Wishing everyone a great year ahead!

As the year draws to a close we at Fission would like to wish everyone the very best for the year ahead. 2012 has been a great year for us with a major new discovery at PLS, the successful (and equally major) expansion of our Waterbury Lake deposit and the acquisition of Pitchstone which brought a raft of new and exciting properties (and a JV with Rio Tinto) into our portfolio.

May 2013 be as good for us and everyone in the mining sector.


Dev Randhawa

Does Fission have the cash to develop its key properties?

Dev Randhawa

Strong Assay Results for Fission’s New Shallow Depth Discovery at PLS

If you didn’t catch our latest press release, we have the assay results back from our new discovery at PLS. To recap - all four of the last holes of the drill program hit wide intersections of strong mineralization at shallow depth. You can check out all three of our news releases in November for the full details.

Today’s release is all about the assay results. The short version is that we’ve drilled 18m Grading 1.78% U3O8, including 12.5m of 2.49% U3O8 and 3.5m of 4.33% U3O8

Let’s give those numbers some context. The world’s average grade for uranium is 0.2%. Let me state that again: 0.2%. That means our assay results range from 9 times to 20 times higher than the world average grade.

Just as importantly, the mineralization has occurred at a shallow depth, meaning considerably less time, money and effort when it comes to actually mining the uranium and therefore upgrading the value of our discovery by a great deal.

We are at the start of a particularly exciting time where this property is concerned and are preparing a very aggressive drill program to develop PLS. Watch this space.

Please get in contact with any questions and be sure to follow us on Twitter (@FissionEnergy) and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest updates.

Dev Randhawa

Fission CEO discusses market response to latest Fission discovery

Russia: more reactors, more demand as country speeds up investment in nuclear energy

Just a few days ago World Nuclear News reported that Russia is speeding up its investment in the nuclear industry.

The country already has 33 reactors online with another 34 under construction or planned and a further 20 proposed. This equates to approximately 17% of Russia’s energy needs being met by nuclear energy – a figure that the government wants to see rise to as much as 80% by 2050….

Annual investment in nuclear research and development by the state nuclear corporation, Rosatom is already at $737 million USD. The head of Rosatom sees this increasing to $1.3 billion USD by 2020 - ten times its value in 2007 when the country started to consolidate its nuclear activities within Rosatom.

How will this aggressive approach affect the global uranium market? Well naturally it is going to mean an even greater increase in demand. However, in my opinion it’s also confirmation of what many in the uranium industry have been predicting: the non-renewal of the HEU agreement, aka – a dramatic drop in uranium supply, specifically to the US which is currently the largest user of nuclear fuel.

To my thinking it’s also yet more affirmation of something else I’ve been talking about for a while – the race to secure long-term energy supplies in a world that has to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. That’s why, with the exception of Germany – a minor player where nuclear energy is concerned -  we will continue to see numerous governments pushing for more investment in nuclear energy and ensuring nuclear has a prominent place in the energy mix going forward.

Dev Randhawa

Fission CEO talks about impact of latest uranium discovery

PLS Drilling Wrap-up Report: Success, success and more success

We’ve had a busy last few weeks at Fission! Hopefully you noticed the three news announcements we put out but if not, I can tell you that our PLS property has taken a huge leap forward.

Now as you know, we discovered a high grade boulder field on the property last year and, following an aerial survey and successful ground prospecting, increased the size of the boulder field boundaries by close to 50%. The goal, of course, has been to find the source of that boulder field and with the results of our latest core drill program we believe that we have done just that.

I strongly recommend that you check out the November press releases for the detailed overview but if you’re pushed for time then here’s a snapshot:

• All of the last four holes of the current drilling program at PLS intersected wide (up to 23m)      mineralization
• Each interval had  bands of off-scale (>9999 cps) radioactivity
• The mineralization for each hole occurred at shallow depth

As our chief geo and president, Ross McElroy, said, “These results provide plenty of impetus to plan an aggressive follow up program this winter." The results – a discovery in their own right – don’t just provide impetus, they give us some serious data with which to direct the new program and I for one am extremely excited not just about progress to date but for our future prospects.

Please get in contact with any questions and be sure to follow us on Twitter (@FissionEnergy) and LinkedIn .

Dev Randhawa

PLS Discovery Growing Rapidly

If you haven’t seen today’s press release our drilling program continues to see great results – most recently a 13.0m wide interval of high grade mineralization, including intermittent intervals, totaling 2.14m, of off-scale (>9999 cps) radioactivity. These results, from discovery hole PLS12-024 at PLS, come just one week after discovery hole PLS12-022 intersected a 6.0m interval of high grade mineralization (see our news release of Nov 5, 2012).

Here’s what Ross McElroy, President, COO, and Chief Geologist for Fission, has to say, "Robust mineralization, multiple holes, shallow ground... these are exceptional results and we believe the area has the potential to host a significant and shallow high grade deposit.”

I strongly recommend you check out the press release which includes key technical details. For my part, I can say that the entire Fission team is extremely excited about the progress of PLS and we’ll naturally be announcing further results as soon as they become available. Please get in contact with any questions and be sure to follow us on Twitter (@FissionEnergy) and LinkedIn .

Dev Randhawa

Fission – Head Geo Driving Success

You no doubt caught this week’s big news from Fission – a high grade discovery made while drilling at our PLS property in the Athabasca Basin. It’s no coincidence that our drilling program has had this level of results. Last year at PLS we discovered a high grade boulder field and just last month announced we had expanded the size of that boulder field by nearly 50%.  Arial surveys, successful ground prospecting and carefully planned drilling has enabled us to steadily home in on this week's big discovery.

If you’ve not met him at one of the mining investment shows that we regularly attend and have not yet checked out the management page on our, I would like you introduce you to Ross McElroy – Fission’s president and chief geologist. Not only does he head up the technical team but he has been instrumental in five of the last nine major uranium discoveries in the Athabasca Basin – home to the world’s highest grades of uranium.

For the last four years Mr McElroy has successfully directed the highly skilled geologist and drill teams that enabled us to first make Fission’s first major discovery at our Waterbury Lake project and subsequently to make such tremendous progress at PLS.

A great Geo team lies at the heart of successful exploration and it’s worth you checking out Mr McElroy’s profile on our management page and listening to the audio clip he recently recorded regarding the latest PLS results.

Dev Randhawa

Ross McElroy, President and Head Geo, talks about Fission’s big discovery at PLS

Click here to listen as Fission President and Head Geo, Ross McElroy, comments on Fission's new high grade discovery at PLS this week.

High Grade Discovery at PLS

If you haven’t seen our latest press release, our core drilling program has hit a 6.0m wide interval of high grade mineralization with massive visible pitchblende in veins (up to 21cm wide), blebs and flecks. This is a very significant find to say the least and comes on the back of a large expansion to the high grade boulder field we discovered at PLS and promising drill results during the past twelve months. To say the team is excited

This high grade mineralization occurs at shallow depth in basement rocks in drill hole PLS12-022 which is still in progress. The strongly radioactive interval occurs within a broader 21.0m interval of moderate radioactivity witch breaches the unconformity and extends downward into the Archean basement.

I strongly encourage you to check out the release and in the meantime, here’s what our chief geologist and company president had to say “We believe that PLS is entering a very exciting stage in an underexplored region on the margin of the Athabasca Basin. The latest results to date provide confirmation of the project's potential to host a significant high-grade uranium deposit. We are particularly excited by the size and scope of this discovery."

As ever, please get in contact with us with any questions.  You can also follow us on Twitter for live updates of activity. If you haven’t used Twitter before it’s easy to sign up and will give you instant access to all updates as we make them.

