We thought by now we'd heard it all. But the quote which follows, given to us in a tape-recorded telephone interview by the man who obtains nuclear fuel for the largest nuclear utility in the United States, surprised even us.

Until the previous uranium cycle ended in the 1980s, Juniper Ridge had reportedly been the site of 12 small open-pit uranium mines. Many in the industry had called it the 'best uranium discovery in southern Wyoming.'

Soaring yellowcake prices have accelerated a greater number of uranium juniors rolling off the assembly line. As fast as stock promoters can revive old shells, joint venture a more serious uranium company's castaway property into the re-named shell, and then wheel a former 'big name' out of retirement (or a nursing home), the company will announce they are in the 'hunt' for uranium.

Bids are due in Corpus Christi, Texas on April 3rd for the sealed-bid auction, conducted by Mestena Uranium LLC, for another modest lot of 100 thousand pounds of U3O8. "Buyers are once again expected to compete aggressively for the material," Nuclear Market Review (NMR) editor Treva Klingbiel wrote in the monthly edition of the nuclear industry trade magazine. "Any material offered at fixed price is highly sought after by potential buyers."