OVERVIEW OF THE URANIUM INDUSTRY

The only significant commercial use for uranium is as fuel for nuclear power plants for the generation of electricity. During 2000, 435 nuclear power plants were operating in the world and consumed an estimated 166 million pounds of uranium. World wide production of uranium was only about 91 million pounds. In the United States there are 103 nuclear power plants that consume about 50 million pounds of uranium per year and produce about 22% of the electricity used.

Based on reports by the Ux Consulting Company, LLC ("Ux") and the Uranium Institute ("UI"), since the early 1990s, worldwide uranium production has satisfied only...