Cameco is planning to double the production rate of its proposed Yeelirrie uranium project in Western Australia, and has referred its proposal for regulatory approval.

BHP Billiton has flagged a 27% increase in copper production at the Olympic Dam mine in Australia from 2018, and a doubling from that level subsequently by a low-risk underground expansion with significantly lower capital intensity than the previous open cut design.

No uranium processing campaigns are likely to take place in 2015 at the USA's only conventional uranium mill, White Mesa, after the current campaign finishes in March, according to operator Energy Fuels.

Energy Fuels has completed the transfer of the Piñon Ridge project, including the radioactive materials licence for a proposed uranium mill at the Colorado site, to a private investor group.

The Utah Division of Radiation Control has conditionally approved the transfer of the radioactive materials licence for the Shootaring Canyon uranium mill from Uranium One to Anfield Resources, and has given Anfield an extra year to prepare a licence renewal application for the plant.

Mining is expected to begin at Brazil's Engenho uranium deposit next year, according to front-end fuel cycle company Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil. A licence application for the mine is currently before the national regulator.

The first uranium ore from the Cigar Lake mine has been processed at the McClean Lake mill after the mill's facilities were modified to enable it to safely process the high-grade uranium ore. Both facilities are in northern Saskatechewan, Canada.

Uranium projects in Australia and Canada have moved a step nearer to production by submitting environmental impact statements (EIS) for regulatory approval. Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) has lodged a draft EIS for the proposed Ranger 3 Deeps underground mine, while Areva Resources Canada has submitted a final EIS for its Kiggavik project.

A legal ruling upholding a 20-year withdrawal of lands near the Grand Canyon from uranium mining ignores evidence on environmental risks and questions the legitimacy of the environmental impact statement process, according to the USA's National Mining Association.

The Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union has completed a scheduled upgrade of its sulfuric acid plant, increasing its capacity by 25%.

Public perception of uranium mining is largely based on the poor, unregulated practices of the industry's earliest days. But the industry has learned from its past, and modern practices and regulatory regimes have transformed uranium mining into one of the most highly regulated and safest forms of mining in the world today, writes Robert Vance.

Front-end fuel cycle companies are ready, willing and able to provide the services needed to ensure a secure supply of nuclear fuel for a growing nuclear generation sector, and are looking to a future with innovative safety-assured fuel designs.