Dependence on foreign energy and worries about climate change have ignited debate about overturning Sweden’s nearly 29-year moratorium on building nuclear power plants.
Swedes decided in a 1980 referendum to phase out nuclear power. Now Sweden’s centre-right government has voted to end the moratorium on building new nuclear power plants. Parliament has yet to approve the decision, but a vote is expected in March.
If acceptance of nuclear energy gains a bigger foothold in Sweden, it could be a boon to two Canadian uranium companies that have been active there for many years, Mawson Resources (MAW-T, MWSNF-o) and Continental Precious Minerals (CZQ-T, CTPMF-o).
While Sweden’s nuclear reactors currently provide roughly half of the country’s electricity, there has been no uranium mining since the 1960s, Mawson Resources president and chief executive Michael Hudson explained in a telephone interview.
Uranium mining is permitted under Swedish law, but the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979 coupled with the 1980 referendum frightened many companies away from developing uranium projects in the Scandinavian country.
“People were wondering what the hell we were doing because no one had been looking at uranium there for twenty years,” Hudson said, recalling Mawson’s early years in Sweden. “We were the first back then along with Continental Precious Minerals.”
Today Continental Precious Minerals has 69 mineral exploration licences across the country. Thirteen licences are for conventional hard rock uranium deposits and prospects and 55 cover multi-mineral sediment deposits and prospects hosted in alum shale (uranium in oil shale) formations.
Ed Godin, the company’s president and chief executive, said it was very welcome news that the ban might be overturned. “It’s great news – it would help from a public relations standpoint to make uranium exploration much more acceptable,” he said.
The company is currently focused on advancing its Viken licence in central Sweden, near the town of Östergötland, about 500 km south of the Arctic Circle.
The Viken licence has an indicated resource of 23.6 million tonnes grading 0.019% U3O8 for a total of 9.94 million lbs uranium oxide. The inferred resource totals 2.8 billion tonnes grading 0.017% U3O8 for a total of 1.03 billion lbs. uranium oxide. Continental plans to complete a preliminary economic assessment of Viken in the second half of 2009.
The Viken licence is a large multi-mineral deposit containing uranium, nickel, molybdenum and vanadium. The 1,000-metre wide mineralized zone, with minimal overburden, makes it suitable for an open-pit mine, Continental believes. The entire licence area covers 677 hectares.
Mawson, meanwhile, continues to explore its Hotagen project, which includes the Klappibacken project that has a National Instrument 43-101 compliant indicated resource of 3.3 million lbs. uranium oxide at a grade of 0.08% U3O8.
Hudson declines to speculate on whether the Swedish parliament will agree to overturn the ban on nuclear power plants. But he does say pragmatism is a national trait.
“I can’t comment on the politics of Sweden but they are very pragmatic people. It’s a culture that when things are said they are said with seriousness.”
He also notes that there has been a shift in attitudes toward nuclear energy starting from about 2004. As proof he points to the government’s decision in 2005 to overturn a ban on nuclear research and escalating concern about climate change and energy security, given Russia’s penchant for cutting off energy supplies through the Ukraine.
At press-time Mawson was trading at about 50¢ per share. The Vancouver-based company has a 52-week trading range of 13¢-$1.40 per share and has 36.5 million shares outstanding.
Continental Precious Minerals was trading at 49.5¢ per share. The Toronto-based company has a 52-week trading range of 22.5¢-$1.42 per share and 47.7 million shares outstanding.
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