Bayswater Uranium Corporation - Uranium 101

URANIUM 101 - KEY FACTS ABOUT THE METAL, HOW IT OCCURS AND THE URANIUM MARKET

Characteristics

A heavy, silvery-white, metallic, naturally radioactive metal with the symbol U and atomic number 92.
Occurs naturally throughout the world's crust - it is 500 times more abundant than gold and as common as tin.
Found in most rocks, soils, rivers, oceans, food and in the human body.

Occurrences and Production

Top producers of uranium are Canada, Australia and Niger.
The richest uranium ores ever discovered have been found in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin.
Principal mining producers of uranium include Cameco (20% of global mine production in 2004) and Cogema Resources (approximately 15% of production).
The primary ores of uranium are the minerals uraninite and pitchblende.
The ores are processed to create a concentrate of U₃0₈, which is further concentrated to create the uranium fuel for nuclear reactors.

Current Uses

Currently there are 17 nuclear power reactors in Canada and hundreds worldwide.
~ 16% of world electricity is generated from nuclear power, using uranium fuel.
The nuclear fission process uses uranium as a fuel to boil water in reactors.
The steam that is produced spins a turbine to make electricity.
Nuclear Energy is a safe, clean and efficient alternative to fossil fuels: Over two billion tonnes of fossil fuel emissions are avoided each year because of nuclear power.

Supply and Demand

The demand for U₃0₈ is directly linked to the level of electricity generated by nuclear power plants.
Demand for U₃0₈ is projected to increase significantly in the next few decades as more countries convert to nuclear fuel and currently operating reactors need to be replaced or upgraded.
Supplies are expected to diminish in the same period, creating a notable gap in supply and demand, unless more mines are created.
Result is a surge in the price of uranium in recent years, and a corresponding rush to explore for uranium deposits worldwide.
The new uranium production is likely to come from deposits in Canada, Australia, Niger, the United States and Kazakhstan.

URANIUM DEPOSIT TYPES

There are four types of uranium deposits that contribute to current production in significant amounts. These include unconformity-related, sandstone, Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) and Pegmatite-Intrusive (Rossing) types.

Unconformity-Related Uranium Deposits

Unconformity-related deposits are related to breaks in the stratigraphic record, or "unconformities". These breaks generally occur around the contact between >500 million year old permeable sedimentary basins which sit above a uranium-enriched, carbon-rich hard rock basement that has been weathered and usually structurally deformed. The deposits can be in the basin, at the contact between basin and basement, or in the upper part of the basement rocks themselves. Major fault systems and hydrothermal fluids provide the other key ingredients to create deposits. Unconformity deposits can have very high grades of uranium (20% and beyond), and in 2004 deposits of this type produced over 40% the world's uranium.

Sandstone Uranium Deposits

Sandstone uranium deposits are typically formed in continental clastic basins with complex, deformed stratigraphy and structure. They are a result of the chemical transport of uranium but the source and time of emplacement is typically not known. They can form as tabular or lens-shaped bodies, roll-fronts, or channels within the host rock. Permeability of the sandstone, and efficient dissolution and deposition mechanisms all influence the formation of deposits. Grades for this deposit type are typically 0.15 - 0.4% U₃0₈ and deposits are usually small to medium sized but numerous within an area. Sandstone uranium deposits are widely distributed around the world and produced more than 11% of global production in 2004. Niger, Kazakhstan, USA, and Australia were some of the leading producers of uranium from sandstone deposits.

Iron Oxide Copper-Gold (IOCG) Uranium Deposits

The IOCG deposit is a complex type of system that is often mined for copper and gold but can also contain a significant amount of uranium. This type of deposit is typified by its main example, the world's largest uranium deposit, Olympic Dam. Olympic Dam contains approximately 1 billion pounds of U₃0₈ in reserve and produced more than 9% of the world's uranium in 2004. The Olympic Dam deposit formed when hot mineral- rich fluids from a deep source penetrated a higher granite host rock to cause brecciation and mineral deposition. Olympic Dam is localized at the intersection of major structures and has an associated magnetic and gravity anomaly. Mineralization includes copper, uranium, gold, silver, light rare earth elements and iron oxides. The age of the Olympic Dam host rocks and deposit are the same and are comparable to the ages of the Central Mineral Belt (CMB) uranium district.

Pegmatite-Intrusive (Rossing-Style) Uranium Deposits

Rio Tinto's Rossing pegmatite-intrusive deposit in Namibia produces nearly 8% of the world's uranium annually. Rossing is a world class deposit and an important model for uranium exploration globally, including Labrador's Central Mineral Belt (CMB). The Rossing deposit is characterized by disseminated uranium mineralization (dominantly uraninite) in a granite-like rock body in areas that have been subjected to intense metamorphism. Copper sulphides, molybdenite, arsenopyrite, iron oxides and fluorite are often associated with the ore. The deposit and others in its class are considered to possibly represent the deeper geologic equivalents of the higher level Olympic Dam-IOCG model. Therefore, the two models can both be applied in certain uranium districts, such as the CMB.