Dev Randhawa

China announces it will resume nuclear project approvals

Following a State Council meeting, China has officially stated on its Central Government website that it will “steadily” resume nuclear project approvals, with a focus on coastal locations. You can read Bloomberg’s analysis here.

The announcement was not unexpected. Far from it actually when you consider the speed at which China’s energy requirements are growing demands a correspondingly determined energy policy, a policy which includes a strong nuclear component.

How strong are we talking about here? If you’ve been following the nuclear energy industry you’ll know that with 26 reactors under construction, 51 planned, and 120 reactors proposed, China is behind a total of 36% of upcoming worldwide nuclear energy development.

It’s not alone of course. Russia, India, South Korea, the US and other countries are following suit but, as the powerhouse behind nuclear industry growth, what China does and says matters. It’s particularly important when you consider the announcement in the light of the widely forecast demise of the HEU agreement, which will remove an estimated 24M lbs of uranium supply from the market.

My opinion? More growth, less supply, good for business.

Dev Randhawa

PLS update: high grade boulder field by 50% as exploration results accelerate

If you haven’t seen our latest press release, we’ve just announced the discovery of a second boulder train at PLS which in fact is an extension of the high grade boulder field that we discovered in 2011. I encourage you to read the release for the full technical info and to check out the updated map below but for now, here’s some more detail:

A total of 40 anomalous surficial rocks ranging from in size from 1cm to 45cm have been identified by prospecting. Nearly half of them (17) are measured as off-scale (> 9,999 counts per second [cps]) by a hand held Exploranium GR-110G total count gamma-ray scintillometer.

The new discoveries are a result of ground follow-up of a recently completed high resolution radiometric / magnetic airborne survey which was carried out by Special Projects Inc, the same company that carried out the 2009 survey which in turn led to our original high grade boulder field discovery.

Why are we excited by these results? Well, investigation of radioactive boulder trains has led to the discovery of many uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin, including the nearby former producing Cluff Lake Mine (>60 million lbs produced).

Here are some points that our head geologist, Ross McElroy, has mentioned:
• The highly mineralized boulders are soft, friable and easily broken down to cover small fragments and are associated, predominantly, with basement metasedimentary boulders and suggest a significant bed rock source in an area of pre-Athabasca basement rocks, having the potential to host high grade mineralization.
• While there is no certainty that any in situ uranium deposits will be discovered on the property, boulder mineralization appears to be analogous to the Cluff Lake and Millennium deposits.
• The boulder train is located only 1.5 km west of the all-weather Provincial Highway 955, which runs north to the former producing Cluff Lake Mine.
• Overall, the project is easily accessible, which will allow for cost-efficient exploration for identifying new shallow targets

As you know, we also have two drill programs in place at PLS, following up on promising drill results from earlier this year. You can check out this press release for the latest available information on the drill program.

As ever, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions via phone, contact form or Twitter.

Dev Randhawa

UK energy plans: government and public favour more nuclear

If you’ve been following the energy news coming out the UK over the last year or so you’ll know that the government is keen to ensure nuclear power plays a sizeable role in the UK’s energy mix going forward. In addition to signing a nuclear cooperation agreement with France earlier this year – estimated to be worth £500 million in contracts – it is expected that the new energy legislation will include significant pro-nuclear subsidies to encourage a new wave of power station construction.
In general, most governments tend to understand that nuclear energy is a crucial part of securing a country’s energy supplies while also reducing emissions. What I was very pleased to read, however, was the results of a recent survey showing that more UK residents now favour an increase in nuclear energy.

You can check out the details of the poll here.  Essentially around 40% of the survey respondents felt the UK should use more nuclear power stations – double the numbers of those who thought there should be less power stations (20%) and nearly double the numbers of those who favoured the status quo (21%).

In addition, the survey found that carbon-emitted power stations such as coal, oil and gas were deeply unpopular. Personally I find it very reassuring when the public shows a clear understanding of the economic and environmental benefits of nuclear energy and the crucial importance of growing its part in the energy mix going forward.

Dev Randhawa

Uranium – pressure on supply is set to intensify

You may not have noticed it – a press release sent out by Areva recently that got a bit of play in the Media but not much. It concerns the decision to delay the start of its $1-billion Trekkopje uranium mine in Namibia just when it’s nearing completion. Covered in Mining Weekly  and by NBC  the reason cited was, unsurprisingly, current market conditions.

Now, let’s take a moment to consider what this means at an industry level. If the future growth in demand is there and, based on the number of reactors under construction we know it is, then what this means is that an estimated 3 000 t of uranium oxide per year will now not be coming online in 2014 – a year after the end of the HEU agreement (forecast for 2013) will remove the industry’s largest secondary source of uranium.

My opinion is that on this occasion what’s bad news for Areva happens to be good news for long-term uranium prices.

Dev Randhawa

Fission head geo comments on latest news release and next steps for J-Zone

Dev Randhawa

Japan nuclear update: Construction resumes on new nuclear power plant

A World Nuclear News article this week has reported that “the Japan Electric Power Development Corp (J-Power) will resume construction of the Ohma nuclear power plant in Aomori prefecture.”
The J-Power announcement made reference to the revised energy policy announced by the Japanese government as well as the understanding of the local communities as factors in the decision to resume construction.

As I write this, the current situation is Japan’s government has previously announced that all existing reactors will be shut down by 2040. We’ll see how long this shut-down stance remains but for now their announcement suggests two things to me. One: the government will soon approve more restarts of idled reactors. Two: come 2040, the reactors currently under construction will be exempt from the 2040 date.

You also have to bear in mind one very important factor which is that governments and policies change. Nuclear power has played a huge part in Japan’s energy strategy for many years. I’ve written several posts prior to now on the colossal economic and environmental price that the country is paying for keeping its reactor fleet idled and I would be very surprised if, once enough time has passed, the energy policy is not revised in order to retain a greater proportion of nuclear energy.
As ever, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions or comments.

Dev Randhawa

Fission's Head Geo presents to analyst during tour of Fission's Athabasca properties

Dev Randhawa

New Drilling aims to find Source of High Grade Uranium Boulder Field Discovery at PLS

In case you’ve not seen our latest press release we’ve just announced two new drill programs to locate the source of the high grade uranium boulder field we discovered in 2011 at our PLS Property in Canada’s Athabasca Basin.

Drilling will start early this month and here’s what Ross McElroy, our president and chief geologist at Fission, had to say, “In addition to the presence of the high grade boulder field, the results of our Winter drill program provided further evidence that a large uranium-rich alteration system is present in this area. The Winter data has been key in defining the areas of focus for the October drilling and we’re looking forward to getting started.”

Winter Highlights: The Winter drilling along PL-3B EM Conductor intersected strong alteration below the unconformity and continuous wide intervals of anomalous low grade uranium basement mineralization, as well as associated boron, cobalt, nickel, molybdenum and lead over 823m of strike (see press release dated July 24th, 2012 for detailed information).

Program Details: The 8-hole, 1600m core drilling program will focus on the PL-3B EM Conductor, and also test a series of parallel east-northeast trending EM conductors, which lie approximately 3.0 km to the east of the high grade uranium boulder field, where multiple boulder assays as high as 39.6% U3O8 were discovered last year.

In addition, the planned 12-hole, 1440m reverse circulation (RC) drilling program will test for overburden characterization, to help further define new key targets in the area near the boulder field.

I encourage you to check out the press release and as ever, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions which you can do on the phone, contact form or via our twitter account.

In addition, I would recommend signing up to our email subscriber list to receive additional updates on Fission and the uranium sector.

Dev Randhawa

Canadian uranium to win out over oil and gas

China should start receiving shipments of Canadian uranium within a year. That’s the statement Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall made recently in an interview in Beijing. The Globe and Mail has covered the story here and it makes for some very interesting reading if you’re following the nuclear energy industry and uranium market.

