Mining Press Roundup: Uranium Sector Heats Up as Energy Fuels, Elevate Hit Production Milestones

Energy Fuels expects to meet its 2026 uranium production guidance by mid-year as ore processing at Utah's White Mesa Mill pauses to rebuild stockpiles, with uranium oxide production reaching 1.6 million pounds by the end of June — a milestone that underscores the strength of America's only conventional uranium mill at a time when nuclear power demand is accelerating globally.

According to market data, the URA uranium ETF traded at $45.47 on Friday, up 1.4%, while uranium spot prices have held near $85 per pound despite volatility earlier in the year. The uranium spot price started 2026 at just over $80 per pound and peaked at $101.41 on January 29 , before geopolitical pressures and Iran conflict concerns triggered a pullback.

Energy Fuels: Hitting Full-Year Targets in Six Months

Energy Fuels' production figure falls within the company's previously published full-year guidance range of 1.5-2.5 million pounds , meaning the Colorado-based producer will achieve its annual target halfway through the year. The processing cost of ore at White Mesa is expected to fall to between $9-$12 per pound, near historic lows , according to the company's operational update released Thursday.

CEO Ross Bhappu said the uranium segment "continues to differentiate Energy Fuels as the clear leading U.S. uranium producer through our strong operating performance, production and costs."

The company currently expects to resume ore processing at the Mill in Q4-2026, subject to continued strong ore production at conventional mines, uranium market conditions, and the potential for a rare earth element processing campaign . Energy Fuels has been expanding its rare earth capabilities at White Mesa, producing high-purity terbium oxide at the facility in March 2026, processed from ore sourced in Florida and Georgia .

The uranium market backdrop remains constructive despite spot price volatility. The long-term contract price has climbed to $90, its highest level since 2008 , according to industry analysts who spoke at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention in March. Grant Isaac, Cameco's president and chief operating officer, noted that the volume of "uncovered requirements" — future uranium demand not yet secured by utilities — has reached record levels .

Elevate Uranium: Namibian Resource Grows 31%

Elevate Uranium delivered its own uranium milestone this week, announcing a 31% increase in the Mineral Resource Estimate for its flagship Marenica Uranium Project in Namibia, adding 12.6 million pounds of triuranium octoxide to bring the total Marenica resource to 52.8 million pounds at a grade of 180 parts per million .

The expansion increases the company's total Namibian uranium resource base to 116 million pounds, further strengthening its position as one of the largest holders of undeveloped uranium resources in the Erongo Region , a well-established uranium mining jurisdiction that hosts major producers including Rossing and Husab.

The updated resource now stands at 52.8 million pounds U₃O₈ at 180ppm, following targeted infill drilling that added 12.6 million pounds of contained uranium , according to The Assay. The Australian-listed company has been aggressive in Namibia, investing approximately N$55 million (US$3.33 million) in exploration and evaluation activities at its Koppies and Marenica uranium projects during the quarter ending March 2026, supporting an extensive drilling campaign covering 27,851 metres across 788 holes .

Elevate's proprietary U-pgrade technology could be a differentiator. Bench-scale testing on Marenica ore has demonstrated that the patented process can concentrate uranium by a factor of approximately 50, increasing the effective processing grade from around 93 ppm to 5,000 ppm U₃O₈, and by rejecting approximately 98% of waste material before the leaching stage, the technology is designed to reduce both capital and operating costs by an estimated 50% compared to conventional uranium processing methods .

GoldMining: São Jorge PEA Shows $532M NPV

GoldMining released a preliminary economic assessment for its São Jorge gold project in northern Brazil, outlining an after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of $532 million and an after-tax internal rate of return of 42.4% utilizing a base case gold price of $3,500 per ounce and an initial payback of 2.8 years .

The economics improve substantially at current gold prices. At spot gold prices of $4,400 per ounce, the after-tax NPV increases to $836.8 million, yielding an IRR of 58.6% and an initial payback of just 2.4 years . Gold traded at $4,219 per ounce on Friday, up 4.3% according to market data.

Initial capital is estimated at a highly manageable $202 million (including a 25% contingency) , making São Jorge one of the more capital-efficient development projects in GoldMining's portfolio. By output, São Jorge could produce 51,250 ounces of gold annually over a 10.6-year life, with peak production of 57,200 ounces per year in years two through four, and all-in sustaining costs are pegged at $1,164 per ounce .

CEO Alastair Still commented that "by combining a manageable $202 million initial capital investment with a robust $532 million base case NPV, we have outlined a highly efficient, construction-track asset on a regional-scale property that retains significant exploration potential for additional resource growth" . The company plans to move expeditiously into pre-feasibility studies and permitting.

Troilus Mining: High-Grade Gold Discovery Near Reserve Pit

Troilus Mining continues to expand its West Rim discovery in Quebec, with intercepts that define a continuous high-grade corridor near surface and represent some of the strongest near-pit grade-thickness results drilled to date at Troilus . The latest batch of results includes spectacular near-surface grades that could feed the company's planned 50,000-tonne-per-day operation.

Hole WR-26-014 cut 23.85 metres at 1.75 grams gold, 2.64 grams silver and 0.01% copper from 19.25 metres, including 5 metres at 6.71 grams gold, 7.73 grams silver and 0.01% copper , according to The Northern Miner. The latest results continue to demonstrate the emergence of a significant high-grade mineralized zone located entirely outside the current mineral resource estimate and within 200 metres of the reserve pit outlined in the Company's 2024 Feasibility Study .

