Shares of Ur-Energy (URG +18.42%) are on fire today, soaring 23% as of Tuesday noon.
There’s no earnings report and no corporate updates. Instead, a multi-billion-dollar announcement just dropped elsewhere in the industry, and investors believe this single move could reshape the U.S. nuclear supply chain, instantly turning attention to Ur-Energy.
Image source: Getty Images.
The uranium enrichment and Ur-Energy link
Urenco, a global supplier of uranium enrichment services and owned jointly by the U.K. and Dutch governments and two German utilities, has announced a multi-billion plan to expand capacity by nearly 50% at the only commercial uranium enrichment facility in the U.S.
So what does this have to do with Ur-Energy?
The thing is, natural uranium that’s mined from the ground contains a minuscule amount of fissionable isotope and therefore has to be “enriched” further at facilities like Urenco’s to make it usable for nuclear reactors.
These enrichment facilities cannot operate without a steady stream of raw uranium feedstock. That means Urenco’s expanded facility will require large amounts of uranium, effectively giving domestic miners a large, long-term customer right in their own backyard.
Today’s Change
(18.42%) $0.32
Current Price
$2.02
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$679M
Day’s Range
$1.73 – $2.15
52wk Range
$0.77 – $2.35
Volume
36.2M
Avg Vol
8.5M
Gross Margin
-20312.16%
Ur-Energy mines and processes uranium at its Lost Creek mine, and recently started mining at its Shirley Basin project in Wyoming. It’s a historic restart as Shirley Basin has been suspended since the 1990s. That’s one big reason investors view Ur-Energy as an immediate beneficiary of the massive upcoming enrichment pipeline from Urenco.
What this means for Ur-Energy investors
Urenco’s announcement also has broader implications for the U.S. uranium industry, as Urenco’s capacity expansion comes at a critical turning point when the U.S. is preparing to completely ban all Russian uranium imports from Jan. 1, 2028. With two flagship uranium assets in Wyoming’s Great Divide Basin, Ur-Energy has the potential to become an important supplier for an expanding domestic market provided it can execute.