As quoted in the Globe: “I just don’t see a lot of roadblocks” to an arrangement that is expected to open the door to some $3-billion in sales over the next decade, possibly starting as soon as six months from now…It’s very significant.”

I agree, it is indeed significant. What the agreement is not, however, is surprising. If you’ve been following China’s energy industry (or reading my blog regularly) you’ll know that not only is China spearheading a major wave of worldwide nuclear reactor construction but they have made clear that they see Canada as a critical part of securing their energy supplies.

Why is Canada so critical? It’s simple…. grade, environment and infrastructure. Let me break it down into more detail.
• Grade: the Athabasca Basin has the world’s highest uranium grades (and supplies nearly 20% of the world’s uranium.
• Environment: Canada has a pro-mining political environment at every level of government
• Infrastructure:  The Athabasca Basin has been home to uranium mining for over 40 years, which translates into multiple high-capacity mills, three generations of local mining professionals, excellent transport links and power grid access.
How do I know all of this, well aside from the fact that I’ve been involved with successful uranium exploration and development for many years, Fission’s flagship property (Waterbury Lake)  and our newest discovery (PLS) are both situated in the Basin.

If you’ve not already done so, be sure to check out our project pages and as always, if you have any questions feel free to get in touch.

Dev Randhawa

Japan’s Energy Policy – the reality gap still causing trouble

A long but useful article in the New York Times discusses the recent announcement but the Japanese government on future energy policy. The decision is that the country will phase out nuclear power by 204o, however the announcement has sparked even more debate as they are various caveats included that could see Japanese reactors still running by 2070.

I’m not going to cover every element here so I do recommend you read the article. What I do want to discuss is one of the issues that underlines the entire debate in Japan and that’s the reality gap between both sides.

When faced with enough public pressure, most democratic governments will change direction – especially if it’s close to an election. So why hasn’t the incumbent government done so to the satisfaction of the Japanese Public? The reason is facts.
• It’s a fact that idling the countries reactor fleet helped deliver Japan’s first trade deficit in more than 30 years.
• It’s a fact that Japan’s largest power company has increased electricity rates by 8% (for home owners) and whopping 15% (for businesses).
• It’s a fact that the country’s carbon footprint has exploded during the same time as the power companies have been forced to power up oil and gas-fired power stations.
• It’s a fact that nuclear energy is a critical source of clean energy capable of delivering the high-base load power that national grids demand.

Pretty much every method of power generation has risks which need to be dealt with. The Japanese had a completely natural and understandable reaction to Fukushima and are right at every turn to put maximum pressure on their government but in my opinion that pressure should be to ensure the safety of their clean, low-cost power stations rather than cripple their economy further and continue to burn vast amounts of fossil fuels.

Dev Randhawa

Ideology vs Reality: The French Nuclear Debate

I read a very interesting article in the New York Times a few days ago on the French energy debate which you may well find useful to read.

When it comes to nuclear energy, France has long been the darling of Western Europe. Approximately 80% of their energy is generated via nuclear power, the nuclear industry employs over 400,000 people – many of them highly trained and French companies like Areva and Électricité de France are global leaders in the design and operation of nuclear technology.

With nuclear playing such a strong role in the energy mix I’ve been watching with great interest ever since the new Socialist/Green coalition came to power around four months ago. The debate on energy policy is progressing as I would expect, that is to say the anti-nuclear ideology of certain elements of the coalition has hit what I like to call the ‘reality wall’.

In this instance the reality wall is the fact that not only is nuclear power already the foundation of the French energy mix but it needs to stay that way and not just because, in a shaky economy France needs to retain it’s cheap energy and successful nuclear industry.

Don’t get me wrong, having multiple sources of energy generation is a smart move but the fact is the world must increasingly turn to clean energy sources to reduce emissions, nuclear has to play a major role. National grids demand high-base load energy generation and in my opinion renewables such as wind and solar are not going to meet the purpose on their own. Don’t believe me? Why else would oil-rich counties like UAE, which also happen to enjoy climates that lend themselves to solar power, be implementing significant nuclear energy policies? If you read some of my earlier posts you’ll find some comments on these very programs.

Dev Randhawa

Peru’s Macusani region steps closer to uranium production

As many of you will be aware, Peru’s Macusani region has been known to contain considerable quantities of uranium for some time now. Several companies, including Fission, have staked properties there and because the uranium has been found close to the surface there is a lot of interest in the area.

One company in particular – Macuani Yellowcake – is very active and has been vocal in its plans to develop Peru’s first uranium mine. I was therefore interested to read their latest press release showing ‘very favourable’ results from their ion exchange tests.

You can read the release for the full description but in layman’s terms it’s enough to know that the tests suggest that uranium extraction using ion exchange will be both financially and environmentally advantageous. This is important because bringing new sources of uranium supply online can be a mammoth task from both a cost and time perspective and the more these costs can be lowered, the more viable production becomes.

At a time when we are approaching the end of the HEU agreement and, what many believe to be the start of a uranium supply crunch, it is good news that Macusani is getting closer to fulfilling its promise as a new uranium producing district.

If you haven’t already done so, check out our Macusani project page  or, if you are a Spanish speaker you can visit the Spanish language section of our website here.

Dev Randhawa

Fission's Top Geo delivers detailed presentation at recent analyst tour

Dev Randhawa

Fission CEO on the Athabasca, nuclear energy and the Pitchstone acquistition

Management for Fission Energy Corp. will be hosting a conference call with investors and analysts today (Tuesday, August 28th).

Details for this investor call are below.

Investor Conference Call (Virtual Road Show)

Date:  Tuesday, August 28th, 2012 

Time:  11:30am Eastern Time; 8:30am Pacific Time

Conference Call Information:

Participant Dial-In Numbers:

TOLL-FREE    1-877-941-2068

TOLL/INTERNATIONAL    1-480-629-9712

Conference ID:  4561270

Topic: Fission Energy Corp. August 2012 Virtual Road Show

Please dial in at least 10-minutes before the call to ensure timely participation.

Webcast link for this investor conference call is here:

http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=101612

Replay Dial-In Numbers:

TOLL-FREE   1-877-870-5176

TOLL/INTERNATIONAL   1-858-384-5517

From:  08/28/12 @ 2:30 pm Eastern Time

To:    09/04/12 @ 11:59 pm Eastern Time

Replay Pin Number:  4561270

Dev Randhawa

Biggest source of future uranium shelved

Bad news for BHP, good news for future uranium prices. What am I talking about? The fact that BHP Billiton has announced the widely expected delay to the huge expansion of the Olympic Dam mine in Australia. You can read coverage of the announcement here in the Financial Post.

The FP article, which I feel is well worth reading, concludes that the decision ‘could have an outsized impact on the uranium market, which is small and concentrated. The Olympic Dam expansion was expected to quadruple uranium output from the mine to more than 40 million pounds beginning in 2017. To put that in perspective, uranium giant Cameco Corp. produced 22.4 million pounds last year.’

Personally I think the FP has understated the matter. With the HEU agreement soon to end and the cost and timescales required to bring new uranium production online, a uranium supply deficit is already expected. The BHP news suggests to me that the supply gap will not only be larger but will be in play for a longer period that previously estimated.

Dev Randhawa

Potential uranium supply gap looms ever larger as UAE secures long term supply -$3Billion in nuclear fuel contracts

The UAE (United Arab Emirates) recently announced a series of nuclear fuel supply contracts totaling $3Billion. You can read the original story by Reuters here.  The contracts, which range from the purchase of uranium to conversion/enrichment services are for UAE’s first nuclear power plant due to open in 2017 and will cover its fuel supply for its first 15 years. The UAE plans to build another three reactors and its fellow oil producing Arab state, Saudi Arabia, has proposals for sixteen reactors. The home of big oil is going nuclear.

