Australia sits on the world's largest known recoverable resources of uranium — 1.68 million tonnes as of 2021. However, nuclear power is banned in Australia, and the country uses no part of this material for its own energy needs.
Instead, Australia sells this valuable commodity, with uranium accounting for 17 percent of the nation's energy exports.
Read on to learn more about Australia's role in the uranium industry with a focus on its operating mines and future producers. Mine information and data is sourced from the mining database MDO, company records and the World Nuclear Association.
What are Australia's major uranium mines?
Australian uranium production centres around three mining complexes in South Australia: Olympic Dam, Honeymoon and Beverley-Four Mile.
Australia was the fourth largest producer of uranium in 2022 at 4,553 tonnes — accounting for about 8 percent of total global uranium production — according to the most recent data from the World Nuclear Association.
1. Olympic Dam Mine
Status: Operating
Operations: Underground and surface mining and surface; integrated processing facility
FY2024 production: 3,603 tonnes U3O8
In-situ proven and probable reserves: 558 million tonnes at 590 g/t uranium
Global mining giant BHP's (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) Olympic Dam is not only the biggest uranium mine in Australia, it's also the largest known uranium orebody in the world and one of the world's largest uranium mines by output. However, Olympic Dam is primarily a copper mine that produces uranium, gold and silver as a by-product.
First entering production in 1988, the mine has both underground and surface operations and has a fully integrated processing facility, which means it is capable of extracting, refining and processing mined commodities.
In its fiscal year 2024, BHP reported production of 3,603 tonnes of U3O8 at Olympic Dam, up from 3,406 tonnes for fiscal year 2023.
The Olympic Dam mine hosts in-situ proven and probable reserves of 558 million tonnes grading 1.85 percent copper, 590 g/t uranium, 0.67 g/t gold and 4 g/t silver and low-grade sulphide proven and probable reserves of 42 million tonnes grading 0.84 percent copper and 280 g/t uranium. Its mine life is expected to run until 2081.
2. Four Mile Mine
Status: Operating
Operations: In-situ recovery
2022 production: 1,503 tonnes of U3O8
Proven and probable reserves: Not available
Another of Australia's biggest uranium mines is the Four Mile in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mine, which hosts three deposits. Operated by private company Quasar Resources, a subsidiary of General Atomics, Four Mile was brought into production in 2014 with an expected mine life of 15 years. Another General Atomics subsidiary, Heathgate Resources, owns the past-producing Beverley ISR mine, where uranium ore from Four Mile is taken to be processed at the Beverly plant.
As it is a privately held asset, production figures are not readily available. However, the World Nuclear Association estimates that operations at Four Mile produce an average of 2,000 tonnes of U3O8 each year. The most recent reported production estimate is 1,503 tonnes of U3O8 for 2022.
3. Honeymoon Mine
Status: Ramping up from April 2024 restart
Operations: In-situ recovery
FY2025 production guidance: 850,000 pounds of U3O8
Mineral resources: 71.6 million pounds U308
First discovered in the 1970s, the Honeymoon ISR uranium mine was originally brought into production in 2011. After two short years, the mine was closed due to technical difficulties and low uranium prices.
Boss Energy (ASX:BOE,OTCQX:BQSSF) purchased the historically producing asset from Uranium One in 2015. The Australian company restarted uranium production at the Honeymoon mine in 2024, producing its first drum of uranium in April using its lixiviant chemistry and ion-exchange technology.
In July, Boss completed its first uranium contract sale, which was delivered to European nuclear utilities. Boss Energy reported production of 28,844 pounds of U3O8 in its fiscal Q4 2024 ended June 30, followed by 89,516 pounds of U3O8 during its fiscal Q1 2025. The Honeymoon mine is on track to meet its fiscal year 2025 production guidance of 850,000 pounds of U3O8.
The current mine plan and existing mining licence for Honeymoon covers 36 million pounds of the asset’s total 71.6 million pound JORC Resource. Boss Energy's Uranium Mineral Export Permission allows for 3.3 million pounds per year.
What are Australia's future uranium mines?
