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World Uranium Mining Production

Updated Thursday, 16 May 2024
  • About two-thirds of the world's production of uranium from mines is from Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia.
  • An increasing amount of uranium, now over 55%, is produced by in situ leaching.
  • In 2022 Kazakhstan produced the largest share of uranium from mines (43% of world supply), followed by Canada (15%) and Namibia (11%).

Production from mines (tonnes U)

Country 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Kazakhstan 22,451 23,127 23,607 24,689 23,321 21,705 22,808 19,477 21,819 21,227
Canada 9331 9124 13,325 14,039 13,116 7001 6938 3885 4693 7351
Namibia 4323 3255 2993 3654 4224 5525 5476 5413 5753 5613
Australia 6350 5001 5654 6315 5882 6517 6613 6203 4192 4553
Uzbekistan (est.) 2400 2400 2385 3325 3400 3450 3500 3500 3520 3300
Russia 3135 2990 3055 3004 2917 2904 2911 2846 2635 2508
Niger 4518 4057 4116 3479 3449 2911 2983 2991 2248 2020
China (est.) 1500 1500 1616 1616 1692 1885 1885 1885 1600 1700
India (est.) 385 285 385 385 421 423 308 400 600 600
South Africa (est.) 531 573 393 490 308 346 346 250 192 200
Ukraine 922 926 1200 808 707 790 800 744 455 100
USA 1792 1919 1256 1125 940 582 58 6 8 75
Pakistan (est.) 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45 45
Brazil 192 55 40 44 0 0 0 15 29 43
Iran (est.) 0 0 38 0 40 71 71 71 21 20
Czech Republic 215 193 155 138 0 0 0 0 0 0
Romania 77 77 77 50 0 0 0 0 0 0
France 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Germany 27 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Malawi 1132 369 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total world 59,331 56,041 60,304 63,207 60,514 54,154 54,742 47,731 47,808 49,355
tonnes U3O8 69,966 66,087 71,113 74,357 71,361 63,861 64,554 56,287 56,377 58,201
% of world demand 91% 85% 98% 96% 93% 80% 81% 74% 76% 74%

* Data from World Nuclear Association. NB: the figures in this table are liable to change as new data becomes available. Totals may not sum exactly due to rounding.

Mining methods have been changing. In 1990, 55% of world production came from underground mines, but this shrunk dramatically to 1999, with 33% then. From 2000 the new Canadian mines increased it again. In 2022 in situ leach (ISL, also called in situ recovery, ISR) mining accounted for over 55% of production:

Method tonnes U %
In situ leach (ISL) 27,773 56%
Underground & open pit (except Olympic Dam 18,569 38%
By-product 3013 6%

Conventional mines have a mill where the ore is crushed, ground and then leached with sulfuric acid to dissolve the uranium oxides. At the mill of a conventional mine, or the treatment plant of an ISL operation, the uranium then separated by ion exchange before being dried and packed, usually as U3O8. Some mills and ISL operations (especially in the USA) use carbonate leaching instead of sulfuric acid, depending on the orebody. Where uranium is recovered as a by-product, e.g. of copper or phosphate, the treatment process is likely to be more complex.

During the 1990s the uranium production industry was consolidated by takeovers, mergers and closures, but this has diversified again with Kazakhstan's multinational ownership structure. Over half of uranium mine production is from state-owned mining companies, some of which prioritize secure supply over market considerations. In 2022, the top 10 companies by production contributed over 90% of the world's uranium production:

Uranium production by company 2022

Company tonnes U % of world total
Kazatomprom 11,373 23
Cameco 5675 12
Orano 5519 11
CGN 4627 10
Uranium One 4454 9
Navoi Mining 3300 7
CNNC 3247 7
BHP 2813 6
ARMZ 2508 5
General Atomics/Quasar 1740 4
Other 4098 6

The largest-producing uranium mines in 2022

Mine Country Main owner Type Production (tonnes U) % of world
Cigar Lake Canada Cameco/Orano underground 6928 14
Husab Namibia Swakop Uranium (CGN) open pit 3358 7
Inkai, sites 1-3 Kazakhstan Kazatomprom/Cameco ISL 3201 7
Olympic Dam Australia BHP Billiton by-product/underground 2813 6
Karatau (Budenovskoye 2) Kazakhstan Uranium One/Kazatomprom ISL 2560 5
Rössing Namibia CNNC open pit 2255 5
SOMAIR Niger Orano open pit 2020 4
Four Mile Australia Quasar ISL 1740 3
Central Mynkuduk Kazakhstan Ortalyk ISL 1650 3
South Inkai 4 Kazakhstan Uranium One/Kazatomprom ISL 1600 3
Top 10 total       28,125 57%

Note 1: SMCC, a joint venture between Kazatomprom and Uranium One, reported combined production of 2225 tU in 2022 at its two mines, South Inkai 4 and Akdala.

Note 2: KATCO, a joint venture between Kazatomprom and Orano, reported combined production of 2564 tU in 2022 across its two mines, Moinkum and Tortkuduk.

World uranium production and reactor requirements (tonnes U)

uranium production and reactor requirements 1945-2022

Source: OECD-NEA, IAEA, World Nuclear Association.

Uranium resources by country in 2021

Country tonnes U % of world
Australia 1,684,100 28%
Kazakhstan 815,200 13%
Canada 588,500 10%
Russia 480,900 8%
Namibia 470,100 8%
South Africa 320,900 5%
Niger 311,100 5%
Brazil 276,800 5%
China 223,900 4%
Mongolia 144,600 2%
Uzbekistan 131,200 2%
Ukraine 107,200 2%
Botswana 87,200 1%
USA 59,400 1%
Tanzania 58,200 1%
Jordan 52,500 1%
World total 6,078,500  

Identified resources recoverable (reasonably assured resources plus inferred resources), to $130/kg U, 1/1/21, from OECD NEA & IAEA, Uranium 2022: Resources, Production and Demand ('Red Book'). The total recoverable identified resources to $260/kg U is 7.918 million tonnes U. 

Notes & references

General Sources

OECD-NEA & IAEA, Uranium 2022: Resources, Production and Demand ('Red Book')
World Nuclear Association, The Nuclear Fuel Report

World Uranium Mining Production
Australia
Canada: Uranium
Uranium in Africa
Namibia
Niger
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Notes & references Related Information