Uranium mining is a crucial stage in the nuclear energy production chain. During the past years, global demand for uranium increased more strongly than the output of uranium mines. As a result, prices have risen considerably. In turn, this is spurring new investments by mining companies in developing new uranium mines. To finance these investments, mining companies use the funds supplied by their financial stakeholders: shareholders, banks, bondholders.

Financial institutions involved in the financing of uranium mining companies, such as banks and asset managers, therefore play a crucial role in the further growth of the global nuclear energy sector.

For this reasons, World Information Services on Energy (WISE) has commissioned Profundo to research the involvement of international financial institutions in the financing of the uranium mining sector. In consultation, a group of 14 uranium miners was selected, including the world's largest uranium mining companies and smaller players with activities in Kazakhstan. Together, these 14 companies account for more than 90% of the world's uranium production.

This report provides an overview of the financial institutions which were involved since early 2003 in the financing of 14 selected uranium mining companies. For each company, the financial stakeholders aredescribed and analyzed in a separate chapter. Each type of financial service (shareholding, lending,investment banking and other services) provided to the uranium mining company is discussed separately, providing details on the financial institutions' involvement.

The findings of this study are summarized on the first pages of this report.