Uranium Stocks: 5 Biggest Companies in 2024 (2024)

Market cap: US$151.91 billion

Mining major BHP owns and operates Australia’s Olympic Dam mine, considered one of the world's largest uranium deposits. While the site is included in the company’s Copper South Australia operations portfolio and copper is the primary resource extracted, the mine also produces significant quantities of uranium, gold and silver.

In its half-year results announcement in February, BHP reported that higher average realized prices for copper, uranium, gold and silver had added an additional US$100 million of value to Copper South Australia.

According to BHP’s results for the nine months ended on March 31, uranium production at Olympic Dam totaled 863 metric tons year-to-date and 2,674 metric tons for the full nine month period.

While BHP shelved plans to expand the Olympic Dam mine in 2020, opting instead to invest in the existing infrastructure at the underground site, the company is currently evaluating options for a new two stage smelter, with a final investment decision expected between its 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.

Market cap: US$23.49 billion

Uranium major Cameco holds significant stakes in key uranium operations within the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada. This includes a 54.55 percent interest in the Cigar Lake mine, the world's most productive uranium mine.

The company also owns 70 percent of the McArthur River mine and 83 percent of the Key Lake mill. Orano Canada is Cameco's primary joint venture partner across these operations.

Weak spot uranium prices between 2012 and 2020 weighed heavily on pure-play uranium producers. In 2018, Cameco closed the McArthur River and Key Lake operations, reducing annual uranium output from 23.8 million pounds in 2017 to 9.2 million pounds in 2018. Improving market dynamics prompted the company to restart MacArthur Lake in 2022.

As a full nuclear fuel cycle provider, Cameco, in partnership with Brookfield Renewable Partners and Brookfield Asset Management, completed the purchase of Westinghouse Electric Company — a leading provider of nuclear power plant services and technologies — in November 2023. The deal was announced in 2022.

In its Q1 results, Cameco reported the production of 5.8 million pounds of uranium during the period, up from 4.5 million pounds in the same quarter of 2023. The company anticipates combined full-year uranium production of 18 million pounds from its McArthur River/Key Lake and Cigar Lake operations.

“Our strategy continues to demonstrate the benefits of aligning our operational, marketing, and financially focused decisions in a market where we are seeing sustained, positive momentum for nuclear energy like never before,” President and CEO Tim Gitzel told company investors during a Q1 conference call.

“We remain in the enviable position of having what we believe are the world’s premier, tier-one assets operating in stable geopolitical regions, along with our investments across the fuel cycle and reactor life cycle.”

Market cap: US$4.29 billion

NexGen Energy, a company specializing in uranium exploration and development, is primarily focused on the Athabasca Basin. Its flagship project is the Rook I project, which includes significant discoveries such as Arrow and South Arrow.

The company also owns a 50.1 percent interest in exploration-stage company IsoEnergy (TSXV:ISO,OTCQX:ISENF).

In late May, NexGen completed the purchase of 2.7 million pounds of U3O8 for US$250 million. This acquisition was financed through the issuance of US$250 million in five year, 9 percent unsecured convertible debentures.

In a company release, CEO Leigh Curyer stated that the transaction enhances the progress of ongoing offtake negotiations, aiming to maximize the value of NexGen's substantial uranium inventory in preparation for future production and sales. He highlighted the strategic importance of having 2.7 million pounds of uranium in inventory following the enactment of the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act.

Also in May, the company announced the start of an expanded summer drill campaign to evaluate the extensive hydrothermal system at its Patterson Corridor East discovery at Rook I and broaden the mineralized area. The initiative will involve over 22,000 meters of diamond drilling with four drill rigs.

Market cap: US$3.11 billion

Paladin Energy holds the title of the largest ASX-listed primary uranium miner. The company owns a 75 percent stake in the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia and has exploration projects in Canada and Australia.

Operations at Langer Heinrich were halted in 2018 due to low uranium prices, but the company initiated the restart process in 2022. In its Q1 results, Paladin Energy reported that it had successfully achieved commercial uranium concentrate production at Langer Heinrich in late March. The milestone was completed on schedule and within the company's US$125 million budget, according to a press release.

Paladin will now focus on ramping up output and building inventory for customer shipments.

Market cap: US$3.03 billion

Uranium Energy (UEC) has two production-ready in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium projects — its Christensen Ranch uranium operations in Wyoming and its Texas Hub and Spoke operations in South Texas — as well as two operational processing facilities. It plans to restart uranium production in Wyoming in August and resume South Texas operations in 2025.

The company has built one of the largest US-warehoused uranium inventories, and in 2022 it secured a US Department of Energy contract to supply 300,000 pounds of U3O8 as part of the country's move to establish a domestic uranium reserve.

UEC also holds a wide portfolio of uranium projects in the US and Canada, some of which have major permits secured. In August 2022, UEC completed its acquisition of uranium company UEX. That same year, UEC also acquired both a portfolio of uranium exploration projects and the Roughrider uranium project from Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO).

In May, the company released a statement in support of the US government’s decision to ban Russian uranium imports. In the announcement, Amir Adnani, UEC's president and CEO, expressed gratitude for the bipartisan bill, emphasizing its role in bolstering US energy and national security by ending reliance on Russian uranium imports.

He went on to note that this new law, along with the Nuclear Fuel Security Act, supports the growth of the US uranium industry, ensuring a reliable supply of clean energy.