Driven by growing market losses, global uranium producers are increasingly converting development projects into active commercial operations.
Broader market positivity has also translated into sustained prices as spot U3O8 remains above US$80 per pound through early 2026. Similarly, the long-term contract price has consistently moved above the US$80 per pound range since the beginning of 2025.
Since prices remain above decisive levels, uranium producers and developers are now incentivized to increase production or pursue projects.
US producers will revive domestic production
In South Texas, Uranium Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:UEC) (UEC) announced earlier this month that it received final approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to begin production at its Burke Hollow project.
Established as the largest greenfield ISR uranium discovery in the US over the past ten years, the 20,000-acre site is now operating as a hub-and-spoke model. The recovered uranium will be processed at UEC’s Hobson Central Processing Plant, which has an annual licensed capacity of four million pounds.
“The startup of Burke Hollow is a significant milestone for UEC, advancing the project from ground-level exploration in 2012 to production in 2026,” said Amir Adnani, President and CEO of UEC.
“With two ISR operations now in production, and our Ludeman ISR project planned for startup in 2027, we are building a scalable, multidimensional platform supported by the largest uranium resource base in the United States.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said: “Texas is proud to be home to America’s largest greenfield ISR uranium production project. This Burke Hollow project in South Texas will strengthen America’s domestic nuclear fuel cycle and cement Texas as a world energy leader.”
Just a few weeks later, UR-Energy Inc. (NYSE:URG) announced Beginning its own mining operations at the Shirley Basin Project in Wyoming, the district is historically recognized as the birthplace of commercial ISR mining.
The company is currently obtaining uranium-bearing solution from its first mine unit.
The project has a licensed annual wellfield and toll processing capacity of up to 2.0 million pounds of U3O8 equivalent, with an estimated mine life of nine years in three shallow units. The site’s measured and indicated resources are approximately £9.1 million at an average grade of 0.22 per cent.
The uranium loaded onto tar in Shirley Basin will be transported to the company’s Lost Creek facility for final processing, drying and packaging this summer, pending final regulatory inspections.
CEO and President Matt Gilley commented, “Two years ago, we committed to building this project. Today, we have successfully brought back this historically significant uranium district, demonstrating the disciplined implementation of our strategy.”
Denison begins construction of Canada’s next uranium mine
David Cates, President and CEO of Denison Mines (TSX:DML,NYSEAMERICAN:DNN), discusses a rare accomplishment in Canadian mining: the construction of the country’s first new uranium mine in two decades.
Central Asia expands capacity
While US producers are reviving domestic production, Central Asia remains the global supply base.
Uzbekistan’s state-owned Navoiyuran on April 23 announced Start of commercial ISR uranium recovery at the Kizilkok deposit in the Navoi field.
Uzbekistan is currently the world’s fifth largest uranium producer.
The Kyzylkum operation integrates four license blocks into one prospective area in the central Kyzylkum desert. The site uses a low-reagent oxygen ISR technology which Novoeuron claims increases recovery rates while reducing production costs by two to three times.
The deposit is the company’s third largest, with 9,400 tonnes of uranium (TU) in ore reserves.
“In 2025, NovoEuran’s production reaches 7,000 tons of natural uranium. With an estimated mine life of 15 years and an annual production capacity of 1,200 tons of uranium, the Kizilkok deposit will play an important role in supporting future production growth and contributing to regional economic development,” said Jamal Sabakhonovich Faizullayev, General Director of NovoEuran.
Accelerating the exploration pipeline
Anticipating sustained long-term demand, exploration companies are also accelerating pre-feasibility workflows on idle assets.
Eagle Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ:NUCL) recently got engaged Harris Exploration Drilling & Associates will execute a 27,000-foot drill program at its Aurora uranium project on the Oregon-Nevada border. Starting in July, the 47-hole program aims to advance the project to pre-feasibility study (PFS) by the second half of 2027.
Aurora has 32.75 million pounds of indicated and 4.98 million pounds of inferred near-surface uranium resources, making it the largest conventional measured and indicated reserves in the United States.
Eagle is intended to eventually integrate domestic uranium processing with advanced small modular reactor (SMR) technology.
Further expanding the US pipeline, Anson Resources (ASX:ASN,OTCQB:ANSNF) informed Continued uranium and vanadium mineralization over 2,500 meters at its Yellow Cat project in Utah.
The initial 23-hole aircore drill program confirmed the extent of mineralization between the historic Cactus Rat and McCoy Group mine sites. Shallow mineralization prompted the company to tighten its drill spacing to accelerate formal JORC resource interpretation.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gian Liguid, do not have any direct investment interest in any of the companies mentioned in this article.
