Uranium reserves are reserves of recoverable uranium, regardless of isotope, based on a set market price. The list given here is based on Uranium 2020: Resources, Production and Demand, a joint report by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Figures are given in metric tonnes. The reserves figures denote identified resources as of 1 January 2015, consisting of reasonably assured resources (RAR) plus inferred resources recoverable at a cost range of below US$260/kg U. The list also includes cumulative historical production figures.
The amount of ultimately recoverable uranium depends strongly on what one would be willing to pay for it. Uranium is a widely distributed metal with large low-grade deposits that are not currently considered profitable. As of 2015, 646,900 tonnes of reserves are recoverable at US$40 per kilogram of uranium, while 7,641,600 tonnes of reserves are recoverable at $260 per kilogram. Moreover, much of Canada, Greenland, Siberia and Antarctica are currently unexplored due to permafrost and may hold substantial undiscovered reserves. Australia is estimated to have the largest reserves, followed by Kazakhstan, Canada and Russia. However, it is worth noting that Australia does not utilise its reserves, though it mines at Olympic dam.
List Country Continent Reserves as of2019 (tonnes) Historical productionto 2014 (tonnes) Africa19,500 0South America39,800 2,582 Australia2,049,400 194,646 Europe0 686 Africa 87,200 0South America276,800 4,172 Europe19,600 16,364North America873,000 483,957 Africa32,000 0 Africa 2,400 0South America 1,400 0 Asia269,700 39,849 Africa2,700 25,600estimate Europe119,200 111,765 Africa 1,900 0 Europe1,200 30 Europe0 76,006 Africa5,800 25,403 Europe7,000 219,686 Europe 20,000 0 () Europe 114,000 0 Europe13,500 21,067 Asia195,900 3000 Asia 8,400 0 Asia7,500 0 Europe6,100 0 Asia6,600 84 Asia52,500 0 Asia969,200 244,707 Africa0 785 Africa14,300 4,217 Africa 8,900 0 Africa 24,500 0North America5,000 49 Asia143,500 535 Africa504,200 120,418 Africa439,400 132,017 Asia0 1,439South America3,600 South America33,400 0 Europe100,000 650 Europe7,000 3,720 Europe6,600 18,899 Asia/Europe661,900 158,844 Africa1,100 Europe15,500 211 Europe9,200 382 Africa 7,600 0 Africa447,700 159,510 Europe28,500 8,028 Europe9,600 200 Africa 58,200 0 Asia/Europe13,600 0 Europe186,900 129,804North America101,900 373,075 Asia132,300 127,591 Asia3,900 0 Africa31,000 86 Africa 1,400 0 Total 8,070,400 2,818,415
Notes: Historical production for the Czech Republic includes 102,241 tonnes of uranium produced in former Czechoslovakia from 1946 through the end of 1992. Historical production for Germany includes 213,380 tonnes produced in the German Democratic Republic from 1946 through the end of 1992. Historical production for the Soviet Union includes the former Soviet Socialist Republics of Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, but excludes Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Historical production for the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan is since 1992 only.
See also Uranium mining List of countries by uranium production Uranium mining by country
References