There is no denying this simple fact. 

Energy is the foundation of any economy. 

You’ve got to power the factories that produce value. You’ve got to power the transportation that moves those products from point to point. 

And to date, the only reliable way to do that has been via fossil fuels. 

The outgoing administration made a huge push toward renewables — namely wind and solar. And while these two sources do offer some potential in the country’s energy mix, they are in no way capable of powering our entire economy. 

This isn’t our opinion — it’s been proven out by the last four years: 

Shortly after becoming president in January 2021, Biden signed an executive order banning new oil and natural-gas leasing on federal lands. Yet under his presidency, U.S. domestic oil production has climbed to a record high.

Fossil fuels are not going away, no matter what the departing president wants you to believe.

And the incoming guy has a slightly different perspective on the topic of energy. According to Reuters:

Donald Trump’s transition team is putting together a wide-ranging energy package to roll out within days of his taking office that would approve export permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects and increase oil drilling off the U.S. coast and on federal lands, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

Trump wants the US to be the gas station to the world. An ambitious goal. 

But beyond all the drilling and fracking, President Trump has his policy eyes on another, critical sector. One that’s seeing a renaissance at home and abroad. 

And one that could offer a significant opportunity for mining investors…

 

Reviving Nuclear Big Time

Before he left office after his first term, Trump 45 had already shown signs of his interest in the nuclear power industry.

In a memorandum issued July 12, 2019, then-President Trump established the United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group, which would examine the current state of domestic nuclear-fuel production and “reinvigorate the entire nuclear-fuel supply chain.” At the time, Trump also said the country’s uranium industry “faces significant challenges in producing uranium domestically and that this is an issue of national security.”

As a result, in April 2020 the Department of Energy put out a press release: 

The Strategy to Restore American Nuclear Energy Leadership is a direct outcome from the efforts of the United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group established by the President in his July 12, 2019 Memorandum on the Effect of Uranium Imports on the National Security and Establishment of the United States Nuclear Fuel Working Group.

Also in 2020, the president made an overture to Congress in support of the uranium industry:

The Trump administration asked Congress this week for $1.5 billion over 10 years to create a new national stockpile of U.S.-mined uranium, saying that propping up U.S. uranium production in the face of cheaper imports is a matter of vital energy security. Approval is far from certain in a highly partisan Congress.

At the time, the spot price of uranium was trading at around $24.50 per pound while the long-term contractual rate was being set around $32.50.

Then:

…on Jan. 12, 2021, Trump issued an executive order promoting small modular reactors for national defense and space exploration. In it, he said that “nuclear energy is critical to United States national security.”

Eight days later, he was gone.

If nothing else, these actions showed that Trump understood the need for a diverse baseload energy portfolio. 

Coming back for round two, there are signs the president is even more likely to get behind the nuclear industry. 

His nomination for US Energy Secretary, Christopher Wright, is the CEO of Liberty Energy Inc., an oilfield services company. But he also serves on the board of Oklo Inc, “a maker of nuclear-fission reactors that also recycles used uranium from other plants.”

 

Time for Uranium?

During the four years between Trump administrations, the price of uranium has doubled to $77 (spot) /$81 (long-term) which has led to a rebound in global uranium production.

An area in which the US still sorely lags the field. 

However, with President-Elect Trump heading back to the White House along with his priorities of national energy security, that is likely to change.

And that may be just the start for uranium miners…