U

Uranium Ore
The raw material used to power nuclear energy production. This is a natural resource that is usually found in low concentrations and is relatively rare. Mining takes place where concentrations are high enough to justify the project economically, and usually takes the form of open-pit mining, such as Ranger mine in Australia. The largest producer of uranium ore is presently Canada, with Kazakhstan and Australia close behind. It is presently estimated that there is enough uranium ore to power nuclear power stations for the next century.

For more information, visit:

http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/mining.htm

(remember this will be pro-nuclear)

or:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mining

(probably a more balanced source of information)