This map layer shows the mining of uranium in 2016, grouped into five categories.
Minerals containing uranium are extracted from mines and traded as uranium ore or concentrate, also known as 'yellow cake'.
Plutonium and uranium are the only naturally occurring chemical elements with fissile isotopes that trigger a nuclear fission chain reaction. Natural uranium is a mixture of isotopes 235 and 238. The isotope 235 can readily be split, yielding a considerable amount of energy and for this reason is used as fuel element for nuclear reactors and uranium bombs. Uranium-235 accounts for about 0.7 per cent of natural uranium. Due to the increasing prices of uranium in the past years, uranium ore exploration has risen, and new mines have opened. With rising prices, exploring deposits with lesser uranium content also becomes profitable.
