Canadian uranium and gold projects topped the table of the world’s most attractive mining projects in Mining Journal Intelligence’s (MJI) Project Pipeline Handbook 2024.

The report presents our pick of the 50 best mining projects globally, selected using a unique, objective scoring method, aimed at identifying quality – a tough task for investors given the large volume of projects.

This year’s two top-scoring projects were uranium assets in Canada’s Saskatchewan province.

Uranium projects were boosted by a surge in prices driven by expectations of a nuclear power revival, amid concerns over greenhouse gas emissions and a reliance on Russian gas. The top projects were both in the Athabasca Basin, in a sign of the region’s untapped potential.

Denison Mines’ Phoenix (Wheeler River) took the top spot, scoring 93 out of 100, with full marks in the Economics and Financeability categories, aided by low-cost in-situ recovery methods and high grades.

NexGen Energy’s Rook I was a point lower at 92. A 2021 feasibility study put initial capex at $952 million for an underground operation producing 21.7Mlbpa over a 10.7-year mine life, generating a 52.4% post-tax IRR at assumed prices of just $50/lb.

Other commodities

Some gold projects scored well, with Skeena Resources’ Eskay Creek in British Columbia – the top-scorer in last year’s report – coming third at 89.

Taseko Mines’ Florence and Excelsior Mining’s Gunnison copper assets in Arizona were the top base metals projects, both scoring 81, a figure matched by Arcadium Lithium’s James Bay lithium asset in Quebec, the top-ranked battery minerals project.

The Project Pipeline Handbook 2024 features profiles of 50 top-scoring projects, and an analysis of the 450+ projects assessed, with combined capex north of US$200 billion.

MJI collects 25 data points from economic studies (ranging from the PEA/scoping to feasibility stages) to evaluate projects across 13 metrics in six categories – Economics, Jurisdiction, Confidence, Financeability, Engineering/metallurgy, and Geology. More than 200 studies have been added since last year’s handbook.