As the current wave of new construction (65 worldwide) gets closer to completion we will an increasing number of countries moving to secure their long term supply. With the end of the HEU agreement just over the horizon the only question remains is how will the mining industry plug what many industry observers believe to be the inevitable supply gap.

Dev Randhawa

Summer drilling update (Waterbury): Nine holes intersect mineralization; two holes intersect significant mineralization with moderate to strong radioactivity; J-Zone enhanced

If you haven’t read today’s press release yet, I know you’ll be pleased to hear that our Waterbury Lake  Summer drilling program is progressing very well indeed. I recommend you check out the press release for the details but in the meantime, here’s a quick overview:

Nine of the remaining twelve drill holes completed at the Waterbury Lake summer drill program have intersected mineralization in the J Zone, with two holes: step-out hole WAT12-325 and hole WAT12-319, intersecting significant 7.0m and 9.0m mineralized intervals respectively, with moderate to strong radioactivity, including discrete intervals of “off-scale” (>9999 cps) scintillometer readings.

Here’s what our President, COO, and Chief Geologist had to say: “This summer’s drilling at the J Zone has successfully identified significant mineralization in the central part of Area “B”, by expanding the northern boundary with targeted step-out holes and filling in the gaps identified by previous drill campaigns.”

Check out the release and as always if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Dev Randhawa

Uranium mining prospects looking good for Peru’s Macusani district

Not everyone knows this but uranium is actually quite an abundant metal and is found all over the world. Why then isn’t it cheap? As with all things mining related, it comes down to production costs. To be economically viable you generally need a high grade source. That simple fact is the reason that Canada’s Athabasa Basin is the world’s leading uranium district.

However, as with all rules, there are exceptions and it’s looking increasingly likely that Peru’s Macusani District is shaping up to be one of those exceptions. The bulk of the uranium discovered so far in the region (which does not yet have a uranium mine) lies close to the surface. Moreover, recent tests results announced by Macusani Yellowcake suggest that production costs may be low.

They sent out a press release a few days ago in with their president and CEO, Dr. Laurence Stefan, stated: "The recent column leaching tests have returned high recovery rates with very low acid consumption and continue to demonstrate the very favourable metallurgical characteristics of the Macusani uranium mineralization. The results also hint towards low production costs. The excellent uranium extraction results obtained during these tests, which were run under simulated "mine conditions" and combined with the extremely low acid consumption, further support a technical and economic case for a low grade uranium heap leach operation on the Macusani plateau."

As Fission has a large, highly strategic land package in the Macusani region  we’ll obviously be keeping a close eye on how things develop for Macusani Yellowcake. So far I believe things are looking encouraging.

Dev Randhawa

India Blackouts – no wonder they are growing their nuclear capacity

In the past six months, the Indian government has been bullish over its plans for nuclear energy. A 1400% increase in nuclear energy capacity is a much touted figure and with seven reactors currently under construction, eighteen in the planning stage and a further 39 proposed, the country is certainly headed in the right direction.

The two blackouts that occurred recently affected an area that included around 670 million people – that’s about 10% of the world’s population…. The New York Times published an article on the primary catalysts for the blackouts but I wanted to blog about the blackouts because the underlying problems are not unique to India and they highlight the fundamental growth factors for nuclear energy growth.

India is overly reliant on coal which, while comparatively cheap, is dirty, inefficient and because India doesn’t produce enough of its own has to be imported in vast quantities. The country also uses hydro power but low rainfall has left rivers (and hydro power stations) below capacity. Nuclear power, on the other hand, uses uranium which is vastly more efficient and is required in minute quantities compared to coal. Nuclear power is clean , has a high base load (unlike solar, wind and tidal) and is an area of technology in which India has a skilled workforce.

The Indian government knows this which is why they are moving their power mix towards nuclear as fast as possible. As energy demands continue to grow worldwide and climate change pushes the need for clean power, India’s blackouts are a warning to any country that doesn’t give nuclear its proper seat at the table.

Dev Randhawa

Waterbury lake regional target assay results: mineralization at Summit, Murphy and Oban

If you've not seen today’s press release, we’ve just announced the regional target assay results for the 2012 Winter drill program at the J Zone, Waterbury Lake.

While growing the J Zone remains the primary focus at Waterbury Lake, targeted regional exploration drilling has identified several mineralized areas of interest, with Oban and Murphy Lake being the most encouraging new areas tested during the winter program. Results have reinforced the potential for Waterbury Lake to host multiple mineral deposits similar to the J Zone discovery.

I recommend you check out the release for both the summary details and the full data and as always, please get in touch with any questions.

Dev Randhawa

Forbes Article: Japan would be crazy not to focus on nuclear

Very interesting, in-depth article in Forbes a few days ago that tackles the question of Japan’s choices for energy mix going forward. Take a look and see what you think. The author, tackles the question from an economic and environmental perspective and evaluates the options accordingly.

The economic costs of Japan moving to a fossil fuel based energy mix – both for Japan itself and the global community have been well publicized. People think natural gas is cheap at the moment but for Japan – with no gas resources of its own – the cost is five times that in the US. If Japan converted it’s nuclear power stations to gas, quite aside from the engineering cost of doing so, their energy requirements would, according to NPR, use up a massive 20% of the world’s supply of liquid natural gas.

For those claiming Japan should invest in renewable energy, the article points out that Japan has poor wind and solar potential, and little biomass potential.

Then there’s the environmental impact of a fossil fuel centric Japan. The author discusses this aspect in what I consider persuasive detail and ends with the following questions: What do you care about most? The planet’s survival, economic survival, or the fear of radiation? In my opinion, the Nuclear energy option helps the planet and Japan’s economy. The alternative is more cost and more pollution.

Dev Randhawa

OECD Report states Worldwide Nuclear Expansion on track despite Fukushima

Published just last week, the OECD report on uranium resources, production and demand, viewed as a ‘benchmark’ report by many, has confirmed what a great many industry analysts have been saying for a while – Fukushima has had little impact on the prospects for nuclear energy, and those prospects are good.  I strongly encourage you to read the coverage of the report on Reuters as I personally found it paints a clear, concise view of industry growth – where it is coming from and over what time period.

The biennial report expects world nuclear capacity to grow by 44 percent to 99 percent by 2035, which is little changed from the range of growth of 37 percent to 110 percent in the edition two years ago. Reuters have quoted Gary Dyck, head of nuclear fuel cycle and materials at the International Atomic Energy Agency as referring to Fukushima’s impact on the nuclear industry as a “speed bump”.

The report also highlights China, India, South Korea and Russia as the largest driving force behind the growth with nuclear capacity due to by 125 percent to 185 percent by 2035.

Dev Randhawa

Final assay results for Fission’s Winter drilling

If you’ve not seen today’s press release, you’ll be pleased to know that we have just announced the final results for the 2012 winter drill program at the J Zone, Waterbury Lake, where 36 of the 49 step-out and infill holes (73.5% drilling success) intersected mineralization. Overall, drilling successfully widened the lateral north-south mineralized dimensions by up to 55m and confirmed continuity of wide widths of mineralization in areas tested by earlier programs (See press release dated June 4, 2012).

As you’ll see from the data included in the release results continue to demonstrate the significant potential for growing the J Zone, which remains open along strike and laterally to the north and south, as well as in the sandstone above the unconformity, and in the basement below.

