Chamwe Kaira
The demand-supply gap for uranium continues to widen, Deep Yellow has said in its 2025 annual report.
Deep Yellow chairman Chris Salisbury noted that 2025 saw a further increase in global demand for uranium and rapid growth in the nuclear ambitions of many countries.
“There were also a number of production shortfalls on the mining supply side, indicating the challenges in creating a robust uranium supply regime. Higher prices will be needed to incentivise exploration, mine development, and maintaining mined supply,” Salisbury said.
He added that Deep Yellow is well positioned to respond once uranium prices rise.
Deep Yellow managing director John Borshoff said the past year consolidated Deep Yellow’s position through its dual strategies for growth implemented nine years ago.
“Headlining all this has been the establishment of two greenfield uranium projects that are expected to come into production before 2030,” he said.
Borshoff highlighted that this progress comes at a time of unprecedented growth in nuclear demand, as more countries adopt nuclear power to meet the rising need for continuous electricity with low carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.
“This ever-increasing commitment by the nuclear fraternity, targeting the tripling of the nuclear fleet by 2050, led by China and the United States, has been particularly evident over the past 12 months,” he said.
He described the growth in nuclear power demand as escalating at a pace rarely seen.
However, he warned that the uranium supply sector is not prepared to meet these challenges.
“The uranium supply sector overall is ill prepared to meet these challenges in terms of availability of essential skills to properly service the exploration effort that will be needed, the large amount of capital required to service this need along with the long-term sustained commitment to exploration required to make the necessary discoveries,” Borshoff said.
He pointed to North America, South America, Australia, Africa, Central Asia and possibly the Middle East as regions where exploration must focus.
He added that countries like China, India and Russia are unlikely to deliver major discoveries, whereas the United States is largely mined out and now relies on smaller deposits.
According to Borshoff, the timing of Deep Yellow’s two greenfield projects, Tumas and Mulga Rock, perfectly aligns with current market conditions.
“The timing for development of its two greenfield projects, the Tumas and Mulga Rock Projects, is near perfect with realisation in the market of the structural deficit that exists in supply in the mid- to long-term and will take a long time to repair,” he said. The company has deferred the Final Investment Decision on Tumas and held off on offtake contracts until market prices better incentivise the development of new uranium projects.
Caption
Deep Yellow has uranium projects in Namibia, including Tumas.
- Photo: Deep Yellow
