Uranium Mining

Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Uranium ore is mostly found in relatively small concentrations, making most uranium mining volume-intensive, leading to open-pit mining. Uranium mining is undertaken in only a small number of countries of the world, partly because mining costs to uranium concentrations is high making sustainability at current prices rare.

Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are the top three uranium producing mines and together account for 63% of world uranium production.

About 27% of uranium is mined in Kazakhstan. The worldwide production of uranium in a recent year amounted to 50,572 tonnes. Other important uranium producing countries in excess of 1000 tonnes per year are Uzbekistan, Namibia, Niger, Russia, and the United States.

Uranium from mining is used primarily as fuel for nuclear power plants. As of 2008, known uranium ore resources that can be mined at about current costs are estimated to be sufficient to produce fuel for about a century, based on current consumption rates.

Uranium ores are normally processed by grinding the materials to a particle size then treating the ore to extract the uranium by chemical leaching. The milling process commonly yields dry powder-form material consisting of natural uranium, "yellowcake," which is sold on the uranium market as U3O8.