It typically gets a bad rap.

People usually think of it — when they think of it — as dangerous and toxic.

Instead, investors who focus on mining companies watch those in gold and silver. And more recently battery-related metals have come to the fore: minerals like lithium, cobalt and copper.

But there’s another metal, one that’s essential for carbon-free energy generation, that may be making a comeback.

The Big “U”

Thanks to high-profile disasters like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and more recently Fukushima Daiichi, people often think of nuclear power as a dangerous energy source.

It’s not.

In fact, in the 60-plus years that nuclear energy has been powering parts of the world, these have been the only significant incidents in which they’ve been involved.

Compared to the number of petroleum drilling and refining, shipping and pipeline accidents that have occurred over the years, that’s actually a pretty damn good track record. And the industry’s safety standards keep getting stricter.

But let’s step away from the irrational fears. Nuclear energy is reliable, efficient, affordable and — especially important today — carbon-free.

Nuclear plants have the highest capacity factors — upwards of 90% — of ANY power source. (A power plant’s capacity factor represents the amount of energy a plant can reliably produce over a period of time. The higher the number, the more energy the plant produces.)

Let’s face it, nuclear is a serious solution for the current energy discussion.

The metal that powers it all — uranium — is starting to step into the spotlight.

And serious investors who follow the mining industry should be taking note.

Why?

A Metal Coming Into Its Own?

Let’s start with the fact that the price of uranium has been exploding.

Its price has been on the rise since 2017 and went pretty much vertical in 2023 doubling from under $50 per pound to over $100.

And this may just be the start given the interest that has picked back up in this energy metal. A January 2024 report from Oilprice.com read:

U.S.-based Uranium Energy Corp said on Tuesday it would restart uranium production at its fully permitted site in Wyoming as the resurgence in nuclear power has led to a new bull market in uranium.

The company expects that the mine, which has previously been in production, will be fully back online by August of 2024.

Other mines are springing up as well.

Late last year, another uranium miner — Energy Fuels — announced that it is bringing three of its mines back online soon. They’ve also announced that they are developing two more mines in Wyoming and Colorado. When all is said and done, they project they’ll be able to produce between 1.1 and 1.4 million pounds of uranium per year.

The Government is Getting Back Onboard

In 1980 the United States was one of the leading producers of uranium concentrate (U3O8) producing 44 million pounds of the fuel. By 2017, that number had dropped to 2.4 million pounds. Between 2019 and today, US production has been negligible.

This has naturally led to a huge dependency on foreign imports which is quickly becoming a national security risk.

And the US government has finally begun to realize that. Earlier this year Reuters reported:

WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) – The U.S. is seeking bids from contractors to help establish a domestic supply of a uranium fuel enriched to higher levels for use in a next generation of reactors, a fuel currently only available in commercial levels from Russia, the Department of Energy said on Tuesday.

This is a very good sign the uranium market is making a comeback.

Getting in Before the Herd

The government’s push for carbon-free energy has been largely focused on solar and wind. And because of that, the resultant mining interest has been for related metals.

But nuclear is another viable power source that is just as clean — and frankly much more reliable. The price of uranium has just begun re-attracting miners to the industry.

Investors who focus on mining companies might do well to look at those who are advancing the nuclear cause.