Editing Uranium (section)

===Supplies===
{{Main|Uranium market}}
{{see also|2000s commodities boom}}
[[File:MonthlyUraniumSpot.png|thumb|right|Monthly uranium spot price in US$ per pound. The [[Uranium bubble of 2007|2007 price peak]] is clearly visible.<ref name="uraniumingo">{{cite web |url=http://www.uranium.info/prices/monthly.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212170510/http://www.uranium.info/prices/monthly.html |archive-date=12 December 2007 |title=NUEXCO Exchange Value (Monthly Uranium Spot)}}</ref>]]
In 2005, ten countries accounted for the majority of the world's concentrated uranium oxides: [[Canada]] (27.9%), [[Australia]] (22.8%), [[Kazakhstan]] (10.5%), [[Russia]] (8.0%), [[Namibia]] (7.5%), [[Niger]] (7.4%), [[Uzbekistan]] (5.5%), the [[United States]] (2.5%), [[Argentina]] (2.1%) and [[Ukraine]] (1.9%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uxc.com/fuelcycle/uranium/production-uranium.html |title=World Uranium Production |publisher=UxC Consulting Company, LLC |access-date=11 February 2007 |archive-date=27 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227140531/http://www.uxc.com/fuelcycle/uranium/production-uranium.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2008, Kazakhstan was forecast to increase production and become the world's largest supplier of uranium by 2009;<ref>{{cite web |author=Mithridates |url=http://www.pagef30.com/2008/07/kazakhstan-to-surpass-canada-as-worlds.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304185144/http://www.pagef30.com/2008/07/kazakhstan-to-surpass-canada-as-worlds.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=4 March 2010 |title=Page F30: Kazakhstan to surpass Canada as the world's largest producer of uranium by last year (2009) |website=Mithridates.blogspot.com |date=24 July 2008 |access-date=12 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=717292 |title=Kazakistan uranyum üretimini artıracak|publisher=Zaman Gazetesi |work=Zaman.com.tr |language=tr|access-date=12 September 2008|date=28 July 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113013838/http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=717292|archive-date=13 January 2009}}</ref> Kazakhstan has dominated the world's uranium market since 2010. In 2021, its share was 45.1%, followed by Namibia (11.9%), Canada (9.7%), Australia (8.7%), Uzbekistan (7.2%), Niger (4.7%), Russia (5.5%), China (3.9%), India (1.3%), Ukraine (0.9%), and South Africa (0.8%), with a world total production of 48,332 tonnes.<ref name="WNA-WUM"/> Most uranium was produced not by conventional underground&nbsp;mining of ores (29% of production), but by [[in situ leach]]ing (66%).<ref name="WNA-WUM"/><ref>{{cite web|title=In Situ Leach Mining (ISL) of Uranium – World Nuclear Association |website=www.world-nuclear.org |url=https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/in-situ-leach-mining-of-uranium.aspx|access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref>

In the late 1960s, UN geologists discovered major uranium deposits and other rare mineral reserves in [[Somalia]]. The find was the largest of its kind, with industry experts estimating the deposits at over 25% of the world's then known uranium reserves of 800,000 tons.<ref name="Bufais">{{cite news|title=Big Uranium Find Announced in Somalia|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hbVWAAAAIBAJ&pg=7276%2C235261|access-date=16 May 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 March 1968}}</ref>

The ultimate available supply is believed to be sufficient for at least the next 85 years,<ref name="IAEAResourcesDemand">{{cite web| title=Global Uranium Resources to Meet Projected Demand |url=http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2006/uranium_resources.html |access-date=29 March 2007 |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency |date=2006}}</ref> though some studies indicate underinvestment in the late twentieth century may produce supply problems in the 21st century.<ref name="MITfuelSupply">{{cite web| title=Lack of fuel may limit U.S. nuclear power expansion |url=https://news.mit.edu/2007/fuel-supply |access-date=29 March 2007 |work=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |date=21 March 2007}}</ref>
Uranium deposits seem to be log-normal distributed. There is a 300-fold increase in the amount of uranium recoverable for each tenfold decrease in ore grade.<ref>{{cite journal
| title = World Uranium Resources
|journal = Scientific American |volume = 242|issue = 1| author = Deffeyes, Kenneth S.
| author2 = MacGregor, Ian D.
| name-list-style = amp
| date = January 1980
| page = 66
|osti = 6665051|bibcode = 1980SciAm.242a..66D|doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0180-66}}</ref>
In other words, there is little high grade ore and proportionately much more low grade ore available.