We want to take a moment to thank everyone who has read our work and subscribed. The initial response has been tremendous. When we launched, we really did not know how readers would receive it, but are grateful for the positive feedback and comments so far. At the end of the day, this motivates us to press forward and continue publishing high quality content. We feel we have not even begun to scratch the surface and look forward to publishing significantly deeper research, analysis and commentary on uranium and the nuclear fuel cycle.
Today, we are going to disclose our ‘Equity Coverage List’ so readers are aware of the specific companies we will follow and what we plan on doing at Golden Rock Research as we move forward.
The companies on our coverage list have been chosen based on the following criteria:
They directly impact current and potential future supply (and possibly demand) across U3O8 mining, conversion and enrichment
We know these companies extremely well and feel we have a material edge over the average market participant due to our history with researching their asset(s) and having a multiyear track record with management
Can offer unique research, analysis and commentary that other market participants cannot
These companies fall into the following four categories:
Mining
Development
Physical/Royalty
Fuel Cycle and Non-Public
The purpose of our coverage list is so our subscribers are aware of the universe we closely monitor. Every company we follow impacts the fuel cycle directly, whether it is the mining of uranium, a development project that intends to become a mine, a physical sequester that has the ability to obtain uranium, or a non-public entity that impacts the fuel cycle in some way. As a result, these are the key stakeholders that we will follow and can make additions or deletions in the future if warranted.
We will review quarterly updates, any news noteworthy news and adjust our supply-demand model based on information that comes from the coverage list. Additionally, we will build out full write-ups on them.
Mining
Cameco Corporation (CCJ)
Kazatomprom (KAP)
CGN Mining (CGN)
Paladin Energy (PDN)
Boss Resources (BOE)
Lotus Resources (LOT)
Energy Fuels (UUUU)
Encore Energy (EU)
Ur-Energy (URG)
Peninsula (PEN)
BHP (BHP)
Development
Nexgen Energy (NXE)
Denison Mines (DNN)
Global Atomic (GLO)
Uranium Energy Corporation (UEC)
Deep Yellow (DYL)
Bannerman Energy (BMN)
IsoEnergy (ISO)
Aura Energy (AEE)
Goviex Uranium (GXU)
Physical Uranium Sequesters/Royalty
Sprott Uranium Trust (SPUT)
Yellow Cake PLC (YCA)
Uranium Royalty Corporation (URC)
Ecora Resources (ECOR)
Fuel Cycle/Non-Public
Orano
China National Nuclear Corporation
Rosatom
Converdyn
Urenco
Heathgate Resources
General Atomics
The Road Ahead at Golden Rock Research
We want to share more about what we plan to do as we move forward. Anyone who has spent time in and around this industry knows that you can spend as little or as much time as you want with it. Generally, the deeper you get, the more questions one will have. Speaking from experience, there is immense depth and nuance considering how small the industry actually is. As you can see from our coverage, it is a short list for an industry that produces ~11% of global electricity.
The target audience for our research are investors who believe that it remains a worthwhile endeavor to understand the supply/demand dynamics, recognize the role that conversion and enrichment play into uranium procurement from utilities and attempt to value individual companies before making an investment decision. The singular focus and goal at Golden Rock is to simply publish the most unbiased research possible so subscribers can make the most informed decisions for their uranium portfolio.
As a result, the foundation to understand the industry begins by constructing a robust supply/demand model with a realistic lens on the growth of demand and even more importantly, a realistic lens on supply. Make no mistake, the uranium investment thesis remains firmly on the supply-side and the interaction between utilities, miners and developers (along with converters and enrichers) will chart the course for prices over the next 5-10+ years. We believe that uranium prices are path-dependent meaning that how miners and developers market their U3O8, the types of contracts they select and how aggressive they plan to bring material to the market will determine the length and strength this bull market will ultimately run.
While building an accurate picture of current and future demand is crucial to investors, we seek to understand the current and future supply stack with an order of magnitude more focus. While there are some variables (eg, enrichment tails assays), reactor consumption is relatively well known today, tomorrow, next year and even five years down the road.
Our maniacal focus on supply is three-fold. First, it gives us the ability to build the most accurate supply model we can and a chance to identify current producers with upside as their cashflows should continue to grow. Secondly, we can identify developers who should turn into cash flowing entities and lastly, we hope our realistic lens and history in the industry lets us identify companies that are over-promising and likely to under-deliver. As we’ve seen in the past couple of years with the first re-start of brownfield mines, it is very important that investors have a comprehensive view on the following:
The asset(s)
The costs (corporate, capital and operating expenditures)
The marketing strategy (one of the most under-discussed aspects of uranium mining and where the actual value is unlocked)
The management team
Even overlooking one of these four pillars can have costly consequences.
