7 Forces That Will Drive Uranium to $100 Per Pound in 2007.
A six-week long stalemate on the spot price of uranium has finally broken, with the price of the metal ticking up $3 to $75 per pound, according to Ux Consulting. Uranium investors have been holding their collective breath, waiting to see if uranium’s recent plateau was a peak. The answer seems to be, “not yet.” Indeed, my target for the metal is $100 per pound by the end of this year.
It could be a bumpy ride, though. I’ll tell you about forces that should drive uranium higher, as well as a few that could drive it lower in the short term.

2007 Could Bring an M&A Feeding Frenzy in the Uranium Mining Industry

Three weeks ago, there was the 2007 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference. There were way more exhibitors than last year, and the hall was jampacked with investors looking for Canada’s natural resource bargains, gold, silver, lead, zinc, nickel, diamonds and many other things. Uranium, was so hot that the exhibitors set up a special “Uranium Alley” so investors could find these companies more easily.
Continued:

Rockhounds (mining engineers) love what they do, but even they can’t do it forever. And when the price of uranium cratered in the 1980s, staffs were decimated. About 20,000 engineers and geologists worked in the uranium sector in American companies during the last uranium boom. That number is about 400 now, too many of whom are close to retirement age. So if you can find a company with a fairly “deep bench” of uranium mining experts on its payroll, those guys are worth their weight in gold.

One solution to the staffing shortage: mergers. If two companies each with three expert rockhounds merge, that company now has six experienced prospectors to work on the best of its projects.

Why I’m Convinced the Second Wave of Uranium’s Bull Market Is About to Begin!

Continued tomorrow.