How much Uranium Ore is there in the world?
Uranium is actually quite a common material making up 2.8 parts per million of the earth’s crust. Estimating resources is quite a complex technical task because firstly economic concentrations of the element have to be found and secondly what constitutes an economic deposit depends on the price. At current prices of around $100 per kilogram, surface mineable deposits would be economic down to about 200 parts per million. Some deposits are far richer than this – up to 200,000 parts per million at Cigar Lake in Canada. Assessing reserves depends on exploration, and world resources increased by 20% in the three years to the end of 2008. The World Nuclear Association (see link) estimates recoverable uranium at prices up to $130 per kilogram as 5.5 million tonnes. This is enough for 80 years at current consumption rates. However Uranium power will probably last far longer than this because: – more uranium deposits will be found – the price could well increase, still keeping uranium competit
