Maps
Visualizing the Uranium Mining Industry in 3 Charts
When uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, it’s likely the German chemist didn’t know how important the element would become to human life.
Used minimally in glazing and ceramics, uranium was originally mined as a byproduct of producing radium until the late 1930s. However, the discovery of nuclear fission, and the potential promise of nuclear power, changed everything.
What’s the current state of the uranium mining industry? This series of charts from Truman Du highlights production and the use of uranium using 2021 data from the World Nuclear Association (WNA) and Our World in Data.
Who are the Biggest Uranium Miners in the World?
Most of the world’s biggest uranium suppliers are based in countries with the largest uranium deposits, like Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada.
The largest of these companies is Kazatomprom, a Kazakhstani state-owned company that produced 25% of the world’s new uranium supply in 2021.
As seen in the above chart, 94% of the roughly 48,000 tonnes of uranium mined globally in 2021 came from just 13 companies.
Rank | Company | 2021 Uranium Production (tonnes) | Percent of Total |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇰🇿 Kazatomprom | 11,858 | 25% |
2 | 🇫🇷 Orano | 4,541 | 9% |
3 | 🇷🇺 Uranium One | 4,514 | 9% |
4 | 🇨🇦 Cameco | 4,397 | 9% |
5 | 🇨🇳 CGN | 4,112 | 9% |
6 | 🇺🇿 Navoi Mining | 3,500 | 7% |
7 | 🇨🇳 CNNC | 3,562 | 7% |
8 | 🇷🇺 ARMZ | 2,635 | 5% |
9 | 🇦🇺 General Atomics/Quasar | 2,241 | 5% |
10 | 🇦🇺 BHP | 1,922 | 4% |
11 | 🇬🇧 Energy Asia | 900 | 2% |
12 | 🇳🇪 Sopamin | 809 | 2% |
13 | 🇺🇦 VostGok | 455 | 1% |
14 | Other | 2,886 | 6% |
Total | 48,332 | 100% |
France’s Orano, another state-owned company, was the world’s second largest producer of uranium at 4,541 tonnes.
Companies rounding out the top five all had similar uranium production numbers to Orano, each contributing around 9% of the global total. Those include Uranium One from Russia, Cameco from Canada, and CGN in China.
Where are the Largest Uranium Mines Found?
The majority of uranium deposits around the world are found in 16 countries with Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada accounting for for nearly 40% of recoverable uranium reserves.
But having large reserves doesn’t necessarily translate to uranium production numbers. For example, though Australia has the biggest single deposit of uranium (Olympic Dam) and the largest reserves overall, the country ranks fourth in uranium supplied, coming in at 9%.
Here are the top 10 uranium mines in the world, accounting for 53% of the world’s supply.
Of the largest mines in the world, four are found in Kazakhstan. Altogether, uranium mined in Kazakhstan accounted for 45% of the world’s uranium supply in 2021.
Uranium Mine | Country | Main Owner | 2021 Production |
---|---|---|---|
Cigar Lake | 🇨🇦 Canada | Cameco/Orano | 4,693t |
Inkai 1-3 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Kazaktomprom/Cameco | 3,449t |
Husab | 🇳🇦 Namibia | Swakop Uranium (CGN) | 3,309t |
Karatau (Budenovskoye 2) | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Uranium One/Kazatomprom | 2,561t |
Rössing | 🇳🇦 Namibia | CNNC | 2,444t |
Four Mile | 🇦🇺 Australia | Quasar | 2,241t |
SOMAIR | 🇳🇪 Niger | Orano | 1,996t |
Olympic Dam | 🇦🇺 Australia | BHP Billiton | 1,922t |
Central Mynkuduk | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Ortalyk | 1,579t |
Kharasan 1 | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Kazatomprom/Uranium One | 1,579t |
Namibia, which has two of the five largest uranium mines in operation, is the second largest supplier of uranium by country, at 12%, followed by Canada at 10%.
Interestingly, the owners of these mines are not necessarily local. For example, France’s Orano operates mines in Canada and Niger. Russia’s Uranium One operates mines in Kazakhstan, the U.S., and Tanzania. China’s CGN owns mines in Namibia.
