Laramide's Path to Uranium Production | Marc Henderson
Jimmy Connor Sep 23, 2026 18:51
Summary
The CEO says Church Rock in New Mexico needs one state discharge permit to be shovel-ready at about one million pounds a year.
ISR (in-situ recovery — uranium leached underground and pumped to surface) keeps startup capital near $50 million, per the guest.
The guest cites a new Westmoreland study showing a billion-dollar NPV and a pathway to 100 million pounds of uranium.
The guest expects Queensland's uranium mining ban to lift because it is a policy change, not legislation, with 2013 as precedent.
Uranium term prices have risen five straight years to about $97 per pound, and the guest argues the real contracting cycle has not started.
Jimmy Connor's takeaways
- Top takeaway The host probes the Church Rock permitting sequence — the state discharge permit plus the NRC renewal — and the path to a production decision.
- He presses the CEO to characterize the confidential strategic investor behind the $5 million placement and later flags the sudden uranium price move and possible contract announcements after the WNA.
Marc Henderson's takeaways
- Top takeaway His thesis: Laramide's two large assets need permission, not technical work — so value unlocks administratively, and Church Rock could produce by 2028 if the permitting plan holds.
- He expects Queensland's ban to lift because it is regulatory policy rather than legislation, with 2012–13 as precedent, and calls that the catalyst that would unlock Westmoreland.
- He sees uranium term prices up five straight years to about $97 per pound with the real contracting cycle not yet underway, and expects a spot move to bring generalist investors back.
- He argues greenfield exploration has been starved industry-wide, leaving today's pipeline reliant on past-cycle assets — the reason Laramide drills Westmoreland satellites toward 100 million pounds.
- He notes only about 20 years of supply visibility against decades of fuel demand from new reactors in the UK and Poland.