the near- to mid-term

• Producer difficulty in lowering costs and, hence, sales prices

• Increasing regulation and NGO intervention increases costs and, hence, prices

• Overall: Conflicting pressures, but weakness likely in the near-term and gains in the mid-term as the Fukushima effect fades

Conclusions

• Demand – Stagnating

• Supply – Abundant resources, increasing competition

• Prices – Stagnating to weaker

• Companies – Difficulties raising financing

• Fukushima Effect – Revitalization of NGOs throughout the world and a 3 to 5 year setback for the nuclear industry

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