And despite the African continent holding a sizable amount of uranium reserves, no African company placed in the top 10 biggest companies by production. Sopamin from Niger was the highest ranked at #12 with 809 tonnes mined.
Uranium Mining and Nuclear Energy
Uranium mining has changed drastically since the first few nuclear power plants came online in the 1950s.
For 30 years, uranium production grew steadily due to both increasing demand for nuclear energy and expanding nuclear arsenals, eventually peaking at 69,692 tonnes mined in 1980 at the height of the Cold War.
Nuclear energy production (measured in terawatt-hours) also rose consistently until the 21st century, peaking in 2001 when it contributed nearly 7% to the world’s energy supply. But in the years following, it started to drop and flatline.
By 2021, nuclear energy had fallen to 4.3% of global energy production. Several nuclear accidents—Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima—contributed to turning sentiment against nuclear energy.
Year | Nuclear Energy Production | % of Total Energy |
---|---|---|
1965 | 72 TWh | 0.2% |
1966 | 98 TWh | 0.2% |
1967 | 116 TWh | 0.2% |
1968 | 148 TWh | 0.3% |
1969 | 175 TWh | 0.3% |
1970 | 224 TWh | 0.4% |
1971 | 311 TWh | 0.5% |
1972 | 432 TWh | 0.7% |
1973 | 579 TWh | 0.9% |
1974 | 756 TWh | 1.1% |
1975 | 1,049 TWh | 1.6% |
1976 | 1,228 TWh | 1.7% |
1977 | 1,528 TWh | 2.1% |
1978 | 1,776 TWh | 2.3% |
1979 | 1,847 TWh | 2.4% |
1980 | 2,020 TWh | 2.6% |
1981 | 2,386 TWh | 3.1% |
1982 | 2,588 TWh | 3.4% |
1983 | 2,933 TWh | 3.7% |
1984 | 3,560 TWh | 4.3% |
1985 | 4,225 TWh | 5% |
1986 | 4,525 TWh | 5.3% |
1987 | 4,922 TWh | 5.5% |
1988 | 5,366 TWh | 5.8% |
1989 | 5,519 TWh | 5.8% |
1990 | 5,676 TWh | 5.9% |
1991 | 5,948 TWh | 6.2% |
1992 | 5,993 TWh | 6.2% |
1993 | 6,199 TWh | 6.4% |
1994 | 6,316 TWh | 6.4% |
1995 | 6,590 TWh | 6.5% |
1996 | 6,829 TWh | 6.6% |
1997 | 6,782 TWh | 6.5% |
1998 | 6,899 TWh | 6.5% |
1999 | 7,162 TWh | 6.7% |
2000 | 7,323 TWh | 6.6% |
2001 | 7,481 TWh | 6.7% |
2002 | 7,552 TWh | 6.6% |
2003 | 7,351 TWh | 6.2% |
2004 | 7,636 TWh | 6.2% |
2005 | 7,608 TWh | 6% |
2006 | 7,654 TWh | 5.8% |
2007 | 7,452 TWh | 5.5% |
2008 | 7,382 TWh | 5.4% |
2009 | 7,233 TWh | 5.4% |
2010 | 7,374 TWh | 5.2% |
2011 | 7,022 TWh | 4.9% |
2012 | 6,501 TWh | 4.4% |
2013 | 6,513 TWh | 4.4% |
2014 | 6,607 TWh | 4.4% |
2015 | 6,656 TWh | 4.4% |
2016 | 6,715 TWh | 4.3% |
2017 | 6,735 TWh | 4.3% |
2018 | 6,856 TWh | 4.2% |
2019 | 7,073 TWh | 4.3% |
2020 | 6,789 TWh | 4.3% |
2021 | 7,031 TWh | 4.3% |
More recently, a return to nuclear energy has gained some support as countries push for transitions to cleaner energy, since nuclear power generates no direct carbon emissions.
What’s Next for Nuclear Energy?
Nuclear remains one of the least harmful sources of energy, and some countries are pursuing advancements in nuclear tech to fight climate change.
