Canada and India sign historic uranium supply deal

Canada and India sign historic uranium supply deal


Narendra Modi and Canadian PM Stephen Harper at the 2014 G-20 summit. (Image from WikiMedia Commons)

Canada and India have inked a $350 million uranium supply deal that will see Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corp. (TSE:CCO) (NYSE:CCJ), the world’s largest publicly traded uranium miner, provide fuel for Indian reactors.

The deal formally ends a long-dragged dispute that began after New Delhi used Canadian technology to develop a nuclear bomb in the 1970s.

As part of the agreement, Cameco will supply 7.1 million pounds (3.22 million kilos) of uranium concentrate to India over the next five years. The deal is the Canadian miner’s first with India, which the firm called the second fastest growing market for nuclear fuel.

Cameco’s shares soared on the news. The stock was trading 6.5% higher in Toronto Cdn$20.24 at 2:00 pm ET and was up more than 7.5% in New York to US$16.36 at the time.

“I am conscious of the significance of this visit in the history of our relations,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, according to CBC. “I have come at a time when the importance of this relationship for our two countries has never been stronger.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who will accompany Modi to Toronto and Vancouver during the Indian leader’s three-day visit, also said the two leaders agreed to push hard for a quick resolution of Canada-India free-trade talks, which have been bogged down since 2010.

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