Uranium has broken out in 2024, with the spot price rising to a 17 year high of US$106 per pound earlier in the year year. Despite a pullback to about US$78, pricing for uranium is still 45 percent higher than it was 18 months ago.
Although the market's turnaround has taken time, experts are predicting a bright future as countries around the world pursue clean energy goals. Against that backdrop, ASX-listed uranium companies have been making moves in 2024.
Below the Investing News Network has listed the top-performing uranium shares on the ASX by year-to-date gains. Data was gathered using TradingView's stock screener on November 28, 2024, and all companies included had market caps above AU$10 million at the time. Read on to learn more about these firms and what they've been up to so far this year.
Laramide Resources is exploring and developing uranium assets in Australia and the United States.
The company says its Westmoreland project in Queensland, Australia, "is one of the largest uranium development assets held by a junior mining company." The project has a robust preliminary economic assessment describing an open-pit mining project with a mine life of 13 years.
Laramide acquired the adjacent Murphy greenfield project in the Northern Territory from Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) subsidiary Rio Tinto Exploration in 2020 to gain majority control of the mineralized system along the Westmoreland trend.
As for its US assets, in New Mexico the company owns Churchrock-Crownpoint in situ recovery (ISR) project, which is in the permitting phase, and the La Jara Mesa uranium project, and in Utah it owns the past-producing La Sal project.
For 2024, Laramide has focused its Australian activities on Westmoreland, launching a 12,000 metre drill campaign targeting multiple targets across the Westmoreland Conglomerate in both Queensland and the Northern Territory. In October, the company reported that the drill work has "demonstrated the scope for resource growth." The company expects to publish an updated mineral resource estimate in early 2025.
Shares of Laramide hit their year-to-date high of AU$0.88 on May 21.
Deep Yellow's portfolio of uranium assets spans Namibia and Australia, with its two most advanced projects being Tumas and Mulga Rock. The former is located in Namibia, while the latter is in Western Australia; according to the company, the two projects have a combined potential annual production capacity of over 7 million pounds per year.
Deep Yellow released a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Tumas in early February 2023, outlining uranium output of 3.6 million pounds of U3O8 annually, along with output of 1.15 million pounds of vanadium pentoxide. The property's mine life is set at 22.25 years, but additional resources could increase it to over 30 years.
In December 2023, Deep Yellow completed a review of the DFS, updating costs and financial outcomes to reflect the more settled economic environment. Tumas received a mining licence from the Namibian government that same month. The company is targeting late Q4 2024 for a final investment decision as of October 22, 2024.
In terms of Mulga Rock, Deep Yellow has been working on an evaluation program geared at boosting the project's value by looking at its critical minerals potential. In late February, the company updated the resource estimate for the Ambassador and Princess deposits, resulting in a 26 percent increase in the project's total contained uranium. Deep Yellow is currently advancing through an update to its DFS for Mulga Rock with the new data.
Shares of Deep Yellow reached their 2024 peak on May 22, coming in at AU$1.80.
Koba Resources is advancing the Yarramba uranium project in South Australia and the Harrier uranium project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The Yarramba project hosts the Oban uranium deposit in a jurisdiction that includes Australia's three operating uranium mines. Initial high-grade results from ongoing drill work conducted at Yarramba in 2024 include 3.93 meters at 805 parts per million U3O8 equivalent.
Koba acquired the option to own 100 percent of the Harrier property in April 2024. Harrier is a high-grade hard rock uranium project located 50 km west of Paladin Energy's (ASX:PDN) Michelin uranium project. Results from the June inaugural sampling and prospecting program at Harrier included a rock chip assay of 7.48 percent U3O8. The company is planning a follow-up program in 2025.
Shares of Koba Resources have traded as high as AU$0.17 a few times this year, most recently on July 12.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.