by James Kwantes
Published first at Patreon.com/jameskwantes

The mining industry -- like all of them -- is a people business. Key personnel moves can lead to business transformations and big share price moves.

On Monday, pre-market, U.S. uranium play Nuclear Fuels (NF-CSE, NFUNF-OTC) announced Greg Huffman as its new president and CEO. Nuclear Fuels, formerly known as Uravan Minerals, is advancing in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium projects in Wyoming's Powder River Basin and elsewhere in North America.

Huffman invested $700,000 to buy 2 million Nuclear Fuels units at 35 cents per unit (1 share, 1 two-year 55c half-warrant), a market cap of $21.1M. Huffman was also granted 1M five-year options exercisable at 35c. Nuclear Fuels is a thin trader with a one-year range of 25 to 72 cents. The stock closed Monday at 37 cents, up 7 cents (23%) on high volume.

A key hire, while uranium is finally having its moment in the sun. It feels like a pay-attention development.

Huffman, a geologist by training, was global head of mining sales at Canaccord Genuity for eight years and is considered one of the most respected equity salesman in modern Canadian history. His industry newsletters tracking important developments -- High-Grade Mining Minute and Huffer's High-Grade Nuggets -- helped make him an influential thought leader.

Prior to Canaccord, Huffman worked in Scotiabank's mining group, partnering with Jerrold Annett to form a powerful pair recognized by Brendan Woods International. Annett left Scotia for Richard Warke's Arizona Mining prior to its $1.8-billion sale and is now senior VP, strategy & capital markets, at Capstone Copper (CS-T).

Huffman's arrival at Nuclear Fuels has echoes of Dan Myerson's hiring as executive chairman at Foran Mining (FOM-T) in November 2020 when it was a penny stock. I wrote about Myerson, who was previously with Glencore, on Aug. 25, 2022 in Forward-looking: Execs who make a statement).

Myerson invested $700,000 in 17.5-cent Foran units and was granted 6 million five-year options exercisable at 20 cents, in lieu of compensation. Foran's market cap was about $24M at the time. It worked out rather well -- Foran shares now trade just shy of $4 for a $1.3-billion market cap.

Foran had assets that were well-known and a moribund share price when Myerson took the helm, and Foran to the next level. The parallels are intriguing.

Nuclear Fuels is a new company but its chairman, Bill Sherriff, is an old hand. Sherriff has collected detractors as well as some big wins along the way during a long career. The company's website corporate presentation and factsheet are both "Under Construction." There is risk and uncertainty -- I don't know what the end game is for Nuclear Fuels.

Timing is everything, and the key hire comes as nuclear energy is experiencing a renaissance. As the U.S. Department of Energy puts it in a June 11, 2024 publication, "Nuclear energy protects air quality by producing massive amounts of carbon-free electricity." Nuclear power plants are being built again in the United States -- additions to the Vogtle nuclear plant in Waynesboro, Georgia were the first nuclear reactors built in years, making the facility America's largest.

Nuclear Fuels (NF-CSE)
Price: .37
Shares out: 60.34 million
Market cap: $22.33 million

Disclosure: I own shares of Nuclear Fuels, purchased on Monday. No business relationship with any company mentioned.