Key facts
- World Nuclear Association data put 2024 mine output at about 60,200 tU; Kazakhstan 39%, Canada 24%, Namibia 12%.
- In 2024 in-situ leach supplied about 55% of production, conventional underground and open-pit mines about 40%, and by-product recovery about 5%.
- The ten largest mines supplied about 62% of 2024 production.
- Canadian output comes from high-grade unconformity-related deposits in the Athabasca Basin; Kazakh output comes from sandstone-hosted ISL operations.
How to read a uranium mine map
A uranium map is easiest to read as three overlapping layers: where the geology allows uranium to concentrate, where a mine or mill has actually operated, and who controls it. The diagram above is a schematic of the main regions, not survey data. Real maps add licence boundaries, mill locations, and legacy sites, which often outnumber active mines by a wide margin.
Three cautions apply to any map. Symbols for a mine do not say whether it is operating, on care and maintenance, in remediation or only proposed; the same dot can mean very different things. Production is normally reported in tonnes of uranium (tU) or in tonnes or pounds of U3O8, and the two differ by a factor of about 1.18. And a country can appear on a map because of historic mining that ended decades ago, so output tables are a better guide to present activity than the number of pins.
Why uranium clusters in a few districts
Uranium is widespread in the crust at low concentration; economic deposits form where geological processes concentrate it. The classification used in international resource reporting (see how resources and reserves are defined) groups deposits by host rock and formation process. The types that matter most for current production are these.
- Unconformity-related: very high-grade ore near the contact between old basement rocks and overlying sandstone. The Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan is the leading example.
- Sandstone-hosted: uranium deposited from groundwater in permeable sandstone. These are the deposits mined by in-situ leach (see ISL explained) in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and parts of the United States and Australia.
- Intrusive and granite-related: low-grade ore in granitic rock, mined in open pits in Namibia (Rössing, Husab).
- Iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG): the polymetallic Olympic Dam deposit in South Australia, where uranium is one of several products.
- Other types: calcrete (Langer Heinrich in Namibia), metasomatite (Ukraine), and by-product uranium from gold, phosphate or nickel operations.
Regional snapshot, 2024
The World Nuclear Association compiles national mine output each year. The table gives its 2024 figures; entries marked as estimates are not reported directly by operators.
| Country | 2024 output (tU) | Main setting |
|---|---|---|
| Kazakhstan | 23,270 | Sandstone-hosted ISL |
| Canada | 14,309 | Athabasca Basin underground mines |
| Namibia | 7,333 | Open pits in the Erongo region |
| Australia | 4,598 | Olympic Dam and ISL mines |
| Uzbekistan (estimate) | 4,000 | ISL in the Kyzylkum region |
| Russia | 2,738 | Underground, in south-eastern Siberia |
| China (estimate) | 1,600 | Mixed |
| Niger | 962 | Arlit area, northern Niger |
Smaller contributions came from India, the United States, Ukraine and South Africa, while a few other countries produced only minor tonnages. World output in 2024 was about 60,200 tU.
Mining method changes what a district looks like
The same tonnage of uranium can leave very different footprints. In 2024 the World Nuclear Association attributed about 55% of production to in-situ leach, about 40% to conventional underground and open-pit mines, and about 5% to by-product recovery. ISL districts show wellfields, pipelines and a central plant; open-pit districts show pits, waste-rock dumps and tailings facilities; underground districts in the Athabasca Basin sit in remote forest and lake country and ship ore or slurry to mills that may be far from the shaft.
Among the ten largest mines of 2024 were two Canadian underground mines (McArthur River/Key Lake and Cigar Lake), one Namibian open pit (Husab), five Kazakh ISL operations and Olympic Dam. This concentration is why a short list of districts explains most of the world's supply, and why disruptions at a single site, such as the 2018 suspension at McArthur River, can visibly move the national statistics.
Athabasca Basin and the high-grade belt
The Athabasca Basin in northern Saskatchewan hosts the highest-grade uranium deposits mined anywhere. McArthur River/Key Lake and Cigar Lake were the two largest mines in the world in 2024, at about 7,800 and 6,500 tU respectively. Grades of several percent U3O8 mean that ore is mined with specialised methods such as jet boring and handled with remote equipment. Details are on the page about uranium mines and mills in Canada.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the ISL belt
Kazakhstan's output comes almost entirely from in-situ leach wells in sandstone aquifers, operated by the state company Kazatomprom and joint ventures with foreign partners. Uzbekistan has a similar geological setting. Because ISL involves no open pit or tailings dam, a map of these districts shows well-fields and processing plants rather than mine pits. The method and its groundwater issues are covered in the ISL page; developments elsewhere in the region are on new projects in Asia.
Namibia, Niger and Australia
Namibia's output comes from open-pit mines in the coastal desert of the Erongo region, notably Husab (about 4,400 tU in 2024) and Rössing (about 2,200 tU); see the Rössing profile. Niger's production declined with the 2021 closure of the Cominak mine, and its status has been affected by changes in ownership and control (see Africa projects). In Australia, Olympic Dam in South Australia produced about 2,700 tU in 2024 as a by-product of copper mining (Olympic Dam profile), alongside ISL mines.
Legacy districts and the limits of a production map
A production map hides history. The United States, Czechia, Germany, Canada's Elliot Lake and Port Radium areas, and many other districts were major producers in the twentieth century and now contain remediated or unremediated mine and mill sites. Europe is dominated by closed mines and has little active production (see Europe), and US output in 2024 was only about 260 tU (United States). For policy and environmental questions, a map of legacy sites is as informative as one of current mines.
A map that keeps changing
Projects move on and off the map. Mines are suspended when prices fall and restarted when they recover; ownership and state control change; and some governments restrict or reopen mining. Examples documented in more detail elsewhere on this site include Namibia's new projects and Niger's changes of control (Africa), the repeal of Sweden's uranium mining ban and the restart of by-product recovery in Finland (Europe), and the rise in US output from a very low 2023 level (United States). Each of these facts carries a date, and any map older than a year or two should be treated as historical.
Frequently asked questions
Which countries produce the most uranium?
According to World Nuclear Association data for 2024, Kazakhstan produced about 39% of world mine output, Canada about 24% and Namibia about 12%. Together they supplied roughly three-quarters of the total.
What is the most common uranium mining method today?
In-situ leach, which accounted for about 55% of world production in 2024 according to the World Nuclear Association. Conventional underground and open-pit mining supplied about 40%, and by-product recovery about 5%.
Why is Athabasca Basin ore so much richer than ore elsewhere?
Unconformity-related deposits concentrated uranium into small, very high-grade bodies, with grades of several percent U3O8. Open-pit granite-hosted deposits in Namibia, by contrast, are commonly in the range of a few hundredths of a percent.
Does a mine symbol on a map mean the mine is operating?
No. Symbols can mark operating mines, mines on care and maintenance, closed sites or proposals. Check the date and source of the map, and compare with production tables.
Are the diagrams on this site real map data?
No. The regional figure is a simplified schematic showing relative locations of main producing regions and is not drawn from survey data.
Sources and further reading
- World Nuclear Association — World Uranium Mining Production (2025)
- World Nuclear Association — Uranium in Canada (2026)
- World Nuclear Association — Uranium and Nuclear Power in Kazakhstan (2025)
- World Nuclear Association — Namibia country profile (uranium) (2026)
- World Nuclear Association — Niger country profile (uranium) (2026)
- World Nuclear Association — Australia country profile (uranium) (2023)
- OECD Nuclear Energy Agency / IAEA — Uranium Resources, Production and Demand (Red Book) (2024)
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