Besides nuclear energy, which accounts for half of uranium’s usage, it has other uses. It also provides about 4% of the world’s non-renewable energy, explains Nuclear. [Is There a Uranium ETF In the Future?]
Traditionally, uranium has been extracted from open pits and underground mines. In the past decade, alternative techniques such in-situ leach mining, in which solutions are injected into underground deposits to dissolve uranium, have become more prevalent. Most U.S. mines have shut down and imports account for about three-fourths of the roughly 16 metric tons of refined uranium used domestically each year, reports the Fact Sheet.
In other new-ETF news, EMII.com reports that Vanguard has started a new international real estate index fund, the Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate Fund (NYSEArca: VNQI). The fund, which offers four types of share classes such as investor, institutional, signal and ETF shares, will be based on the S&P Global ex-US Property Index. [New ETFs: Equal Weight, Physical Copper.]
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.