Soon, we will share more information as we switch from free to paid research. We plan on distributing our research in the following manner:
‘GRR Weekly Roundup’ will be released every Sunday and will always remain free for anyone to read. Rather than regurgitate quarterly earnings/updates, our goal is to communicate how we think about the topic by incorporating our years of experience in the industry to connect dots, highlight relevant concepts that might not be self-evident and/or provide commentary that we think is not obvious to the average reader. If you missed our May 18th Weekly Roundup, you can read it here.
‘Intraweek Commentary/Analysis’ will be market dependent for paid subscribers. As readers are well aware, some events or news require immediate attention and will be shared with subscribers as soon as possible. These events range from capital raises, Sprott Uranium Trust Raises $25.55M at NAV or Concerns in Kazakhstan. There will be no set frequency or timing as nobody knows when the next relevant topic will come to the market. But, we know there will be many and it will be our job to break down how we see it and share it with subscribers as soon as we can.
‘Deep Dives’ will be released at least twice a month on Friday’s for paid subscribers. Our goal, especially as we get going, is to hammer away on fundamental research pieces that cover supply, demand, the fuel cycle or company-specific research 2-3 times per month. We want to release as much deep and meaningful content as we can, but with the right frequency. As we move to paid content, we will focus extensively on supply and demand to start as this is the entire basis of our work and helps form the basis of our views. Every other piece of information in the sector ultimately plugs into our supply/demand model in some way, shape or form.
‘Substack Chats’ will be started in conjunction with any ‘Intraweek Commentary/ Analysis’ and ‘Deep Dive’ releases so paid subscribers can have a specific place to share feedback, ask questions and engage in a deeper and more nuanced conversation. The goal is to ultimately add depth to these topics so subscribers get more holistic view on the topic at hand.
‘Multimedia Content’ like videos and short podcasts (actually relevant content - not 60 minutes of talking that nobody has time for) which we think we help add nuance over just a written format for paid subscribers.
What is the kind of research subscribers can subscribers expect?
Quarterly updated supply/demand model with ‘Base-Case’ and ‘Alternate-Case.’ The base-case will always be reactor consumption (demand) vs. primary and secondary supplies through 2040. The alternate-case will include additional and highly discretionary views: demand outside of reactor consumption which could come in the following forms:
Physical sequesters
Producer/Developer
Converter
Enricher
Financial Entity
An example was our piece on Kazakhstan Supply which detailed the country’s mining operations, joint ventures and forecasts for supply through 2030. Our full research covers supply and demand analysis through 2040. Further, we will offer different demand/supply-side cases at various price points or show dynamic models where greenfield deposits get online in different years. We want our subscribers to be well versed in the assets that produce uranium and those that can impact supply in the future. As we stated earlier, this is path-dependent trade and we will spend a lot of time putting on our thinking and creative caps showing different scenarios.
Fuel cycle fundamentals around conversion and enrichment. We feel this part of the market is highly underdiscussed but extremely important as the dynamics in this part of the fuel cycle impact the procurement cycle for utilities. Investing in uranium without understanding conversion and enrichment is like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel, sure you might drive down the road for a little while but we’re confident you will crash into a tree sooner rather than later. Recently, we have seen investors debate a narrative that is categorically wrong around tight western conversion capacities leading to a lack of western uranium term contracting. But, when we lay out the western conversion S/D, we see that this is a false narrative and that any small western conversion deficits will be solved through spot conversion pricing. To read this piece, click here: Conversion. We like to use numbers to show our views, not words as we feel too many market participants use words, not numbers.
As we discussed at the start, we have released our ‘Equity Coverage List’ and will be writing these companies up in detail along with relevant views as they happen in the market. We will be releasing our first Deep Dive into a specific company this coming Friday, May 23rd, as we want to showcase how we will approach this style of research, so stay tuned! In the next couple of years, there will be a lot to cover. Whether miners are considering extending Life of Mines, merger & acquisitions, permitting, starting up or proving up additional resources, there will be an immense amount of information to go through, break down and share our view.
The last category of research, while broad, will cover numerous topics that we do not really see discussed elsewhere. We call these, the ‘Intangibles” that include things like:
Inventory Analysis
Spot/Term Contracting Dynamics
Utility Procurement Behavior
Trader Behavior
Producer Marketing Strategies and Views
Agency Risk
Industry Conference Takeaways
The List Goes On…
We also realize that the market will help shape what we publish. There will be no shortage of new narratives as the market evolves and will address these topics as they arise so our subscribers stay on the cutting edge of the uranium market. As always, we want to hear from our readers as the more feedback we get, the better we can serve you.
I think there is a gap in the market for the kind of detailed and nuanced research you have outlined. I look forward to seeing the pricing structure.
Yes! I agree with Oliver!
I'm a Nuclear Engineer reentering the Nuclear sector and I'm loving your posts
Wouldn't mind to subscribe but please have us in mind, the enthusiasts that would love to keep following you but not get priced out!