Every nuclear power plant runs on a fuel most people never see. Before uranium reaches a reactor, it is mined, milled into a yellow powder called U3O8, then converted, enriched and made into fuel. Canada ranks second in the world for uranium production, while the U.S. runs a large reactor fleet but mines only a small share of what it uses.Â
The numbers show how lopsided that relationship is. U.S. reactor owners bought 46.9 million pounds of uranium in 2025, and just 7% came from American mines. Canada was the biggest supplier at 32%, ahead of Kazakhstan at 28% and Australia at 15%. Domestic output is climbing from a low base, reaching about 2.1 million pounds in 2025, more than triple the year before.Â
Most Canadian supply comes from the Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan, home to some of the richest uranium ore on the planet. Cameco Corporation (NYSE: CCJ, TSX: CCO) runs the McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines there, and Cigar Lake ore is processed at the McClean Lake mill operated by Orano. Cameco recently lowered its 2026 production forecast to between 19.5 million and 20.5 million pounds after a longer than planned shutdown at its Key Lake mill.Â
Government policy is adding pressure. The U.S. banned imports of Russian enriched uranium in 2024, and any remaining waivers end no later than January 1, 2028. Uranium was also added to the U.S. Geological Survey’s list of critical minerals at the end of 2025
Utilities buy most of their uranium through contracts lasting several years, so the long-term contract price is the number producers watch. That benchmark hit a record $96 per pound at the end of August, while the spot price sat near $89.54. This morning, Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC) said it agreed to sell 1.1 million pounds to two U.S. utilities over six years, with every delivery priced at the market.
That backdrop raises the value of finding more high-grade uranium near existing mills, which is the context for today’s update from IsoEnergy Ltd. (NYSE American: ISOU, TSX: ISO). The company released lab results from its completed summer drilling at the Larocque East project in the eastern Athabasca Basin. The project hosts the Hurricane deposit, with an Indicated resource of 48.6 million pounds at an average grade of 34.5% U3O8, about 1,070 feet underground and roughly 25 miles from the McClean Lake mill.
The summer program drilled about 33,300 feet across 26 holes. Lab tests, called assays, confirmed uranium in 18 of those holes over roughly 1,800 feet of a structure known as the Hurricane South Trend. They turn radioactivity readings the company reported on September 8th into measured grades.
The standout came about 1,640 feet east of the deposit, where one hole returned 4.17% U3O8 over 6.6 feet, including 15.4% over 1.6 feet. For scale, a 1% grade means each metric tonne of rock holds about 22 pounds of U3O8. Inside the deposit’s southern edge, in an area earlier modelled as low grade, another hole returned 3.53% over 9.8 feet, including 10.8% over 1.6 feet.Â
None of this changes the official resource, which dates to a 2022 estimate, and the company notes the drilled widths are not true thickness. What the results show is that high grades continue beyond the deposit’s current boundary and inside parts once seen as low grade, the building blocks for any future resource update. Dan Brisbin, Vice President, Geology, said the eastern stretch of the fault zone remains lightly tested, and the team is proposing drilling there in 2027.
Drill results are an early step on a long road, and a few feet of rich core do not guarantee a mine. With U.S. utilities still relying on imports and long-term prices at record levels, each confirmed high-grade hit near Saskatchewan’s existing mills adds to the question of where North America’s next supply will come from.
