Uranium mining

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Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the earth. Almost 50,000 tons of uranium were produced in 2022. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Namibia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account for 69% of world production. Other countries producing more than 1,000 tons per year included Australia, Niger, Russia, Uzbekistan and China. Nearly all of the world's mined uranium is used to power nuclear power plants. Historically uranium was also used in applications such as uranium glass or ferrouranium but those applications have declined due to the radioactivity and toxicity of uranium and are nowadays mostly supplied with a plentiful cheap supply of depleted uranium which is also used in uranium ammunition. In addition to being cheaper, depleted uranium is also less radioactive due to a lower content of short-lived 234U and 235U than natural uranium. Uranium is mined by in-situ leaching (57% of world production) or by conventional underground or open...

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