J Zone: Winter 2012 Assay Highlights
Uranium mineralization was intersected all along the J-Zone’s east-west strike length, which now extends for 667m from the Rio Tinto property boundary, west to Hole WAT 12-281 on Line 540W.
Generally, wider intervals of discrete mineralization were intersected in the J Zone Areas “B” (Line 225W-435W) and “C” (Line 450W-540W), as compared to previous drilling,  including widths up to 23.0m (WAT12-226), 18.5m (WAT12-293), 12.5m and 13.5m (WAT12-229) and 14.0m (WAT12-237B) (as measured down-hole; not necessarily true width).

Be sure to check out the press release for Data summaries as well as more detailed data tables and as ever, if you have any questions be sure to get in touch.

Dev Randhawa

PLS Update: Drilling results indicate presence of uranium-rich system

If you’ve not seen today’s press release , we’ve just announced assay results received from our  16 hole winter 2012 exploratory drill program at PLS. If you’re familiar with PLS, you’ll know that we previously discovered a high-grade boulder field on the property. The results of the recent drill program confirm the discovery of several holes with broad anomalous geochemistry signatures.

In particular, the last four drill holes, PLS12-013 to PLS12-016, all drilled along the PL-3B EM Conductor over 823m of strike, intersected continuous wide intervals of anomalous uranium low grade basement mineralization as well as associated boron, indicative of the presence of a strong uranium-rich alteration system.

Overall, results from this initial program have provided further evidence that the source of the high grade uranium boulder field may be nearby.
I recommend you check out the release  for both the summary details and the full data and as always, please get in touch with any questions.

Dev Randhawa

The pressure for nuclear resurgence intensifies

Okay so the title of this post is a bit misleading because the nuclear resurgence is actually well underway and if you follow my blog or you keep up to date with the nuclear industry in some other way you’ll know there are more reactors under construction now than before Fukushima and with the coming end of the HEU agreement, a uranium supply crunch has been widely forecast.

In other words, the nuclear industry is stronger than ever. What I really want to talk about here is the pressure for uranium market resurgence because quite frankly, the market has not fully woken up to the fundamentals of the nuclear energy industry.

I’ve often talked about these fundamentals and rather than repeat them here, what I recommend is you read a recent article on Bloomberg that I personally found very compelling.

The article is about Paladin Energy and its potential as a takeover target and in discussing this subject the journalist, who has clearly done his research, delves into great depth about the nuclear industry and uranium markets – particularly in terms of where things are headed.

As the Bloomberg article points out - bringing new uranium production online can take many years. With demand increasing and countries like China rushing to secure uranium sources, increased merger and acquisition is not only likely, it’s already taking place. For example, Two of China’s three state backed companies charged with building China’s nuclear power plants - China National Nuclear Corp., and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Co. - have already begun to acquire overseas suppliers of uranium.

The nuclear energy industry is moving forward aggressively. In my opinion it’s only a matter of time before the uranium market is forced to catch up and the pressure for that to happen is increasing.

Dev Randhawa

Summer drilling update (Waterbury): Three Holes with "Off-Scale" Radioactivity Enhance J Zone

If you haven’t read our latest press release yet, I know you’ll be pleased to hear that our Waterbury Lake Summer drilling program is progressing very well indeed. I recommend you check out the press release for the details but in the meantime, here’s a quick overview:

Three of our drill holes, WAT12-312, 316, and 309, completed in the J Zone Area “B” (WAT12-312 and 316) and the J Zone Area “A” (WAT12-309), have intersected wide intervals of well-developed mineralization at the unconformity, including 16.50m, 13.00m, and 3.00m respectively.

Variable radioactivity, ranging from moderate to strong, including discrete intervals of “off-scale” (>9999 cps), was observed in the unconformity related mineralization.
• Hole WAT12-312 is a step-out hole that has expanded the J Zone Area “B” laterally to the north on L420W
• Hole WAT12-316 is an infill hole designed to close a gap in the mineralization between Line 300W and Line 315W.
• Hole WAT12-309 an infill hole on Line 015W in the northeast part of J Zone Area “A” between Hole WAT10-068 and 070B.
These three drill holes have successfully identified significant mineralization in the main deposit, with Hole WAT12-316 expanding the J Zone boundary to the north along Line 420W in the central part of J Zone Area “B”.

Be sure to check out the press release  for Data summaries as well as more detailed data tables and as ever, if you have any questions be sure to get in touch.

Dev Randhawa

A JV with Rio Tinto and a greater presence in the Athabasca: Our acquisition of Pitchstone

If you’ve read our latest press release you’ll know that we’ve completed our  stock-only takeover of Pitchstone.

Why do I believe this is a great move for Fission?

We now have a formal JV relationship with Rio Tinto, a very significant expansion to our presence in the Athabasca Basin, a highly promising property in Namibia and an additional $1.5 million in cash – all for  $5.8 million in stock.

Combined with our flagship Waterbury Lake property, which sits immediately adjacent to Rio Tinto’s Roughrider property, and our equally promising PLS property, the addition of Pitchstone’s Athabasca claims means that, in my opinion, that we are now the leading junior in the Basin.

This matters because the Athabasca Basin in the world’s leading source of uranium, accounting for nearly 20% of world supply last year. Any and all serious uranium producers need to be there, and recent announcements from China regarding Canadian mining companies (see my earlier post) make it plain that the Athabasca is the place to be. This is why we’ve been so aggressive with our exploration and why this acquisition matters.

You can read the press release here. As always, if you have questions don’t hesitate to get in contact with us with any questions. If want to stay up to date with company news, I also encourage you to sign up to our mailing list and follow us on Twitter.<insert link https://twitter.com/FissionEnergy.

Dev Randhawa

Electricity generated by Nuclear Power at all time high; more reactors under construction than pre-Fukushima

If you are in any doubt whatsoever about the future of nuclear power and its place in the world’s energy mix then I can assure you, the world’s nations do not share the same concern. As covered on CBC nuclear energy generation of electricity has reached record levels and, according to the NEA, a branch of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the number of  nuclear reactors currently under construction is not only higher than before Fukushima but is set to accelerate even faster.

The US, China, Russia, India, UAE, UK, Poland, South Korea… the list of countries building or planning to build new reactors goes on and on and the CBC coverage  gives, in my opinion, a good overview of where the nuclear energy industry is headed.

Dev Randhawa

$7.78 Billion per year, 32,000 jobs and energy security: The UK’s nuclear energy plans

If you’ve been following government announcements you’ll know that the UK’s government is solidly behind nuclear energy and, more specifically, a new wave of nuclear power station construction. A report published last week from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) shows very clearly just why the UK considers nuclear power as an integral part of the country’s energy mix.

The report, coverage of which you can read here , puts the economic benefits at £5 Billion (($7.78 Billion) per year and as many as 32,000 jobs. Whichever way you look at it, that’s a huge bonus and can be achieved while meeting another imperative which is to drive down carbon emissions.

What I find just as interesting, however,  is the report’s focus on something that not all industry commentators acknowledge: the need to secure electricity supplies. As worldwide demand increases, so the battle for resources intensifies. Nowhere is this more visible that in the area of energy.
Electricity demand is expected to grow as much as 76 % by 2030. Considering the base load requirements of national grids, it’s simply not feasible to meet this demand while also reducing carbon emissions (moving away from fossil fuels) unless nuclear energy plays a prominent part in the energy mix.

The UK government is not the only one that understands this. Russia, a canny player in the world energy market with huge natural gas reserves and other natural resources, is currently constructing 10 reactors, has another 17 in the planning phase and a further 24 in the proposal stage and they are just the tip of the iceberg.  China has nearly three times as many reactors in the build and planning stages and nearly six times as many proposed. Nor are these two countries alone. Thirteen countries worldwide are currently building new reactors and 27 countries are in the planning stages.

The economy, the environment and security – the reason that nuclear’s part in the energy mix will continue to grow.