Small, modular nuclear reactors are one of the current proposed solutions to both bring down costs and reduce construction time of nuclear power plants. The benefits include smaller capital investments and location flexibility by trading off energy generation capacity.
With countries having to deal with aging nuclear reactors and climate change at the same time, replacements need to be considered. Will they come in the form of new nuclear power and uranium mining, or alternative sources of energy?

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Cities
Mapped: Most Air-Polluted Cities in the World
India is home to many of the world’s most air-polluted cities, accounting for 11 of the top 20 cities in 2024.

Cities With the Worst Air Pollution in 2024
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Air pollution remains one of the deadliest environmental threats, contributing to millions of premature deaths each year.
In 2024, only 17% of cities worldwide met the World Health Organization’s annual PM2.5 guideline of less than 5 µg/m3, indicating that the vast majority of urban populations are exposed to unhealthy air.
This map visualizes the 20 most air-polluted cities in 2024, based on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) data from IQAir.
Which Cities Have the Worst Air Pollution?
Below, we show the top 20 cities with the worst PM2.5 levels in 2024.
Rank | City | Country | 2024 PM2.5 (µg/m³) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Byrnihat | 🇮🇳 India | 128.2 | |
2 | Delhi | 🇮🇳 India | 108.3 | |
3 | Karaganda | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 104.8 | |
4 | Mullanpur | 🇮🇳 India | 102.3 | |
5 | Lahore | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 102.1 | |
6 | Faridabad | 🇮🇳 India | 101.2 | |
7 | Dera Ismail Khan | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 93.0 | |
8 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | 91.8 | |
9 | Loni | 🇮🇳 India | 91.7 | |
10 | New Delhi | 🇮🇳 India | 91.6 | |
11 | Multan | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 91.4 | |
12 | Peshawar | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 91.0 | |
13 | Faisalabad | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 88.8 | |
14 | Sialkot | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | 88.8 | |
15 | Gurugram | 🇮🇳 India | 87.4 | |
16 | Ganganagar | 🇮🇳 India | 86.6 | |
17 | Hotan | 🇨🇳 China | 84.5 | |
18 | Greater Noida | 🇮🇳 India | 83.5 | |
19 | Bhiwadi | 🇮🇳 India | 83.1 | |
20 | Muzaffarnagar | 🇮🇳 India | 83.1 |
India is home to some of the world’s most air-polluted cities, accounting for 11 of the top 20 in 2024.
Byrnihat, a city in northeastern India, recorded the worst air pollution globally last year, with a PM2.5 concentration of 128.2 micrograms per cubic meter—over 25 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.
Delhi, a metropolis of over 30 million people and the capital territory of India, recorded the second-worst air pollution levels in 2024.
The city experiences the worst winter air pollution of any major city, driven by crop burning in nearby states, stagnant cold air, and weak wind patterns that trap and concentrate smog over the capital.
Many Indian cities struggle with severe air pollution due to a mix of industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and reliance on fossil fuels, all worsened by weak regulation and seasonal weather patterns.
Most of the cities with the worst air pollution in 2024 are located in India, Pakistan, or other parts of Asia. N’Djamena, Chad, was the only non-Asian city to rank among the top 20.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
To see which countries have the worst air pollution, check out this graphic that visualizes the world’s most polluted countries by their annual average PM2.5 concentration.
-
Misc1 week ago
Mapped: The Most Popular Beer in Each U.S. State
-
Money3 weeks ago
The Income Needed to be Middle Class in Every U.S. State (2025)
-
Business3 weeks ago
Mapped: How Much a 24-Pack of Beer Costs in Each U.S. State
-
Markets2 weeks ago
Mapped: Which U.S. States Import the Most from China?
-
Business4 weeks ago
Visualized: Where Automakers Build Cars Sold in America
-
Money2 weeks ago
Ranked: Daily Incomes of the Richest and Poorest in 25 Countries
-
Misc3 weeks ago
Ranked: The Cheapest Car Brands to Own and Maintain in the U.S.
-
Business5 days ago
Timeline: Visualizing America’s Oldest Companies