West Rim is an emerging zone within 200 metres of the reserve pit outlined in last year's feasibility study, and Red Cloud Securities analyst Ron Stewart wrote that the zone has "the makings of a higher-grade satellite" near the planned mine . The 2024 feasibility study outlined a 50,000-tonne-per-day open pit running for 22 years, with probable reserves totaling 380 million tonnes grading 0.49 gram gold per tonne, 0.058% copper and 1 gram silver for about 6 million ounces of gold, 484 million pounds of copper and 12.1 million ounces of silver .

Troilus shares have been strong performers. Troilus shares trading in Toronto gained 8% or 12¢ to $1.76 apiece on Thursday, taking their increase over the past 12 months to 161% .

White Cliff Minerals: Nunavut Copper System Expands

White Cliff Minerals reported encouraging drilling results from its Rae Copper Project in western Nunavut, where highlight hole DAN26012 returned 19.8 metres grading 6.64% copper from 152.4 metres depth, including 7.6 metres at 11.38% copper and 3 metres grading 17.68% copper, with that interval also including 1.5 metres at 21.1% copper, or one-fifth pure copper, the strongest result yet at Danvers .

The assay results have confirmed copper mineralization over 2.6 km and visual red metal mineralization points to the possibility that the wider system might extend more than 4 km along strike , according to the company. Managing Director Troy Whittaker said "these results rank among the highest-grade intercepts returned from Danvers and highlight the extraordinary potential of this rapidly growing mineralized system" .

The Danvers target sits in a historically productive copper district about 75 km west of the hamlet of Kugluktuk. The results come amid a heightened focus by governments on securing critical metals in Canada's Far North, and Danvers and the wider Rae project are in Nunavut's Kitikmeot region which would host the proposed federally-backed Grays Bay Road and Port Project connecting the Arctic Ocean with an all-season road into the Northwest Territories .

Copper miners traded strongly Friday, with the COPX copper miners ETF up 3.3% to $85.92 according to market data.

Glencore: Quebec Smelter Gets Emissions Extension

Glencore announced it's resuming work on emissions-reduction projects at its Horne Smelter in Quebec after the provincial government passed a new law giving the company more time to comply with tougher emissions standards . Bill 11, which Quebec's National Assembly passed this week, extends the deadline for reducing ambient air arsenic emissions at Horne to 15 nanograms per cubic meter until 2029-30 – a two-year delay – and maintains it at that level until at least 2033 .

The development reverses a February standoff when Glencore suspended nearly $1 billion in planned investments at the facility after failing to secure regulatory certainty from Quebec. The company urged Canada's federal government to match provincial efforts with "timely and concrete support" for Horne through the country's Strategic Response Fund, stating that Ottawa's support "is essential to secure the economic viability of the smelter and the substantial investments to ensure the modernization and competitiveness of the Horne Smelter and CCR Refinery" .

Horne is Canada's only copper smelter, making its continued operation strategically important for domestic processing capacity. The facility has been controversial for years due to arsenic emissions that far exceed standards elsewhere in Quebec, and a class-action lawsuit was authorized in 2025 on behalf of residents claiming health impacts.

Canada Risks Losing Critical Minerals Race: PwC

A new PwC Canada report warns that Canada risks losing its competitive edge in critical minerals, energy and other strategic sectors unless it accelerates infrastructure investment and project approvals . Canada is projected to invest $4.7 trillion in infrastructure by 2050, but the country is spending a smaller share of economic output on infrastructure than many high-performing peers, investing 6.6% of GDP in infrastructure versus 7.4% for leading countries, a gap PwC estimates would require an additional $34 billion annually by 2050 to close .

The report identifies resources as Canada's largest infrastructure opportunity, with cumulative spending projected to reach $1.6 trillion by 2050, and annual investment in resource infrastructure is forecast to rise to $63 billion from $53 billion today as demand for critical minerals and energy grows and countries seek reliable alternatives to concentrated global suppliers .

The biggest opportunities increasingly depend on integrated infrastructure rather than standalone projects, and Ontario's Ring of Fire, one of Canada's largest undeveloped mineral districts, will require roads, power transmission, digital connectivity and community infrastructure to be developed together before large-scale mining can proceed .

Canada's lengthy regulatory approval processes remain one of the largest barriers to capturing this growth, with projects often facing years of reviews and overlapping regulatory requirements, increasing costs and uncertainty compared with competing jurisdictions .

What It Means

The uranium sector is delivering on production while resource bases expand — a combination that positions producers and developers for the next phase of the nuclear renaissance. Energy Fuels hitting full-year guidance in six months demonstrates operational excellence, while Elevate's 31% resource growth in Namibia shows that exploration dollars are finding metal in a jurisdiction with established infrastructure and mining culture.

The broader theme across today's announcements is the tension between resource endowment and infrastructure readiness. Canada has the geology — from Troilus's high-grade gold in Quebec to White Cliff's copper in Nunavut — but PwC's warning about the $34 billion annual infrastructure gap is a reality check. Projects don't advance on geology alone. They need roads, power, permits, and capital, often in that order.

Gold's strength (up 4.3% to $4,219/oz) is making projects like GoldMining's São Jorge economically compelling even at modest scale. At current prices, the NPV jumps to $837 million from a $532 million base case, turning a good project into a potentially tier-one development opportunity. Junior miners with feasibility-stage assets are getting a second look from investors who sat out the sector during the 2022-2024 consolidation wave.

The uranium market fundamentals remain constructive despite spot price choppiness. Long-term contract prices at $90/lb — the highest since 2008 — signal that utilities are willing to pay up for security of supply. With uncovered requirements at record levels and primary supply constrained by slow mine restarts and geopolitical risk, the setup favors producers who can deliver pounds reliably. Energy Fuels and Elevate are both executing on that thesis, albeit at different stages of the development curve.

This roundup covers press releases published on June 12, 2026. Company announcements are sourced from mining industry wire services. For corrections or updates, contact contact@stakeandpaper.com.