Australia accounts for almost one-third of the world's uranium deposits — 28 percent as of 2021.
With 36 known uranium deposits, including the ones discussed above, the list of potential new mines or mines being brought back online is long. Here are three of the largest uranium deposits in Australia.
1. Mulga Rock Project
Stage: Permitting
The Mulga polymetallic deposit is one of Australia's largest undeveloped uranium projects and the most advanced in Western Australia. First discovered by PNC Exploration in 1979 in the Kalgoorlie region, today it is owned by Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL,OTCQX:DYLLF). The deposit also hosts copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc and rare earths.
The project is divided into Mulga Rock East and Mulga Rock West, with a JORC mineral resource estimate of 115 million tonnes at 420 parts per million for 104.8 million pounds U3O8, along with proven and probable reserves of 42 million pounds U3O8. Currently, uranium production capacity for Mulga Rock is projected to be 3.5 million pounds per year over a mine life of more than 15 years. A revised definitive feasibility study is underway for the proposed open pit mine and slated for completion in late 2025.
2. Yeelirrie Project
Stage: Permitting (on hold)
The Yeelirrie deposit is another significant uranium project discovered during the 1970's in Western Australia. Today it is owned by uranium giant Cameco (TSX:CCO,NYSE:CCJ), which has proposed two open pits for the project. Yeelirrie's current JORC mineral resource estimate stands at 128.1 million pounds U3O8 at an average ore grade of 0.15 percent.
Cameco was granted federal approval for mining at Yeelirrie in 2019 and the permit extends until 2043. However, the Western Australia government rescinded state approval for uranium mining at Yeelirrie in January 2022 as the company had not achieved substantial commencement of the project by that date.
Cameco has the option to reapply for an extension in the future if all other required regulatory approvals are in place. The company is not conducting or planning any further work on the project at this time.
3. Samphire Project
Stage: Preliminary economic assessment
Alligator Energy's (ASX:AGE) Samphire ISR uranium project is in South Australia. The Samphire project hosts the Blackbush uranium deposit and the Plumbush uranium prospect, with a JORC mineral resource estimate of 12.4 million tonnes at a grade of 640 parts per million for 17.5 million pounds contained U308 in the indicated and inferred categories.
Alligator Energy completed an updated scoping study in December 2023 based on an annualised ISR production target of 1.2 million pounds. As of October 2024, a field recovery trial pilot plant is underway in preparation for a feasibility study to take place in 2025.
What's the outlook for uranium and nuclear power?
After suffering low prices following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the uranium market rallied in 2023. This led the uranium spot price to hit a major milestone in January 2024 to push past the US$100 per pound level for the first time in 17 years. Since then, the price of uranium has eased back into the US$80 range, but analysts are bullish on once again seeing triple digit uranium.
As the world continues to pivot toward net-zero emissions, nuclear energy is expected to find increasing favour from countries looking to shift to cleaner sources of energy generation. According to the US Energy Information Association, nuclear generation is anticipated to grow by more than 22 percent between 2022 and 2050.
A report from the World Nuclear Association states that uranium production will remain stable through 2030, and then decrease by nearly half from 2030 to 2040, highlighting the need for increased exploration and production before that drop-off point to avoid future supply disruptions.
According to a 2023 report by Sprott (TSX:SII,NYSE:SII), the supply of uranium is likely to trail behind demand, with an expected supply shortfall of about 1.5 billion pounds by 2040. This widening gap in supply and demand could lead to increased uranium prices in the coming years.
It's higher prices that the uranium mining industry needs to further expand existing operations and bring deposits into production.
“There are so many moving parts to production cycles," Gerardo Del Real, co-founder of Digest Publishing and editor of Daily Profit Cycle, told the Investing News Network in October 2024. "And you throw in geopolitics, you throw in coups happening around the world, you throw in war, you throw in supply and material shortages. And then you throw in higher tax and higher inflation costs that that aren't priced in initially. And you get the perfect storm for realizing that it's just going to get tougher and tougher to produce cheap uranium."
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2021.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Boss Energy is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
