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'Where's the Fuel Coming From?' - The Race to Secure URANIUM as Big Tech ALL IN

Commodity Culture Jun 18, 2026

Summary

US nuclear fuel is roughly 95% import-dependent while defense law requires domestic uranium, making US extraction a national security priority.

Big tech power deals like the Three Mile Island restart serve data centers but ignore upstream mining, the next likely investment focus.

New Mexico holds about one billion pounds of known and historic uranium resources, which the guest argues makes it essential to any nuclear renaissance.

Verdera's West Largo 43-101, due by year-end, may lift resources through lower cut-off grades and drilling beyond historic confined boundaries.

Verdera claims about 88 million pounds of historic resources plus roughly 90% of New Mexico's private uranium data at a $50 million market cap.

Janet Lee-Sheriff's takeaways

  • Top takeaway She argues the market is fixated on conversion, enrichment, SMRs and AI but has not yet focused on where the uranium fuel will come from, and expects that attention — and uranium demand — to build over the next 10 years.
  • She points out the US is roughly 95% dependent on foreign uranium against about 50 million pounds of annual demand it meets only around 10% of, while military uses like nuclear submarine refurbishment are legislated to require domestic uranium.
  • She contends there is no US nuclear renaissance without New Mexico, citing roughly half a billion pounds of historic resources in the state (with the state saying there is another half billion) that could fuel the nation for 20 years.
  • She says uranium's price has hovered around $85-100 for the past year, making the sector boring to investors, but views it as a steady ramp-up that is not going away.
  • She describes her background of 25 years working with First Nations in northern Canada and frames Verdera as a development-stage team built for community-aligned permitting rather than production.

Jesse Day's takeaways

  • Top takeaway He notes the uranium equity sector has been volatile, with the URA-proxy ETF slightly down year to date as of June 2026 but bouncing back after the US-Iran peace announcement.
  • He frames the gap between speculative enthusiasm (the SpaceX IPO, a company with a $4 billion-plus quarterly net loss) and the neglect of uranium as a big opportunity for investors who see what is coming.