Mining energy snapshot: Eight juniors active in world’s uranium hotspots

Despite the collapse in platinum prices last year, chief executive Neal Froneman is confident that the sector has turned a corner.

Factory conditions in China unexpectedly worsen for the 14th straight month raising fears that the rally on commodity markets in 2016 was losing steam.

Weak prices and demand have forced the Canadian company to lower its output forecast for the year.

Few trust official Chinese growth numbers, but new research shows activity across a wide section of the economy accelerated sharply in the first quarter.

In a further indication of the uranium slump, Cameco (NYSE:CCJ, TSX:CCO) is suspending production at its Rabbit Lake operation in northern Saskatchewan and curtailing production at its US operations.

"It is not clear at this time that the current prices are either sustainable or sufficient".

It was just over a year ago that Tony Simon, President of Seguro Consulting, brought to our attention the initial problem of the zombie miners (definition referred to mining exploration companies that had negative working capital and therefore did not meet the Continuous Listing Requirements (CLR) for the TSX and TSX-V stock exchanges).

Confidence returns to mining sector as announced capital outlays surge to $108 billion – greenfield project spending up three-fold in first quarter.

Uranium price falls to lowest since May 2005 as bearishness overwhelms the sector.