Uranium to 2000, an exploration challenge

World demand for uranium will grow at the unprecedented rate of some 15 to 20 per cent a year over the next ten to fifteen years. To meet this demand, it is estimated that the current level of world reserves of uranium must be increased by some 2.6 million tons of U3O8, over the period from 1975 to 1990. By 1990 annual gross additions to reserves will have had to triple to something in the order of 270,000 tons of U3O8 per year. The total number of deposits and the total tonnage of U3O8 that needs to be discovered and developed, however, will vary widely depending on the order in which deposits of different sizes and grades will come on stream. If uranium is to be discovered and developed for production at a rate sufficient to meet demand, there must be a rapid and accelerating expansion of exploration effort. (author)