Rising demand for nuclear energy is sustaining interest in uranium projects around the world. Here’s a list of four companies to watch.
IsoEnergy
IsoEnergy (TSX: ISO) is focused on the Athabasca Basin and its Larocque East project, which hosts the highest-grade published indicated uranium resource in the world.
Larocque’s Hurricane deposit hosts 63.8 million indicated tonnes grading 34.5% uranium oxide (U3O8) for 48.6 million lb. U3O8 and 54.3 million inferred tonnes lb. at 2.2% U3O8 for 2.7 million pounds. Hurricane measures 375 metres long, 125 metres wide and up to 12 metres thick.
The deposit is also relatively shallow at about 325 metres depth, and is located on the Larocque Trend, a regional structure hosting other high-grade occurrences including those on Cameco and Orano’s Dawn Lake joint venture. The project is situated just 35 km northwest of Orano Canada’s McClean Lake uranium mine and mill.
In April, the company reported results from its 2026 winter drill campaign. The 6,804-metre, 17-hole drill program was targeting the South Trend of the deposit for resource expansion and testing greenfield targets up to 3 km east along the Larocque Trend.
Hole LE26-248, which was drilled within the low-grade resource envelope, intersected strongly elevated radioactivity, returning an average RS-125 spectrometer reading on drill core of 1 metre at 30,050 cps within a broader zone of 3.5 metres at 11,275 cps. The samples have been submitted to the Saskatchewan Research Council Geoanalytical Laboratory and assays are pending.
IsoEnergy holds numerous other exploration projects in the Athabasca as well as three joint ventures with Purepoint Uranium (TSXV: PTU; US-OTC: PTUUF): Dorado, Aurora and Celeste Block. Drilling last year at the 5,388-sq.-km Dorado project delivered the Nova discovery, with drillhole PG25-07A returning 4.9 metres of 0.52% U3O8 from 391.8 metres depth.
IsoEnergy also has two projects in Quebec (Matoush and Dieter Lake) and permitted past-producing uranium and vanadium mines in Utah with a toll milling arrangement in place with Energy Fuels (TSX: EFR; NYSE-AM: UUUU). The mines, currently on standby, are ready to be restarted when market conditions permit.
In January, NexGen Energy invested $25 million through a private placement to maintain its 30% stake in the junior.
IsoEnergy has a market cap of about $895 million.
Purepoint Uranium Group
Purepoint Uranium (TSXV: PTU; US-OTC: PTUUF) is backed by industry leaders including Cameco, Orano and IsoEnergy in six separate joint-venture projects in the Athabasca Basin.
The junior also has six of its own projects, one of which, Denares West, is optioned to Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD, NYSE: EGO), which acquired Foran Mining in April.
Drillers on Purepoint Uranium’s property in northern Saskatchewan. Credit: Purepoint Uranium
At its Dorado 50:50 joint-venture with IsoEnergy, the companies have approved a 7,450-metre drill program with 17 holes. The winter campaign focused on exploring the 2025 Nova discovery with 10 drillholes (4,300 metres) and the summer program will test priority targets with seven holes (3,150 metres) starting in July.
Exploration programs at Purepoint’s two other 50:50 joint-ventures with IsoEnergy, the 65-sq.-km Celeste Block and the 531-sq.-km Aurora projects, have been delayed due to wildfires.
At its joint-venture Hook Lake project, in which Purepoint owns 21% and Cameco and Orano each hold 39.5%, the partners are considering a 4,850-metre drill program as well as some geophysics. Purepoint is the operator and earns a 10% management fee.
Purepoint is also working with Cameco in a 27:73 joint-venture at Smart Lake, 18 km northwest of the Hook Lake joint-venture and about 60 km south-southwest of Orano’s former Cluff Lake mine.
Last year, the partners drilled 1,264 metres in three holes, and are considering a follow-up drill program at the 99-sq.-km project. Early drilling in 2023 and 2024 intersected basement-hosted uranium mineralization associated with a hydrothermally altered, graphitic shear zone that included 15.4 metres of 147 ppm uranium 200 metres from surface.
At Purepoint’s Denare West project, Eldorado has the option of fully acquiring it by spending a total of $19 million. The partners are modelling the results of an airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey along with historical data to prioritize drill targets.
The company is also considering an airborne magnetic survey, soil geochemistry and ground geophysics this year at its Russell South project. The project adjoins Cameco’s Key Lake project. Skyharbour Resources’ Moore Lake project and Rio Tinto’s Russell Lake project lie to the west and south, respectively.
Purepoint Uranium has a market cap of about $32 million.
Skyharbour Resources
In January, Skyharbour Resources (TSXV: SYH; US-OTC: SYHBF) staked 40 new exploration claims in the Athabasca Basin, boosting its total land package to 6,629-sq.-km across 43 projects.