Dev Randhawa

Recent article on the uranium industry

In case you didn’t spot this one –a recent article in Business in Vancouver magazine is one that I consider to have some particularly accurate and useful viewpoints on the future of the uranium industry.

The journalist includes the views from a number of uranium players (including Fission) and focused on the underlying fundamentals of the uranium market – specifically the growth of world energy demands, the expanding number of reactors (spear-headed by China) and the predicted upcoming shortfall in uranium supply which Cameco – the industry leader - has been particularly vocal about.

Dev Randhawa

New $multi-million round of drilling at our flagship property

In case you haven’t seen the press release that went out today, we have begun a the Summer 2012 Exploration Program – a $3.2 million, 21 drill hole program totalling 7350m with two drills.

The Winter drill program at Waterbury Lake  produced promising results and our aim over the Summer is to continue delineating and expanding known areas of mineralization, both laterally and on strike.

Be sure to check out the updated maps highlighting the summer drilling and geophysical programs and as ever, please contact us with any questions.

Dev Randhawa

Japan: First two reactors given restart orders

Just a few days ago – Saturday June 16 – Japan’s Prime Minister gave the official government approval for restarting two of the Ohi reactors in Japan. The decision, which followed a lengthy period of stress tests and other safety checks, is a welcome one for anyone that cares about Japan’s economy and reducing the use of fossil fuels.

As Business Insider put it, “the sudden shutdown of nuclear plants has hit Japan's economy hard. To offset the shortfall, utilities have ramped up oil- and gas-based generation, and that contributed to the country's biggest annual trade deficit ever last fiscal year….”

I’ve blogged previously about the crippling financial burden that Japan has faced as a direct result of shutting down all of its 50 reactors. While the stress tests and checks have been vital, it is just as important that the rest of the reactor fleet be restarted once the government is satisfied with their safety and, just as I was certain the restarts would begin, so I am sure that they will continue.

Why the certainty? It was no surprise that Japan embraced nuclear power in the first place because it has the unbeatable combination of low cost, low emission and high base load advantages that fossil fuels simply can’t compete with. Those fundamental strengths haven’t changed and, with energy demands on the increase now and over the long term, nuclear energy remains critical for Japan’s ongoing energy strategy.

Dev Randhawa

Recent uranium long-term price rise is just the beginning

In case you missed it, the long-term price of uranium recently rose 2.5% - the first uptick for long-term pricing since Fukushima. Reported in the Financial Times  the rise closely corresponds with the news coming out of Japan that reactor restarts are just around the corner.

There have been a couple of upticks for the Uranium spot price but the long-term price is the important one because the majority of uranium is bought and sold through long-term contracts.

What the price increase heralds in my opinion is recognition of the fact that nuclear power, far from suffering a downturn, continues to grow and will do so over the long term yet supply is expected to suffer a shortfall thus precipitating an increase in the value of uranium.

Japan – the restarts are about to start

Widely covered by the Media is the fact that Japan’s Prime Minister - Yoshihiko Noda – recently announced in a live broadcast that the government wants to restart two of Japan’s nuclear reactors prior to the Summer energy crunch.
Noda stated that the move was needed to “protect the economy and people's livelihoods”. Let me point out here that this is not a political sound bite and he most certainly not exaggerating. I’ve blogged previously about the extreme economic costs that Japan has been living with since shutting down all of it reactors and realistically it was only a matter of time before restarts were announced.

It’s expected that the first two restarts may occur as early as this week and, in my opinion, more will follow once the Japanese authorities have finished the combination of safety inspections, stress tests and public consultation.

The economic effect of the restarts on Japan, at a national and local level, will be instant. Fossil fuel imports – which have risen dramatically in the absence of nuclear energy generation – can finally be reduced and businesses can operate at full capacity. What of the effect on the rest of the world, however?

Well I personally believe that we will start to see an end to the fiction created by many areas of the Media that Fukushima heralded the beginning of the end for nuclear power because in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. As the statements and actions of numerous governments in the past few months alone have proved, energy demand continues to rise worldwide and nuclear power is the only clean, low-cost, high baseload energy capable of meeting the increase.

Fission granted Tier 1 status by TSX Venture Exchange

If you haven’t yet seen today’s release, I’m pleased to announce that Fission has been Tier 1 classification  status by the TSX Venture Exchange. As I mention in the release Tier 1 is the Exchange’s premier tier and is reserved for the Exchange’s most advanced Issuers with the most significant financial resources and the Company takes great pride in meeting these high standards.

Be sure to check out my earlier blog posts on progress at our flagship property Waterbury Lake and another of our key properties, PLS.

More Chinese reactors around the corner?

China is the world’s largest energy user. If you already knew that, what you may not know is that the average Chinese uses just 3% of the energy that the average American uses. If the average Chinese increases their energy consumption to the level of the average South Koreans (about 17% of the US) then China would use up every single drop of oil being produced in the world.

What’s the point of those stats? Simple. China’s energy strategy is the one to watch and that strategy is one that’s moving away from fossil fuels such as coal, towards green energy of which nuclear is the largest component.

China is already in the process of constructing 28 new reactors, with another 51 planned and a further 120 proposed (world nuclear association). According to the FT and CNN, having approved its 2020 nuclear strategy plan, inspected the country’s current fleet of reactors and finalized new safety standards, China has indicated that it will lift its year-long moratorium on new nuclear projects
According to Guo Shou, energy analyst at Barclays, the 2020 strategy plan approval was the “main hurdle” and that "Approvals for new nuclear reactors are around the corner, they are going to come very, very soon."

You can read CNN’s coverage here.

Successful Winter drill results - Fission expands J-Zone strike width and length on flagship property.

If you’ve not seen our latest press release, we’ve just announced the results of our Winter 2012 J Zone drilling at Waterbury Lake in the Athabasca Basin.

We are very pleased with the results. Why? Well reading the press release will give you the full technical detail but essentially, of the 49 drill holes completed in the J Zone, 40 or 81.6% intersected mineralization with radioactivity ranging from anomalous to “off-scale”.

What this means is the J-zone east-west strike length now extends 667m from the eastern Rio Tinto property boundary, where modeling has determined that the J East Zone mineralization is connected with the main J Zone, west to Hole WAT12-281 (Line 525). Mineralization continues to trend to the west and remains open along strike and laterally to the north and south.

Assays are pending for all 86 holes and we will make this data available as soon as we have it. In the meantime, take a look at the release and please get in touch with any questions.

Patterson Lake South – High grades, successful drill program, exciting property

When it comes to our properties in the Athabasca Basin, Waterbury Lake tends to get most of the media attention. It’s not surprising considering Waterbury has a high-grade 43:101 of close to 9 million lbs and is literally right next door to Rio’s Roughrider deposit. However, Waterbury is by no means our only high-class property.

Patterson Lake South (PLS) is a  >5 km high grade boulder field discovery with grades up to 39.6% U3O8.  We’ve conducted a very successful 16 hole Winter drill program on the property which has intersected significant basement mineralization. The Winter drilling has enabled us to refine the boundaries of the uranium boulder field source target area and it has provided a meaningful indicator for identifying the potential high-grade mineralized source of the boulder field. Planning is underway for follow-up drilling of this anomalous area located along a significant east-west trending EM conductor, which, to date, has only been partially tested.

Our drilling program has been overseen by our technical team leader and COO, Ross McElroy. If you’re not familiar with Mr McElroy - he has been instrumental in three of the last eight major uranium discoveries in the Athabasca Basin and I encourage you to check out his background.

In other words, PLS is rapidly growing in significance and, with great transport links and proximity to mills, it’s a property we will continue to develop aggressively.

If you want more info, be sure to check out the project overview for a blow by blow timeline and detailed description of PLS.

That’s it for now. Come back later when I cover other key elements of Fission and as always, please get in touch if you have any questions.

