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The Uranium Boom: Australia Sitting on a Fortune It Can't Mine ⛏️☢️ · Money News

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  S1: Yes. Great to have your company on money news across
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  S1: our network, including 3AW Melbourne to Sydney for ABC, Brisbane,
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  S1: 6PR in Perth and 2CC in Canberra. And our podcast
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  S1: audience as well. This is James Willis and uranium is
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  S1: in demand at the moment, and there is a fascinating
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  S1: opportunity for one Australian company in particular. They're based in WA,
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  S1: they're known as Paladin Energy, and it's seen its share
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  S1: price increase by roughly 70% over the past 12 months.
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  S1: The stock code, by the way, on the ASX is P,
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  S1: d n, and they've had another boost today following a
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  S1: strong annual report. Major improvements to net loss after tax,
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  S1: massive increases in revenue and a number of exciting developing
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  S1: exploration projects, including potentially in our backyard. Although there are
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  S1: some state based regulations that are holding them back as
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  S1: we speak. Paul Hembrow is the managing director and CEO
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  S1: of Paladin Energy. He joins me on the line tonight. Paul,
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  S1: many thanks for your time.
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  S2: Hi, James, and thank you for having me.
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  S1: You'll be pleased, firstly, with how things are tracking overall
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  S1: and a lot of exciting opportunities for the company to come.
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  S2: Yeah. James. Look, 2026 was an exciting year and very
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  S2: significant for us as Paladin, and we have delivered on
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  S2: a number of key commitments across both our operating and
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  S2: development portfolios. So I couldn't be more pleased with how
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  S2: we're going.
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  S1: Now just explain and I'm going to ask a couple
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  S1: of idiot guide questions so the people understand. But explain
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  S1: to us for those that don't know or understand the why,
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  S1: your main mine site is in Namibia. What makes that
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  S1: African nation a uranium hot spot?
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  S2: Oh look, Namibia has been a mining uranium for well
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  S2: and truly over 50 years now. Rio Tinto had the
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  S2: Rössing uranium mine there that's been operating, you know, for
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  S2: that entire 50 year period. Namibia is a very supportive jurisdiction.
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  S2: And and we're very pleased to have our Langer Heinrich mine,
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  S2: which has been the cornerstone and the foundation of our operations,
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  S2: you know, for quite some years. and we recently brought
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  S2: it back into production, and it's absolutely humming along.
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  S1: And just on your client list, your growing client list,
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  S1: your customers who in particular can't get enough of uranium.
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  S1: At the moment, I'm asking countries who is buying the
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  S1: most of it for, I'm assuming the majority, nearly all
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  S1: of it for nuclear power.
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  S2: Yeah. Look, there are over 440 operable new nuclear reactors worldwide,
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  S2: and there's about another 80 currently under construction. They're global.
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  S2: You know, there's 38 countries building those 80 reactors. And
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  S2: we're supplying into the global market, into Europe, into into
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  S2: Asia and into North America. So, you know, the utilities
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  S2: are our only customers. We supply directly to utilities. And, uh,
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  S2: you know, and it's a very exciting time to be
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  S2: in uranium since, um, well, the last ten years, investment
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  S2: in uranium production has been stemmed somewhat. Um, and it's
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  S2: lagging behind the nuclear build out program. Electrification is really
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  S2: what's driving the nuclear program. And, you're absolutely right, James.
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  S2: Utilities can't get enough. The build out program in China
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  S2: in particular is growing at a rapid rate. And. And
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  S2: I expect in the next sort of ten years, their
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  S2: fleet will exceed the fleet that we currently see in
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  S2: the United States.
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  S1: So let's talk about that and the forecast here, because
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  S1: obviously people in the last six months would have said, oh, uranium. Well,
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  S1: it's price sensitive and we're not sure where it's going
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  S1: to land. But to be clear, based on your expectations,
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  S1: everything you understand with net zero. Well and truly on
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  S1: the agenda across the globe are the stats that I've
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  S1: read in your annual report. Hundreds of working reactors all
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  S1: over the world for nuclear power, 79 under construction, another
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  S1: 120 proposed. So this is going to speed up, not
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  S1: slow down.
