No single country matters more to the uranium price than Kazakhstan. It produced 23,270 tonnes of uranium in 2024 — 39% of the world total, more than Canada and Namibia combined according to the World Nuclear Association.
How Kazakhstan mines uranium: in-situ recovery
Almost all Kazakh uranium comes from in-situ recovery (ISR), also called in-situ leaching. Instead of digging ore, operators drill wells into permeable sandstone deposits, pump in a weak sulphuric acid solution that dissolves the uranium, and pump the solution back to a processing plant. ISR has low costs and a small surface footprint, but it depends on a steady supply of sulphuric acid and on drilling enough new wellfields to replace depleting ones.
Kazatomprom
Kazatomprom is Kazakhstan’s national atomic company, majority-owned by the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna and listed in London and Astana. It was the world’s largest uranium company in 2024 with 12,463 tU attributable production (21% of the world). Many Kazakh mines are joint ventures with foreign partners, including:
- Cameco — JV Inkai.
- Orano (France) — KATCO.
- Uranium One (Rosatom, Russia) — several JVs including Budenovskoye, Karatau and Akbastau.
- Chinese utilities CGN and CNNC — several JVs whose output is largely destined for China.
The 2026 production cut
In August 2025 Kazatomprom announced that 2026 production would be about 10% below the levels in its subsoil-use agreements — 29,697 tU instead of 32,777 tU on a 100% basis, a cut of roughly 3,080 tU (about 8 million lb U3O8). Most of the reduction comes from the Budenovskoye joint venture. The company said the supply-demand balance and uncovered utility demand did not justify returning to full production. Its 2026 guidance is 27,500–29,000 tU on a 100% basis, subject to sulphuric acid availability.
This is a value-over-volume strategy: by keeping pounds in the ground, Kazatomprom supports term prices instead of chasing market share.
Risks to Kazakh supply
- Sulphuric acid shortages have repeatedly forced production guidance down, prompting new acid plant construction.
- Transport routes — most exports to Western customers transit Russia to St Petersburg; the alternative Trans-Caspian route via Azerbaijan and Georgia is longer.
- Geopolitics — a growing share of output is owned by Russian and Chinese partners, so less is available to Western utilities.
- Taxes — Kazakhstan raised its mineral extraction tax on uranium from 2025, with higher rates linked to production volumes and prices.
- Domestic demand — Kazakhstan plans its own nuclear power plants, which would eventually consume part of its output.
Why it moves the price
Because Kazakhstan supplies roughly two-fifths of the world’s mined uranium, any change in Kazatomprom’s guidance changes global supply by millions of pounds. Its annual guidance updates (usually in August) and quarterly trading updates are among the most-watched events in the uranium calendar. Follow the price reaction on our uranium price chart.
Sources: World Nuclear Association (World Uranium Mining Production, updated Sep 2026); Kazatomprom announcements reported by World Nuclear News (Aug 2025) and Kazatomprom 2026 guidance.
This article is general information, not investment advice. Figures are as of the dates stated and can change.
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