Nuclear energy to supply 50% of Czech electricity demand by 2030 says Hospodářské

Nuclear power 50, renewable power 15. That’s the percentage of Czech electricity demand that each power source will meet according to Hospodářské, the Czech Republic’s largest daily newspaper. The article has been covered by Business Week here.

In my opinion this reflects the general realities of future power generation for most nations whether or not they have announced it yet (and plenty have). The fact is when it comes to meeting the growth in world demand for electricity – as much as 76% growth by 2030 according to the World Nuclear Association – the energy source needs to be clean, low cost and be capable of a high base load. Only nuclear energy meets all three of those requirements  

Waterbury lake – high grades, key location, strong JV and aggressive drill program

There’s always a lot going on in the nuclear industry and I like to use this blog to help people keep up to speed with issues and events that have some sort of relevance to the uranium market. For the next few posts, however, I want to cover Fission itself.

Even without the Pitchstone properties which we’ve agreed to acquire, I believe it’s fair to say that Fission is the leading junior in the Athabasca Basin. The Basin, as you know, is the most important uranium district in the world – with the highest grades (ten times the world average) and responsible for nearly 20% of the world’s uranium production in 2011.

Now if you’re only just researching Fission your first question will be ‘what makes you think Fission is the most attractive junior in the Basin?’ My full answer will be apparent over the next posts but for now, let’s take a look at our flagship property – Waterbury Lake. The quick stats are as follows:

• 43-101 resource: 7.4 million lbs @1.99% (indicated), 1.5 million lbs @0.45% (inferred)

• Grades X10 world average

• Strong, established JV
• Highly strategic location
• Aggressive drill program
• Close to high-capacity mills

Those stats speak for themselves but it’s worth expanding on a few of them. For example, our JV is with a Korean consortium led by Kepco. Now Kepco is a major force in the nuclear industry. It’s the largest provider of electricity is South Korea (responsible for 93% of power generation), it manufactures nuclear power stations and it processes nuclear fuel.

Having such a strong JV is important as it is helping us to run a very aggressive drill program – one that has been delivering promising results. You can get the latest drilling details from our most recent presentation.

The property is in a highly strategic location. If you’ve not looked at any of our presentations I strongly recommend you do so. We are surrounded by over 100 million lbs of uranium and are immediately adjacent to the Roughrider deposit that Rio paid $654 million for last year. What’s also interesting is that our discovery and exploration timeline is proving to be very similar to Hathor before they were taken over.

We enjoy superb infrastructure, are close to advanced, high capacity mills and have access to a professional workforce that includes 3rd generation miners. Best of all, our COO and technical team leader, Ross McElroy, has been instrumental in three of the last eight major uranium discoveries in the Athabasca Basin. If you’re not familiar with Mr McElroy, you should check out his background.

You can also read a blow by blow timeline and detailed overview of Waterbury Lake.

That’s it for now. Come back later in the week when I cover other key elements of Fission and as always, please get in touch if you have any questions.

Nuclear Energy: Facts and Figures

You probably already know that the world’s energy requirements are rising quickly. Electricity demand alone is expected to rise by a colossal 76% in the next 18 years. If you read my blog regularly you’ll know why nuclear energy is a critical part of meeting this growing demand – it’s the only form of clean energy that can deliver the low-cost/high base load power that national grids require.

The news this year has been full of pro-nuclear statements from governments around the world – the US, UK, France, China, India, S. Korea – the list goes on. Now government statements are all very well but if, like me, you’re someone who always wants to know the hard facts involved, just what figures indicate where nuclear energy is headed?

There are currently 433 reactors worldwide. Just taking the number of reactors that are either under construction, have passed the planning stage or have been ordered (+223) will increase this number by more than 50%. That’s right, 50% - a huge growth figure by anyone’s standards. If we are to add in the number of proposed reactors (+329), that growth figure hits 127%.

If you are interested in a more detailed breakdown of those figures (which have been sourced from the World Nuclear Association), you can find a country by country list here.

As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

Cost of nuclear reactors falling dramatically

Earlier this month India’s secretary for the department of atomic energy (DAE) announced that India can now manufacture nuclear reactors at $1700/KW (for a 700 MW reactor). The average international cost is between $2500/KW and $3000/KW (for a 1000MW reactor).

The relevance here goes beyond one country enjoying a manufacturing cost advantage over its competitors. The inexorable demand for more electricity and the vital need to meet it with clean power is an unbeatable catalyst for the growth in nuclear power. Reducing the costs of constructing new reactors will make it easier for the industry to deliver on the world’s demand.

US government makes huge investment in nuclear energy research

This year has already seen the US leave behind the last three decades by giving permission for construction of four new nuclear reactors. Yesterday, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a $47 million government investment package for nuclear energy research. Why?

Some commentators would have you believe that industry lobbyists are behind this and the many other recent examples of nuclear energy growth.

In my opinion, the reality is actually very, very simple. The governments in the US and elsewhere understand that without nuclear energy the world cannot possibly meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity (estimated 76% increase by 2030) while also reducing emissions.

In a speech to the Asian Development Bank, US Economist and Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Jeffrey Sachs said that when it comes to nuclear power, the world had no choice because the threat of climate change had grown so grave. According to the Guardian newspaper in the UK, Sachs warned that "nice projects" around the world involving renewable power or energy efficiency would not be enough to stave off the catastrophic effects of global warming….

Denison and Energy Fuels – it’s not all about the US assets….

The recent announcement that Denison is merging its US assets with Energy Fuels created a huge wave of interest in both companies and was the catalyst for media headlines proclaiming the creation of the largest pure-play uranium producer in the US. For those interested in US-based uranium sources it is indeed of interest. After all, the deal means that Energy Fuels will account for more than 25% of estimated U.S. uranium production, hold 49.8 M lbs of Measured and Indicated U3O8 resources in addition to 17.9 M lbs of Inferred U3O8.

However, if you’re serious about uranium you’ll know that the Athabasca Basin in Canada, which contains the highest uranium grades on the planet, is responsible for nearly 20% of the world’s uranium supply. Having offloaded it’s US assets, Denison becomes a 100% Athabasca-based company. Why is this relevant? In one of my earliest blog posts I commented on Rio Tinto’s hostile takeover of Hathor – an aggressive move designed to give Rio a solid foothold in the Basin. It paid $654 million in order to get that foothold, beating off Cameco’s bid during the process.

Denison’s move essentially turns it into a clean and potentially inviting target for a takeover. How likely is this takeover? Well I’m not about to speculate on the plans of other companies in this blog, however, I will point out that consolidation in the Athabasca Basin is something that many industry watchers have been predicting for some time.

$multi-billion Trade deficit, increased emissions and nearly zero economic growth – the outlook for Japan without nuclear power this year

The Washington Post published an article this week about a report released by Japan’s Institute for Energy Economics. In my opinion the article, and the 36 page report it’s based on, makes for some pretty scary reading from an economic and environment perspective:

With and without nuclear power
•        1.9% economic growth becomes 0.1%
•        Projected trade surplus becomes projected $57 Billion trade deficit (the country imports 90% of its oil from the Middle East)
•        5.3% decrease in emissions becomes 5.5% increase in emissions
In addition, Japan is importing so much oil that, according to the Washington Post, it has helped drive global prices upwards yet even with the massive scale of oil imports, Japan could still face energy shortages.

If anyone wants to know what a developed or developing country looks like without nuclear power then look no further….

Progress update at our PLS property: Significant Basement Mineralization

If you haven’t seen today’s  press release our drilling program at PLS in the Athabasca Basin has been yielding some promising results. I encourage to read the release for the full technical update. You may also find it useful to refer to these updated maps.

