Rio Tinto highlights interest in China’s rising uranium demand

SHANGHAI - Global mining giant Rio Tinto is eyeing opportunities for growth in the uranium business, predicting an uptick in the industry driven by China’s rising demand for nuclear fuel.

The China Daily quotes Rio Tinto CEO, Sam Walsh, as saying: “Uranium has been a tough business since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, but the uranium market will recover with new nuclear power plants coming on in China and other countries.”

Rio Tinto has uranium-related operations in Australia and Namibia and potential projects in Canada after it completed acquisition of Hathor Exploration Ltd, a uranium exploration company with assets in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan, in 2012.

"Currently, Canada's Hathor project is in drilling process, and it is very early in terms of development, but I think nuclear power is an important part of the environmental solution for the world and it has a positive prospect in the future," said Walsh.

Uranium prices declined from more than US$130 per pound to about US$40 last year in the wake of the Fukushima crisis and temporary shutting of nuclear power plants across the globe.

Experts said that although prices may remain depressed this year, they will see a big rebound to about US$70 or US$80 in coming years. China is embarking on a massive programme to build about 110 nuclear reactors by 2030.

In 2015, more than 40% of Rio Tinto’s revenue came from China, and Walsh expects the share to continue to rise in the next three years.  www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).