This week\u2019s landmark announcement by the Western Australian government of an electric vehicle strategy designed to get more EVs on the state\u2019s roads would undoubtedly have put a spring in the step of battery technology enthusiasts.<\/p>\n
The $21 million plan will create an infrastructure network running from Perth through to the iron rich territory of the Kimberley<\/a>, out to the Goldfields hub of Kalgoorlie and beyond to picturesque Esperance coast.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a positive measure mirrored in jurisdictions around the world, as they look to lessen the impact of combustion engines on the environment. A step towards step-change, and one which has the potential to drive significant growth in EV uptake in the years to come.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s a point you may not have considered \u2013 where does the electricity used to charge the EVs come from?<\/p>\n That\u2019s the question posed by uranium industry veteran and Valor Resources (ASX:VAL)<\/a> executive chairman George Bauk when discussing uranium\u2019s place in the EV revolution with Stockhead earlier this week.<\/p>\n Bauk, whose experience in the space spans decades across roles across the world \u2013 most recently at CEO and managing director of Northern Minerals \u2013 took up the role at Valor earlier this year and quickly picked up a couple of prospective US uranium projects.<\/p>\n He presents as a fan of the EV story, and believes uranium has a globally significant part to play in it.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no doubting people have bought into the EV message, and that\u2019s a fantastic outcome,\u201d Bauk said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we need to start telling that story of what\u2019s happening upstream, with the primary source of energy. You may charge an EV, but chances are at the moment that the source of power driving your battery is likely to still be a coal power station.<\/p>\n \u201cRenewables will be an excellent positive contributor to our total power generation, but you need baseloads \u2013 uranium has the ability to be that clean source of energy underpinning the electric vehicle baseload.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a compelling case for a commodity blighted by image challenges spanning back to the 1940s, but one with the potential to deliver the clean energy future the world is working towards.<\/p>\n It also means the image issues around uranium are starting to slowly shift, according to Bauk.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the real advantages we have is the pressure being placed on coal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a long journey ahead of us in terms of changing the face of uranium, but I think technological advancements, with the smaller systems you can now build, mean you no longer have to develop those major units with the negative views attached.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are starting to realise that the contributing factors to past disasters \u2013 things like poor maintenance, poor location \u2013 aren\u2019t really about the commodity itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, it\u2019s the Asian powers of China and Russia which are driving growth in nuclear power at the moment, according to the World Nuclear Association \u2013 an unfamiliar rhetoric against North America and most of Western Europe in recent times.<\/p>\n The organisation\u2019s numbers show that in September China had 48 operatable reactors up and running, 12 under construction, and 44 more planned. India\u2019s comparative numbers were 22, seven and 14.<\/p>\n These numbers in growth economies are surely nothing to be sneezed at.<\/p>\n But what about pricing? Uranium bulls have long trumpeted the potential for the commodity\u2019s price to soar \u2013 having peaked above US$100 per pound in 2007, spot prices currently sit around the US$30\/lb mark.<\/p>\n Bauk believes uranium prices will improve \u2013 \u201cthey just have to\u201d \u2013 but said his preference would be for a steady increase rather than a price spike.<\/p>\n \u201cSpikes in any commodity, I think, create long-term pain in exchange for short-term equity gain,\u201d he said. The latest step in Bauk\u2019s uranium journey is the recent acquisition of by Valor of the Hook Lake and Cluff Lake uranium projects in Saskatchewan\u2019s highly prospective Athabasca Basin.<\/p>\n The region has historically produced around 20% of the world\u2019s primary uranium supply and has been the site of 18 major uranium deposits since 1968.<\/p>\n A total of 10 of the world\u2019s top 15 highest-grade uranium mines operate in the basin.<\/p>\n Fair to say Valor has bought into some fertile territory. For Bauk, locale is the most exciting aspect of the company\u2019s emerging uranium narrative.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you really stand back and have a look at uranium prospectivity across the world, the point of reference is most often the Athabasca Basin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of time people talk about the Athabasca Basin, about deposits similar in style to the Athabasca Basin in geological settings around the world \u2013 it sets the standard, and it hosts the world\u2019s highest grade deposits.\u201d<\/p>\n Uranium enriched surficial mineralisation at Hook Lake. Pic: Company supplied<\/p>\n Operating in a jurisdiction renowned for uranium is a significant plus, but Valor\u2019s other advantage is the presence of non-executive director and career geologist Gary Billingsley on the ground at his home in Saskatoon.<\/p>\n \u201cWith COVID-19, and the inability to travel like we once did at the moment, it makes it much easier to have a board member physically living in the province where our project is,\u201d Bauk said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a geologist by qualification and has worked with uranium before \u2013 he\u2019s got a great relationship with us and knows most the uranium geologists in Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a factor which allows us a presence on the ground, and to maintain the momentum without having to worry about concerns around remote control through COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n The transaction for Valor\u2019s Canadian uranium projects is close to shareholder signoff, and the company plans to hit the new year running with a ground-based geophysics program.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got some great things to follow up,\u201d Bauk said.<\/p>\n \u201cHook Lake has some amazing rock chip samples, and there are mines nearby which have produced uranium at nearly 1% \u2013 those are extraordinary grades.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to get out on the ground and start working it up, from drill targets to drilling as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n With shifting appetites and changing perceptions shaping uranium\u2019s future, VAL appears well placed to capitalise in 2021 and beyond.<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The post Why uranium has a central place in an electric vehicle future<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n\u00a0<\/p>\nCanada calling <\/strong><\/h2>\n