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  S2: No nuclear, I think is becoming more in favor with
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  S2: the global electrification that sort of search for secure baseload
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  S2: generation that is also low in carbon emissions. Nuclear is
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  S2: the only energy source that fits the bill. And we're
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  S2: seeing that massive build out program globally. You know that
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  S2: Chinese demand is incredibly strong. And there's this growing deficit
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  S2: between that demand and the available supply worldwide.
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  S1: Is there a way that you can try and simplify
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  S1: or quantify, um, based on how much uranium you take
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  S1: out of the ground at your main site in Namibia,
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  S1: and how long that can power a single reactor for.
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  S1: Does is there a simple math sum to explain just
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  S1: how far your uranium mining goes?
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  S2: I guess the way I like to think about it
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  S2: is a modern nuclear reactor generally consumes about 500 zero
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  S2: zero £0 per annum of uranium. And and so if
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  S2: I look at Langer Heinrich, last year's production, £4.8 million
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  S2: per annum, um that's powering potentially um you know, eight
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  S2: nine nuclear reactors on an annual basis.
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  S1: The voice you're hearing is Paul Hambro, the managing director
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  S1: and CEO of Paladin Energy. Uh, their stock has gone
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  S1: up by about 70% over the past year. Very strong
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  S1: annual report out today. Can I just ask you about Australia?
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  S1: And this is a question in a few parts. So
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  S1: I just want to go through this bit by bit.
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  S1: You've flagged that there are potential new opportunities for your
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  S1: company in both Queensland and WA. Now we know the
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  S1: Albanese government has flagged producing more uranium for India in particular,
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  S1: but hopefully for other parts of the world currently. Can
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  S1: you just explain what is holding you back? And it's
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  S1: got nothing to do about where uranium might be. I'm
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  S1: talking about state government regulation.
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  S2: Yeah. Look, the state government regulating environment is not, um,
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  S2: amenable to us operating our minds in either Western Australia
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  S2: or Queensland. And although we have very large resources in
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  S2: both states, um, you know, we just can't produce and
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  S2: um if that changes and we see a sustained change,
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  S2: um then we're very interested in progressing those mining opportunities.
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  S1: So am I right in saying there is a ban
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  S1: on uranium mining in every state and territory aside from
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  S1: the NT and South Australia.
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  S2: Correct.
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  S1: Do we know why that ban is in place? What
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  S1: is the reason for a ban on uranium mining?
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  S2: Oh, you know, look, I guess it's been a long
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  S2: standing thing. And our role is really to make sure
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  S2: that our shareholders and our customers are demands and needs
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  S2: are met. And at this point in time, you know,
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  S2: it's a lot easier to invest our money in countries
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  S2: like Namibia and Canada. And so we're not really at
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  S2: the vanguard of pushing that change in Australia. And we
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  S2: really need to see that sustained US regulatory environment for
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  S2: a period of time before we can invest a significant
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  S2: amount of money in developing assets in Queensland or Western Australia.
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  S1: That's right. And look, we're not talking about a nuclear
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  S1: power industry in Australia, which would be decades away. We're
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  S1: talking about mining for uranium. Is it your understanding just finally,
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  S1: that Australia has some of the largest reserves of uranium
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  S1: in the world, therefore, there could potentially be a massive
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  S1: opportunity here.
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  S2: Yeah, absolutely. Right. James and South Australia, Western Australia, Northern
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  S2: Territory and Queensland all have significant resources. And, you know,
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  S2: one day I think it would be nice to be
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  S2: able to mine uranium in Australia. And, you know, we
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  S2: can decouple the concept of nuclear power generation and mining
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  S2: as two separate things. And we should indeed be able
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  S2: to to mine and export Australia's uranium to the world
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  S2: as demand consistently grows year after year.
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  S1: I just want to be clear on that point, though,
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  S1: for this WA site and for the Mount Isa site
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  S1: that you've identified in your annual report, are there large
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  S1: reserves of uranium in those areas?
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  S2: Oh, absolutely. And in particular the Mount Isa mine, you know,
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  S2: has has huge potential. That's a very, very large resource.
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  S1: Right. But you can't take it out of the ground.
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  S2: Absolutely correct.
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  S1: Mhm. Fascinating chat. Paul, I really appreciate your time tonight
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  S1: on Money News.
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  S2: Thank you for having me. Really appreciate.
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  S1: It. It's Paul Hembrow, the managing director and CEO of
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  S1: Paladin Energy, joining us after releasing their annual report to
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  S1: the public today.