The staking rush followed the formation late last year of four joint ventures with Denison Mines at its Russell Lake uranium project. Denison plans to invest up to $61.5 million in cash and exploration spending for stakes ranging from 20% to 70%.
The JVs cover the core Russell Lake (RL) claims along with Wheeler North, Getty East and the Wheeler River inliers. The properties share a 55-km contiguous border with Denison’s Wheeler River project.
Denison has committed at least $4 million for exploration in the first two years at Wheeler North and Getty East. This year, Denison is planning a 7,500-metre drill program at the 164-sq.-km Wheeler North JV (initially 51% Skyharbour/49% Denison and Denison can earn up to 70%) and 3,600 metres at the 31-sq.-km Getty East JV (initially 70% Skyharbour/30% Denison and Denison can earn up to 70%).
The claims at Getty East border Cameco’s Cree Zimmer property, which holds its Key Lake operations to the south. At the 532-sq.-km Russell Lake (RL) JV (80% Skyharbour/20% Dension), Skyharbour plans EM surveys followed by 4,000-5,000 metres of drilling to advance priority targets.
At Skyharbour’s Moore Lake project, 15 km east of Denison’s Wheeler River project, the company will drill 8,000 to 10,000 metres this year. Moore is located 39 km south of Cameco’s McArthur River mine and 42 km northeast of the Key Lake mill.
Highlights from Moore Lakes’ Maverick Main Zone last year included 4.4 metres at 4.84% U3O8 at a depth of 264 metres, including 1.6 metres grading 11.77% U3O8 in drillhole ML25-15.
Skyharbour has also identified a new target called the Nomad Zone about 1.7 km to the southwest of Maverick Main, where it intersected sandstone and basement faulting accompanied by intense hydrothermal alteration.
In addition, Skyharbour has a 25:75 joint-venture with Orano at the 496-sq.-km Preston uranium project. Preston is one of the largest land packages in the Patterson Lake area and is near Paladin Energy’s (TSX: PDN) Triple R deposit and NexGen Energy’s Arrow deposit. This year the JV will drill 3,500 metres focused on two targets, FSAN and Canoe Lake.
Finally, Skyharbour has active earn-in option partners, including Nexus Uranium (CSE: NEXU) at Skyharbour’s Mann Lake uranium project; North Shore Uranium (CSE: NSU) at its Falcon project and UraEx Resources at the South Dufferin and Bolt projects; Mustang Energy (CSE: MEC) at the 914W project; and Terra Clean Energy (CSE: TCEC) at the South Falcon East project.
Skyharbour Resources has a market cap of $103 million.
Standard Uranium
Standard Uranium (TSXV: STND; US-OTC: STTDF) is exploring its main Davidson project in the Athabasca Basin, about 30 km west of NexGen’s Arrow deposit and Paladin Energy’s Triple R deposit and 75 km south of Orano Canada’s past-producing Cluff Lake uranium mine.
The property hosts more than 70 km of conductive trends across four main structural corridors – Warrior, Bronco, Thunderbird and Saint. All four of the geophysical corridors contain target areas favourable for basement-hosted uranium mineralization.
The company has secured drill permits and signed exploration agreements with the Clearwater River Dene Nation. It plans to test new targets this year with an 8,000-metre drill program.
At its Corvo project, which lies beyond the eastern margin of the Athabasca Basin, the company is planning to drill 3,000 metres this year – the first drill program at the project in 40 years. Aventis Energy (CSE: AVE) is earning up to a 75% stake in the project under an option agreement signed last year.
The company also plans to complete the first-ever drill program at its Rocas project, 72 km south of the present-day margin of the Athabasca Basin. The 1,800-metre program will test high-priority zones along the main 7.5-km magnetic low/EM conductive corridor, which hosts several uranium showings.
The project covers 7.5 km of a northeast-trending magnetic low/EM conductive corridor that hosts several uranium anomalies, including historical mineralized outcrop grab samples along a 900-metre strike length, grading up to 0.5% U3O8.
In September, Standard signed an option agreement with Collective Metals (CSE: COMT) to earn up to three-quarters of the project.
Standard Uranium also is exploring its 196-sq.-km Sun Dog project, along the northwestern edge of the Athabasca Basin, and its 73-sq.-km Canary project in the eastern Athabasca.
Sun Dog contains the historical Gunnar uranium mine, which operated between 1953 and 1982. The company is undertaking 3-D modelling and inversions of EM and gravity data and integrating geophysics with sampling and drilling to help refine drill targets. It has completed three reconnaissance drill programs (4,062 metres) at Sun Dog, highlighted by the first drill hole at the Haven discovery, which intersected 1.5 metres of elevated radioactivity up to 1,300 cps.
Standard Uranium has a market cap of about $16 million.
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