Paraguay’s uranium opening has outlived the government that launched it. The Senate removed President Santiago Pena on November 7 over the Ueno Bank collapse, Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as president, and Pena was placed under arrest. Weeks earlier, an October visit by US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau had brought investment announcements and plans for closer nuclear cooperation, including Uranium Energy Corp’s plan to invest $12 million, about C$17 million, to develop one of its Paraguayan uranium concessions.
The framework built around that visit is now in new hands. Paraguay and the United States signed a critical minerals memorandum of understanding earlier this year and a separate nuclear cooperation memorandum on August 4. During the October visit the countries announced negotiations on a Section 123 agreement, which would establish the legal framework for major US civilian nuclear equipment and material exports to Paraguay. Whether the Alliana administration carries those tracks forward at the same pace has not been stated.
UEC’s Paraguayan portfolio is early stage. It holds the Yuty and Oviedo uranium projects and the wholly owned Alto Paraná titanium project, about 100 kilometres north of Ciudad del Este. Alto Paraná carries indicated resources of 70 million tonnes grading 7.6 percent titanium dioxide and inferred resources of 3.58 billion tonnes grading 7.31 percent. A November 2023 initial assessment estimated a base case after tax net present value of $419 million at an 8 percent discount rate and an internal rate of return of 21 percent, on annual production of about 150,000 tonnes of high titanium slag and 100,000 tonnes of high purity pig iron. That assessment is preliminary, incorporates inferred resources and does not establish mineral reserves.
The regulatory ground was unsettled before the crisis. Victor Fernandez, president of the Paraguayan Chamber of Mining and UEC’s Paraguay country head, called in an October 23 interview for simpler permitting and greater legal certainty, said a new mining code was being drafted, and noted that only about 4 percent of Paraguay had been mapped at a scale of 1:100,000. UEC shares traded 4.6 percent stronger at $6.78 on Friday morning in New York after falling nearly 10 percent the day before, valuing the company at about $3.4 billion. The company has not said whether the political turmoil changes its development plans, and that response is now the next data point for every foreign miner watching the country.