Quite often it’s our flagship property, Waterbury Lake that gets all the limelight but if you’ve been following us closely you’ll know that PLS is shaping up to be a promising property. It’s well worth visiting the PLS project section  and of course please get in touch with any questions.

Our Pitchstone acquisition – what does this mean for Fission?

In my opinion the acquisition comes down to this - for $5.8 million in stock, we will  significantly expand our presence in the Athabasca Basin, formally establish JV relationships with key companies including Rio Tinto and acquire $1.5 million in cash and. In addition, we will acquire 8.2M lbs of Inferred U3O8 in the Hornby Bay region along with the granite-hosted Dome property in Namibia.

Fission is one of the leading juniors in the Athabasca Basin. Our flagship property Waterbury Lake is located there, immediately adjacent to the RoughRider claim that Rio Tinto beat off Cameco to acquire. So is our PLS claim – a very strong property which we recently extended. In other words, we already have a solid presence in the region and this agreement will make it stronger still.

This matters because the Athabasca Basin in the world’s leading source of uranium, accounting for nearly 20% of world supply last year. Any and all serious uranium producers need to be there, and recent announcements from China regarding Canadian mining companies (see my earlier post) make it plain that the Athabasca is the place to be. This is why we’ve been so aggressive with our exploration and why this agreement matters.

In conclusion: my opinion is that a greater presence in the world’s top uranium district, JV ties with leading uranium players such as Rio, additional strong and promising properties and increased cash dramatically increases our profile in the Basin and our potential as a uranium junior.

You can read the press release about the agreement here. As always, if you have questions don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.

The start of the restarts

If you’ve been following the news recently, you’ll have noticed that Japan is getting close to restarting some of its nuclear reactors. Units No. 3 and No. 4 at the Ohi nuclear power plant in western Japan have been declared safe by the Japanese government after a series of stress tests developed to test the reactors’ tolerance of large earthquakes and tsunamis.

Some of the news in recent weeks has suggested the Japanese government is ‘rushing’ to restart reactors in order to avoid a total shutdown of the country’s nuclear energy generation. After Fukushima the government ordered reactors shut down for stress tests – some immediately and others during scheduled downtime for maintenance. The theory presented by some in the Media is that with no reactors running, Japan will have proved it doesn’t need nuclear energy.

Let’s consider that thought in the light of two figures. 300,000 and $123m. Put into context that’s 300,000 additional barrels of oil every day and $123 million dollars per day. Both figures are estimates of the cost Japan is paying in order to survive without its fleet of nuclear reactors. The government has rightly ensured a lengthy period of testing and consultation for each reactor. Indeed, safety testing is an integral part of all areas of the energy industry including coal and gas (a fact that some commentators neglect to reference when discussing nuclear energy). In my opinion the government is looking to restart not for some sort of political point scoring but because it is time to re-engage its policy of clean and economical energy – something that Japan desperately needs.

No nuclear plant restarts could mean an extra 300,000 barrels of oil every day for Japan

For anyone thinking that Japan is coping just fine without nuclear energy, an article on Bloomberg today underlines just what the cost is shaping up to be. When I say cost, I’m not just talking about the huge number of dollars being sucked away on alternative sources of energy (see my March 8th blog post on that very topic). No, I also mean the environmental cost. 300,000 additional barrels of oil every single day.

Nuclear energy is clean energy. Not just my opinion – just read the various comments from governments around the world, including the US. The need to reduce omissions is just one of the drivers behind nuclear energy and it’s an important one. Japan has rightly demanded that its energy companies conducted a series of stress tests for each of their reactors since Fukushima and, as reactors  pass these tests, failure to restart them will continue to exact a heavy toll on the country.

You can read the full Bloomberg article here.

US nuclear energy strategy moves up a gear – another two reactors approved

Those of you following the recent comments from President Obama (read one of my earlier blog posts if you haven’t) will already know that the US is in the process of implementing an ongoing energy strategy in which nuclear energy plays an integral role.

Last week, US Federal regulators approved a proposal to build another two nuclear reactors. This is the second such approval in two months bringing the total number up to four reactors.

Why is this important? Well in my opinion it confirms the fact that the approvals of a few months ago are not isolated. The US already meets 20% of its energy needs with nuclear power stations and the recent approvals show that the next wave of nuclear reactor construction is underway in the US.

It also shows that alternative forms of energy – including the so-called glut of natural gas – have made no impact on the part that nuclear power will play in the future energy plans of the US.

You can check out the press release from Westinghouse here.

Fission video with highlights from our CEO

If you haven't checked it out yet, here's some video coverage we put together about Fission with CEO highlights. It's also worth checking the great 3D animation of our J-Zone which you can find by visiting our YouTube channel here. As always, any questions: give us a shout.

$6.3 million for next gen nuclear energy research

The UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded £4 million (approx. $6.33 million) for a New Nuclear Build and Manufacturing (NNUMAN) program to ensure the UK’s future nuclear power supply.

The program will be run jointly by the universities of Manchester and Sheffield and will not only drive progress in manufacturing and nuclear technology but will also be used to train the next generation of nuclear manufacturing scientists and engineers.

This funding comes after a recent joint announcement by the UK and France to increase cooperation on nuclear energy and, in my opinion, is a reminder of how important the UK considers nuclear power to its long-term energy strategy.

You can find more info on the NNUMAN program here.

Dev Randhawa

US support for nuclear energy strong one year after Fukushima

The majority of Americans not only favor nuclear power as an energy source but also continue to view nuclear power plants as safe. This is the conclusion of Gallop's annual Environment survey, which has been running since 1994. The level of support is virtually unchanged since prior to the Fukushim event.

You can see the full poll results and analysis here.

Dev Randhawa

Obama: US has restarted its nuclear industry; is investing to build next gen power plants

In a speech given this week in South Korea, US President Obama made it clear that the new reactors about to be built in the US – the first in 30 years – are just the start of the US’ energy strategy.

In my opinion, just like China did a few weeks ago (read my blog post of March 15th) the US is drawing a very definite line under the Fukushima event and is now moving on with a nuclear energy program that is needed in order to address the continual growth in the demand for clean energy. As time passes I absolutely expect to see more countries follow suit in their support for the nuclear industry as a key component for meeting the demand for clean energy.

Below are some of the key quotes from Obama’s speech. If you want to read more, you can do so here.

“We’ve restarted our nuclear industry as part of a comprehensive strategy to develop every energy source. We supported the first new nuclear power plant in three decades. We’re investing in innovative technologies so we can build the next generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants.”

“After the tragedy at Fukushima, it was right and appropriate that nations moved to improve the safety and security of nuclear facilities. We’re doing so in the United States. It’s taking place all across the world. As we do, let’s never forget the astonishing benefits that nuclear technology has brought to our lives. Nuclear technology helps make our food safe. It prevents disease in the developing world. It’s the high-tech medicine that treats cancer and finds new cures. And, of course, it’s the energy -- the clean energy that helps cut the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change.”

Dev Randhawa

Welsh government states unequivocal support for nuclear energy

In its new strategy report – Energy Wales – the Welsh government has for the first time stated complete support for nuclear energy as part of its low-emission energy strategy, saying that "…the risks posed by climate change are now so serious that we cannot dispense with a key proven low-carbon technology".

The country will be moving forward on plans to deploy a new nuclear power station at Wylfa on Anglesey as part of its transition to a low carbon economy. You can read the Wales Energy Report here or catch the coverage by Energy & Environmental Management magazine here.

Wales is the latest country to make pro-nuclear energy statements. If you’ve been following  the Fission blog you’ll know that India, China, the UK and France have all made crystal-clear announcements in favour of nuclear energy.  As world energy demands continue to increase exponentially, it’s my opinion we will see a lot more governments making public commitments to nuclear power in order to meet these demands.