Resources · Issue 02
Kazakhstan mines 39% of the world’s uranium
World Nuclear Association, 2024: 60,213 tonnes of uranium from mines. Kazakhstan 23,270 tU (39%), Canada 14,309 (24%), Namibia 7,333 (12%). Three countries are three-quarters of the yellowcake. Kazatomprom printed 25,839 tU for 2025.
- 01Kazakhstan39% of world, 202423,270
- 02Canada24%14,309
- 03Namibia12%7,333
- 04AustraliaWNA 20244,598
- 05UzbekistanWNA estimate4,000
- 06RussiaWNA 20242,738
- 07ChinaWNA estimate1,600
- 08Nigerdown from 4,116 in 2015962
- Kazakhstan’s share of mined uranium, 2024
- 39%
- tU mined, world, 2024 (WNA)
- 60,213
- tU, Kazakhstan 2025 (Kazatomprom / WNA)
- 25,839
- In-situ leach share of 2024 mine supply
- 52%
The fuel for the political renaissance is a three-country mine
World Nuclear Association’s 2024 table, updated 20 January 2026: mines put 60,213 tonnes of uranium on the belt, covering about 90% of reactor requirements. Kazakhstan 23,270 tU — 39%. Canada 14,309. Namibia 7,333. Those three are 75% of world mine supply. Australia, Uzbekistan and Russia fill most of the rest. The United States mined 260 tonnes. Niger, which was 4,116 tU in 2015, is 962. In-situ leaching is now 52% of mine supply: a pump, not a pit. Kazatomprom’s own 2025 print, on WNA’s country page, is 25,839 tU with 2026 guidance 27,000–29,000. We do not turn that into a 2025 world share. The comparable cross-country ruler is still 2024.
Tripling nuclear is a GWe pledge. Yellowcake is a logistics pledge.
The nuclear return on this desk is 397 GWe operable and a 1,446 GWe government-target path. Fuel is the unglamorous gate. Conversion, enrichment and fabricated fuel are even more concentrated than the mine, and they sit in a sanctions map. Secondary supply — inventories, tails re-enrichment, MOX — still covers the gap between 60 kt mined and 69 kt required. That gap is the copper-scrap rhyme: a mine table that only draws primary will always sit under the reactor. A 2050 triple that does not have a 2030s conversion book is a press conference.
The long view is contracted pounds, not a spot spike
Own pounds under multi-year offtake in Canada, Kazakhstan (political-risk sized), and Namibia, and the conversion/enrichment step the West still runs. Do not own a 2022-style uranium spike as if WNA had forecast it. What would change this page: a WNA world table with Kazakhstan below 30%, or the United States back above 2,000 tU. 2024 is 39% and 260.
Investing lens
Horizon 8–20 years · Educational, not advice
Nuclear’s political renaissance is a GWe story. The investable bottleneck is fuel-cycle capacity in jurisdictions that will actually deliver. Size Kazakhstan as a 39% fact with political risk, not as a diversified mine.
Where the map points
- Canadian and Namibian pounds with contracted offtake
- Conversion and enrichment outside the Russian book
- Kazakh exposure sized for jurisdiction, not for grade
- Avoid treating a 2050 GWe pledge as 2026 yellowcake demand
What can break it
- A Kazakh policy or logistics shock that the rest of the mine cannot fill
- Secondary supply (inventories, tails) capping the mine price
- Reactor delays that leave contracted pounds without a utility
CHART does not recommend securities, funds or trades. Figures can be revised by their publishers. Do your own research and consider regulated advice before allocating capital.
Sources
Every headline number traces to a named publisher. Contextual sources inform the essay, not the key stat.
- 01PrimaryWorld Nuclear Association2026-01-20World Uranium Mining Production
2024: world 60,213 tU; Kazakhstan 23,270 (39%); Canada 14,309 (24%); Namibia 7,333 (12%). ISL 52% of mine supply. Mines covered 90% of demand.
- 02PrimaryWorld Nuclear Association2026Uranium and Nuclear Power in Kazakhstan
Kazatomprom 2025 production 25,839 tU (~40% of world). 2026 guidance 27,000–29,000 tU.
- 03PrimaryWorld Nuclear Association2026-01World Nuclear Outlook Report
438 operable reactors, 397 GWe as of 1 Oct 2025. Government-target path 1,446 GWe by 2050.
Keep reading
The nuclear return
438 reactors, 397 GWe, a record year of generation — and a political target to triple capacity by 2050. AI offtake is the new customer.
397 GWe
Operable nuclear capacity, Oct 2025
China still refines the transition
The IEA’s last minerals outlook was unambiguous: concentration at the refinery rose, not fell. China is the dominant processor of 19 of 20 strategic minerals.
70%
China’s average share of refined supply, 20 minerals
The power behind intelligence
Data centres used 485 TWh in 2025. The IEA’s base case still nearly doubles that by 2030 — and AI sites are growing three times as fast as the rest.
485 TWh
Data-centre electricity, 2025
The copper bind
Electrification, grids and data centres all drink copper. The IEA’s 2025 outlook still sees a 30% mined-supply gap by 2035.
30%
Implied copper supply shortfall by 2035
Ten million tonnes of scrap is the other mine
World refined copper in 2024 was 27.5 million tonnes: 22.8 from the ground, 4.7 from scrap. S&P 2026 has secondary more than doubling toward 10 million by 2040. The 53-million-tonne poster never drew this line.
10
Mt secondary refined, S&P 2026, 2040 path