Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Uranium Country Notes

Portugal

The first traces of uranium were discovered as long ago as 1907, in association with radium deposits. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s, extensive exploration was undertaken, resulting in the discovery of numerous small-to-medium deposits. Starting in 1951, uranium was produced on a relatively small scale for fifty years, mostly at the Urgeiriça mill in north-central Portugal. Operations came to an end in 2001, after cumulative production of almost 3 700 tonnes.

A revised resource assessment in the 2005 Red Book puts RAR (at up to US$ 80/kgU) at 6 000 tonnes, with a further 1 000 tonnes in the US$ 80-130 cost bracket. Other Identified Resources consist of a revised IR level of 1 200 tonnes, recoverable at less than US$ 80/kgU. Undiscovered conventional resources recoverable at below US$ 130/kgU comprise 2 000 tonnes of PR, of which 80% is classed as recoverable at less than US$ 80/kgU, plus 5 000 tonnes of SR.