US / Uranium Energy Points To ‘Unprecedented’ Demand For Nuclear As Reason For Rio Tinto Deal

Uranium Energy Corporation has agreed to buy British-Australian multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s assets in Wyoming, US, which include the fully-licensed Sweetwater plant and a portfolio of uranium mining projects.

The Texas-based uranium producer and explorer said the $175m (€157m) cash deal would give it key assets that will allow it to boost production, providing opportunities for synergy with its other projects in Wyoming’s Great Divide Basin.

It said the move was a response to unprecedented demand for uranium and nuclear energy. This spike, it said, is being fuelled by ongoing geopolitical events, the escalating need for reliable clean energy, and the rapid adoption of AI technologies.

Uranium Energy estimates the transaction, to be closed in the fourth-quarter of 2024 calendar year, would add about 175 million pounds of historic resources.

“These assets will unlock tremendous value by establishing our third hub-and-spoke production platform and cement [Uranium Energy] as the leading uranium developer in Wyoming and the US,” chief executive Amir Adnani said in the statement.

The Sweetwater plant is a 3,000 tonne per day conventional processing mill with a licensed capacity of 4.1 million pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8), a compound of uranium also known as yellowcake that is used to produce fuel for nuclear power reactors.

Uranium Energy will also acquire Red Desert, a development-stage uranium project, encompassing approximately 50,000 hectares of exploration and mining rights, and the Green Mountain project, 35 km north of the Sweetwater plant.