John Ciampaglia — Sprott's John Ciampaglia on Uranium and SPUT (Jimmy Connor, Sep 2026)

One-line take: The man who runs SPUT, speaking from the London uranium week: investor attendance has gone from a handful of specialist hedge funds to bank-hosted events all week, and generalists are "looking past the short-term noise" (Iran, US rates/debt) to a structural supply deficit. SPUT has raised more capital over the last five quarters than at any point in its history — just under 9M lb bought in 2025, ~6M lb in Q1 2026 and ~7M lb year-to-date against a 9M lb annual limit, 18M → just under 82M lb since July 2021 — and he calls $90 spot still "very attractive." New demand is the story: hyperscaler capital and PPAs (Google with a Finnish utility), a US government uranium RFP, SMRs reaching criticality, China building ~8 reactors a year, India's two large stockpiling deals, and western utilities back with RFPs. Westinghouse's IPO (and more nuclear listings) are "net positive" because they give investors more ways in. Copper is hitting all-time highs yet still well below prior cycle highs in real terms; gold found a bottom around $4,000 with western flows returning amid the Bessent-vs-bond-vigilantes showdown; the commodity cycle is only "early to middle innings." Timestamps link into the video.

1. Stocks & names mentioned

Ticker	Name	Research	View	What he said	At
SRUUF	Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (SPUT — U.UN/U.U: TSX)	SA · STK	Positive	His own vehicle: the last five quarters were its biggest capital-raising stretch ever; bought just under 9M lb in 2025 and ~7M lb so far in 2026 (about 6M in Q1) against a 9M lb annual limit, growing from 18M lb at the July 2021 launch to just under 82M lb. "Even at $90 spot price we still think the price is very attractive," and he expects another spurt of raising as the seasonal doldrums end — with "other things" available to keep raising equity accretively if the limit is hit.	6:37
Uranium	Uranium (U3O8 — commodity)	—	Positive	The structural supply deficit remains "the underpinning of the story"; demand models carry "very little anticipated demand" from SMRs, the new US government RFP, China's ~8 reactors a year, India's two large stockpiling deals and western utilities returning with RFPs to replenish inventory. The term price is at all-time highs; spot up ~10% on the year.	7:31
Copper	Copper (commodity)	—	Positive	Hitting all-time highs "just like the term price for uranium," yet still much lower than previous cycle highs on an inflation-adjusted basis — deficits forming from weather/geological mine disruptions against electrification and electricity-growth demand. Copper equities "have done really really well this year"; renewed flows into Sprott's copper products.	10:44
Gold	Gold (commodity)	—	Positive	After the correction, western money came off the table while India/China kept accumulating; now "gold has found a bottom around 4,000" and western flows are returning. Whatever the outcome of the Bessent-vs-bond-vigilantes showdown and the yen, a "neutral reserve asset like gold makes sense in your portfolio" given rising yields, inflation pressure and high global debt.	12:50
Silver	Silver (commodity)	—	Neutral	Grouped with gold: tremendous interest earlier in the year at "incredibly high prices," then a price correction and "some money has come off the table" — no separate forward call beyond precious metals as the portfolio "cornerstone."	11:44
Westinghouse	Westinghouse Electric (private, pre-IPO)	—	Neutral	"We've obviously heard about Westinghouse coming public" — along with other nuclear IPOs he calls it "all net positive": the sector is still recapitalizing after 2011–2020 and investors have struggled to get positioned, so more listed choices bring capital in. A sector-flow point, not a view on the company's valuation.	4:09
GOOGL	Alphabet (Google)	QT · SA · STK · FA	Neutral	Cited as evidence of the hyperscaler pivot to nuclear: "we just saw an announcement with Google and the Finnish utility" — hyperscalers fund nascent small reactors and sign long-term, high-value power purchase agreements. A demand datapoint for uranium, not a view on the stock.	3:15
OpenAI	OpenAI (private)	—	Neutral	Raised by the host as half of the AI ecosystem with an IPO expected this year. His answer: the hyperscaler link to nuclear is real, the AI IPOs will create "a lot of competition for capital," but base-load demand for data centers (plus reshoring) keeps the nuclear case intact either way.	2:10
Anthropic	Anthropic (private)	—	Neutral	Named by the host alongside OpenAI as the AI IPOs that could test the theme; Ciampaglia treats them as competition for capital rather than a threat to nuclear demand, which rests on base load, reshoring and utilities' first load growth in two decades.	2:10

"View" is John Ciampaglia's stance in this conversation (Positive / Neutral / Negative), not a price rating. Research: QT Qualtrim · SA Seeking Alpha · STK Stock Analysis. SPUT is tabled under its US OTC line SRUUF, the hub's existing id for the trust. Sprott's copper, gold and silver products are mentioned only generically (no fund named) — not tabled. The Finnish utility in the Google deal is not named, and "potentially tech coming public" at (4:09) is a caption garble for a second nuclear IPO candidate — neither is tabled. Rare earths and battery metals (13:40) are sector references only. Raw auto-captions: "spat/spatu/sput" = Sprott / SPUT; "best" = Treasury Secretary Bessent.

2. Talking points

0:26 London uranium week — the audience has changed

A few years ago only a handful of specialty hedge funds attended; this week banks hosted well-attended events all week — "a really good signal that investor interest is there." Uranium is opaque and unlike other commodities, so there's "a thirst for knowledge."

