Changes in the Uranium industry

The spot price of uranium was around $70 to $72 a pound before the Fukishima nuclear accident in Japan.This caused the price to dive down to the $45 a pound area.It has been creeping back to the $55 a pound area.Germany has or is closing several nuclear plants also.But new plants are opening in India and China because it is a low cost alternative to produce electricity.
The American scene is slightly different as there is no shortage of electricity but nuclear generation is preferred because it is cleaner and safer.There is only one   nuclear incident in the last ten or so years.Also the price of natural gas and oil is rising.So it is not surprising that a small uranium producer in Wyoming(Ur-Energy) has pulled down a contract for 90,000 pounds at an average price of $62.92 per processed pound.Some of this contract may have gone for $65 per pound.This is a very small portion of the resource in U.S.A  But it is important to note that it is an American producer and an American user.However this may be the start or even the continuation of a trend.As both small and large producers are starting to rise in their share prices.Energy Fuels which has one of two processing plants in U.S.A has seen it's price(after splitting) go from $5.75 per share to$6.20 per share;Denison Mines has seen it's price go from $1.05 per share to around $1.35 per share and lastly Cameco,the biggest Canadian producer, has seen it's price go from $18.00 per share to $22.25.Most of this increase has been in a few months except or since  October.This increase in the price of uranium has resulted in an increase in Cameco's market capitalization of $2 billion in two months.
A lot of the smaller uranium companies were starting to consolidate because there is not enough contracts around .Mega Uranium,in particular, has bought a few small companies and now sees that it 's acreage is worth more now .Also Denison Mines has a huge amount of acreage mainly in the Athabasca basin in Alberta;now it has a more valuable resource to buy other small companies.It just bought a company called Rockgate Capital.Mnay of these deals are all share deals.Look for more consolidation in the uranium industry and one or two producers to rise from junior to mid-tier status if the trend continues in uranium prices.One will likely be Denison Mines with it's huge acreage and one may be Ur-Energy with it's processing plant and excellent acreage near the plant.