My Energy is Ur Energy...
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
...literally, and maybe it should literally be your energy
too. This seems to be one of the few uranium companies who have not seen a
dramatic run-up in its share prices relative to its reserves. Now this does not
mean that the stock has not seen any appreciation, which it has...went from the
low $1's to a recent high of $2.17...but this company is still undervalued. Most
companies trade at price relative to their resource in the ground...Ur Energy
does as well, but what makes this stock stick out is that there are 2 pounds in
the ground for every share! Think about that...that means that this company is
trading at $1 per pound...in our opinion that makes this stock grossly
undervalued considering that the recent spot on uranium (per pound) was $40.25.
This company has its major holding in Wyoming (a state
where the Governor recently declared that, “we are open for business” when asked
the state's stand on uranium companies setting up shop). This is extremely
bullish in that now the state permits will not be “hard” to get due to a
reluctant state government trying to delay a project. Also the residents of this
Western state seem to be overwhelmingly in favor of the jobs that will be
created from new mines. The company has 9 properties in Wyoming with 2 being
major reserve containing properties. These two properties are Lost Soldier and
Lost Creek...both properties contain significant drill holes and the company is
going through and confirming all the information from historical data by
performing their own drill program. It must also be noted that the company
recently purchased the historical logs to one of its properties, although we do
not know from which company they purchased these results from or for which
property. For these two properties, there are two important reasons to be
excited, because although the historical results are not NI 43-101 compliant,
the historical owners are Cameco (which drilled in 1998) at Lost Soldier and
Conoco-Texasgulf (1978) at Lost Creek. Cameco estimated that Lost Soldier had
26.6 million pounds in the ground and Conoco-Texasgulf estimated 12.8 million at
Lost Creek. The gem in all of this could potentially be Radon Springs, another
one of the companies projects. Texasgulf was the historic operator at this site
(drilled in '78 as well) and reported 34.3 million pounds with an average grade
of .02%. So the company will most likely be using in-situ mining (drilling and
pumping out a liquid-like substance) which is cheaper than open pit mining, less
labor intensive, and much more environmentally friendly. This is also the only
economical way in which this company will be able to get the uranium out of the
ground and to market. This is our most recent buy and we are quite confident
that as the year 2008 approaches (the year in which their first mine will open)
the stock will climb in anticipation. This is a company that must be bought and
then held for the long term, because the way we see it is that some very good
gains may be realized before the mines begin to open, however after they start
to monetize their resources the stock will shoot up further (we also anticipate
that the price of uranium will be much higher as demand grows in the years
ahead).
Updating you on our recent picks, Canwest has been setting
new highs...today backing off an all-time closing high at $8. We still fully
anticipate CWPC to hit our price target of $10 before the year is over,
realizing that we may have been too conservative in our analysis we may actually
be surprised should this stock shoot above $10 before the year is over...at
which time we may switch our consensus (depending on the news) to a higher
price. However, at this time we believe that the company has entered a window
where the price will stagnate as a result of consolidation in its stock price.
All indicators are positive with increased volume as the stock rose higher and
higher. So our thinking is that it will present you the opportunity to buy
within this window...we are not sure how long this window will be open but our
best guess is 5 weeks which will be about the time they gain their listing on
the AMEX stock market. At that time we believe the company will release its
drill results, that are long overdue, in order to gain some recognition for the
company and develop a following. After those events the next event will most
likely be the announcement of their reserves or a strategic partner entering
into the equation, when it comes to these two events your guess is as good as
ours.
Canalaska and the other junior uraniums have mostly been
calming down a bit and consolidating, with the exception of Paladin which has
been on a tear recently after the announcements of contracts. This is a group
that you must have patience with so as not to sell and take the quick profits
because for those who wait it is our belief that you will be richly rewarded (we
are keeping all of our shares). Should you take profits now you risk missing out
on the next unforeseen rally...the last one being set off by an unexpected
purchase of a private company by Hathor, and then you will be forced to buy in
at a higher price. My belief is that riding out the ups and downs with a basket
of these companies is safer than taking the risk of trying to “trade” a basket
of these stocks (plus keep in mind the capital gains-short term- that will be
accrued by this strategy). HOWEVER, NO ONE EVER GOT HURT TAKING PROFITS!
We see an opportunity to buy more shares in these stocks
right now as they should cool off. Take note that Strathmore and Canalaska have
drilling programs going on right now on some very promising properties. I just
spoke to representatives at Canalaska today and they assured me that although
their press release stated they had been behind on their drill program, they are
currently on schedule and fully expect to release their results in mid-April.
After wathing the stock fall sharply down on this press release we called, but
still cannot figure out why they released this information if it was a mute
point. It seems to have confused many people and probably would have been left
untouched. So with these two stocks we must patiently wait until at least
mid-April for any news about potential reserves as is the same with Titan
Uranium. Be patient with these stocks and the potential reward could be quite
gratifying.
Now we have noticed that Cameco and International Uranium
have been stagnate, and in both cases actually down. We have had some concerns
with those who are worried about “The Uranium Movement” and its strength with
its 800 pound gorilla not actively participating in the general uptrend. Our
view is that this large cap is consolidating and that many investors sold this
stock for the same reason they bought the juniors...if merger activity picks up
(we anticipate this to pick up in the second half of next year) then Cameco will
be a buyer which will put pressure on its shares while lifting the companies
with a chance of being bought out. Same case goes for International Uranium
which has a market cap nearing $1 billion.
With that being said we believe that Cameco will eventually
have to pay dearly for its folly in not grabbing promising land holdings when
uranium prices were lower. You could argue that hindsight is 20/20 or better,
however it simply does not make sense not to add a “buffer” between your large
producing mines and the land beyond. This could have been done for nearly
nothing, however in the years ahead we see Cameco and Cogema (owned by French
nuclear conglomerate Areva) moving from their god-like status in the uranium
sector today to more mortal status as “The Uranium Movement” continues to
progress. What is more...when (notice we did not say if) the Australian
government opens up for business, many of those companies invested over their
will be able to construct their mines and infrastructure and in a year, or few
short years, become large producing companies themselves. Due to this we believe
that Cameco should be a holding in your portfolio, however we would like to have
more invested with the juniors in order for the potential to have higher gains.
Recommendations:
3/28/2006
Ur Energy-------UREGF-------US$1.73*
*-Denotes a company we own shares in before the publishing of this article on
the blog.