The Borat Trade: Four Kazakhstan Plays Are Very Nice

Finally, my No. 1 stock pick for profiting from Kazakhstan is not an oil, but a uranium play: SXR Uranium One(SXRZF Quote), a Canada-based company that trades on the Pink Sheets.

As the uranium bull market rages, driven by a wave of new international nuclear reactors coming online, this company has been building itself into a uranium-mining powerhouse.

In April, SXR closed an acquisition for Kazakhstan-based UrAsia Energy, giving it 70% ownership of Kazakhstan's Akdala mine. In addition, it will also be exploring and developing two new sites: the South Inkai and Kharasan projects.

According to its latest quarterly report, SXR now has 48.7 million pounds of uranium content in proven and probable reserves. While this is small compared to the 513 million pounds in uranium giant Cameco's(CCJ Quote) reserves, SXR is building itself into a notable contender.

Last month SXR announced new plans to acquire Energy Metals(EMU Quote). If the deal is successful, SXR will have the second-largest portfolio of uranium reserves in the world.

Better yet for SXR, production at Cameco's Cigar Lake mine is impaired due to a flooding accident. Without Cameco able to access one of its biggest assets, SXR will enjoy high uranium prices from tight supply and has a chance to fill Cameco's lost market share.

Kazakhstan is one emerging market that we will be likely to hear more about in upcoming years. Its recent development is a boon for mining and mineral exploration companies. A few of these stocks are likely to produce long-run returns that are, as Borat would say, very "niiiiice!"