1:24 Looking past the noise

The Iran war and US interest rates/debt levels have put some investors on the sidelines amid extreme volatility, but in uranium and nuclear most people look past it to the fundamentals, the capital coming in and the policy announcements — with the structural supply deficit as the underpinning.

2:36 If the AI IPOs flop — hyperscalers and nuclear

Hyperscalers first leaned on renewables, then realized intermittency meant nuclear had to be in the mix. Their importance: much-needed capital for nascent small reactors and long-term, high-value PPAs — e.g. Google with a Finnish utility (3:15).

3:39 Utilities' first load growth in two decades

High electricity prices give utilities the confidence to reinvest; after 20 years with little load growth they now face hyperscaler demand plus electricity-intensive reshoring. Base-load power is "paramount" for AI data centers.

4:09 Nuclear IPOs are net positive

The AI IPOs will compete for capital, but nuclear listings (Westinghouse, possibly others) are "all net positive": the sector is still recapitalizing after the 2011–2020 bust and investors have found it hard to get positioned, so more choices draw capital back.

4:58 SPUT since the Trump election and the tariff tantrum

Sprott frames the trust's market as post-Trump-election, given his influence on energy policy. Early 2025's tariff tantrum was very quiet; then investors looked past the noise to an attractive uranium price, and the last five quarters have been the trust's biggest capital-raising stretch in its five-year history (5:32).

6:06 The purchase record — 18M to ~82M lb

Just under 9M lb bought in 2025; about 6M lb in Q1 2026 ("very fast deployment") and another ~1M since, so ~7M lb year-to-date. From 18M lb at the July 2021 launch to just under 82M lb today; "even at $90 spot" the price is still very attractive (6:37).

7:09 The 9M lb annual limit

Sprott "would absolutely love" to fill the capacity; if it does, it has "the ability to do some other things" to keep raising equity accretively.

7:31 Catalysts — hard to predict, but demand is stacking up

A US government uranium RFP a few days ago; SMRs reaching test criticality, then commercial approvals and deployment — demand that most models barely include. Over 12–24 months people will recognize the incremental demand.
China is "the leader," building around eight reactors a year and buying large amounts of uranium; India announced two very large stockpiling transactions; western utilities are back with RFPs to replenish inventories (8:06).

9:01 Oil isn't absorbing the money

Uranium up ~10% on the year vs oil +50–60%, but big dollars aren't going to oil: on-again/off-again peace-deal headlines make it untradeable for long-only investors. Markets are risk-off; people are looking for value.
Rotation back into uranium equities over the last couple of weeks after their Q2 correction; the balance of the year should be "a lot more constructive" regardless of the Iran saga (9:44).

10:26 Copper — all-time highs, still cheap in real terms

Renewed interest and flows into Sprott's copper products. Nominal all-time highs like uranium's term price, but far below prior cycle highs inflation-adjusted; mine disruptions from weather/geological events are opening deficits while electrification lifts demand. Copper equities have done very well this year.

11:44 Gold and silver — western money back after the correction

Tremendous interest earlier in the year, then corrections in both metals; western money came off the table while India/China individuals, institutions and central banks kept accumulating. Gold is stabilizing and western flows are returning.
The Bessent-vs-bond-vigilantes showdown and the yen reaffirm a neutral reserve asset; gold "found a bottom around 4,000" and remains a long-term holding given rising yields, inflation pressure and high global debt (12:26).

13:14 The big picture — critical materials

Critical materials = commodities important to energy and national security: uranium, copper, rare earths, battery metals. Precious metals are the portfolio "cornerstone" for diversification.

14:04 Commodities coming back to life

Various stages of bull markets for 3–5 years and "still in the early stages." Generalists are rethinking metals-and-mining allocations; large global capital pools have very little commodity exposure and are responding to market and government energy-policy signals.
Risk capital is returning and governments are acknowledging the need for permitting reform and mining support — Canada, resource-rich and under-exploited for a decade, now has "a sense of urgency" (14:51).

15:24 A prolonged cycle — early to middle innings

Cycles last a long time; after 10–15 years of under-investment this one should be prolonged. "We're very bullish" — very early to middle innings, with capital finally coming back.

3. In plain English

A jargon-free summary of the thesis behind each name — what it actually is and why he holds that view. (Plain-language companion to the table above; renders on each ticker's consolidated page.)

SRUUF — Sprott Physical Uranium Trust Positive

SPUT is a closed-end trust that does one thing: it raises money from investors and uses it to buy physical uranium (U3O8, the processed uranium oxide that nuclear fuel is made from), which it stores rather than trades. Buying a unit is a way to own uranium itself without owning a mining company. Ciampaglia runs it, so he is the opposite of a neutral observer — but his numbers are the trust's own record.

His case: investors have put more money into the trust over the last five quarters than at any time since it launched in July 2021. It started with about 18 million pounds and now holds just under 82 million. It bought just under 9 million pounds last year and about 7 million so far this year, against a 9 million pound annual limit, and he'd "love" to fill it. He still sees a $90 spot price as attractive because he thinks new demand — AI data centers, small reactors, China, India, a US government purchase — is barely built into anyone's forecasts.

The mechanism matters: the trust issues new units only when that adds value for existing holders ("accretively" — typically when units trade at or above the value of the uranium behind them), and each raise turns into physical buying that removes pounds from a small, opaque market.

Uranium — Uranium (U3O8) Positive

Copper — Copper Positive

Gold — Gold Positive

Summary & timestamps derived from the public YouTube video (transcript in transcript.txt) for personal study. Not investment advice. © Jimmy Connor / Sprott Asset Management for source material.