The story of the great mining project that wasn’t so

Australian Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) sees its ambitions of becoming a major uranium mining house a step closer. After three years of stand-by due to a moratorium on uranium mining on indigenous lands in Labrador, Canada, the Perth-based miner is able to start operations in the area in 2012.

Resource Capital Research detects some good news in the uranium sector, namely acquisition plays for Hathor Exploration and Extract Resources, but sector performance will remain poor for the first quarter of 2012.

Australia's Extract Resources Ltd., owner of the world’s fourth-largest uranium deposit, advised shareholders to take no action regarding the $2.2 billion takeover bid from Chinese nuclear fuels supplier Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC).

Kalahari Minerals (LON:KAH), whose main asset is the Husab uranium project in Namibia, has accepted a cash offer from Chinese Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC) valuing the London-listed company at $993 million.

Australia-based Greenland Minerals and Energy Ltd (GME) stocks went up 10 per cent on the ASX from 58 cents to 64 cents on Monday, after the company announced it could start producing uranium on its Kvanefjeld property in Greenland.

U3O8 Corp. (TSX VENTURE:UWE), a Canadian-based company focused on exploration and resource expansion of uranium and green commodities in South America, has signed a letter of intent with U3O8 Limited ("UTO"), an Australian uranium exploration company, to form a joint venture to explore U3O8 Corp's Sierra Cuadrada Project in Chubut Province, Argentina

Rio Tinto's chief executive Tom Albanese said on Saturday that he would lobby Canada to ensure it was the operator of the Roughrider uranium project in Saskatchewan, despite legal hurdles, after its successful takeover of Hathor. At the start of December, Rio emerged the winner after beating out world number one uranium miner, Canada's Cameco, with a $643 million bid for the explorer.

Canada is reviewing a policy that restricts foreign ownership of uranium mines, but there has been no decision on revising those rules at this time, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Friday.

Kalahari Minerals (LON:KAH) and Extract Resources (ASX:EXT) were both up slightly today after the companies announced they have received a mining licence for their Husab uranium project in Namibia. London-listed Kalahari has a 42.7% stake in Extract. Kalahari said in a press release that the mine lease, valid for 25 years, will allow the project to move into production and establish Husab as one of the three largest uranium mines in the world. The company states the mine would produce 15 million pounds of U3O8 per year through open-pit mining. The deposit has a resource estimate of 500 million pounds U3O8.