Cameco (CCO.TO)(CCJ) shares dropped as much as 14 per cent on Monday amid a wider sell-off linked to the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot DeepSeek.

Canadian uranium-producing peers (DML.TO) and NexGen Energy (NXE.TO) also fell by double-digits, as investors questioned forecasts of surging energy demand from data centres.

DeepSeek was reportedly developed for a fraction of the cost of its Western rivals, raising questions about the future of America's AI dominance, and the scale of future investment from Silicon Valley tech giants.

The International Energy Agency has predicted data centres could draw as much electricity as Japan by 2026, more than double their demand today. Cameco is among the Canadian companies seen to benefit from an AI-driven electricity boom.

Shares of Canadian utility TransAlta Corporation (TA.TO) tumbled as much as 22 per cent in Monday's trading session. The Calgary-based company has said it is in talks with “multiple hyperscalers” to develop data centres in Alberta.

On Monday, Cameco said its partner in Kazakhstan has indicated production has restarted at a jointly operated mine shut down on New Year’s Day.

The uranium producer owns a 40 per cent stake in Joint Venture Inkai (JV Inkai), located in Kazakhstan's southern Turkestan region. Kazakhstan’s national atomic company, Kazatomprom, owns 60 per cent.

“Cameco and Kazatomprom are now working with JV Inkai to determine the impact of the production suspension on the operation’s 2025 production plans,” Cameco stated in a news release on Monday.

On Jan. 2, Cameco officials said the company was “disappointed and surprised” by a production halt on New Year’s Day. The company says the mine was shut down after Kazatomprom did not receive an extension by Kazakhstan's energy ministry to file project documents due by the end of 2024. Toronto-listed Cameco shares fell 1.6 per cent that day.

Kazatomprom says it's the world's largest producer of uranium, with attributable production representing about 20 per cent of global primary production in 2023. In an update on Monday, the company said it has resolved the approval issue, and has resumed mining operations at block No. 1 of the Inkai deposit.

"Kazatomprom remains fully committed to fulfilling contractual obligations towards all existing customers, and has sufficient level of inventories to comfortably manage its deliveries throughout 2025," the company said.

Cameco shares closed 15.04 per cent lower on Monday at $68.26. TransAlta's stock lost 20.57 per cent to finish at $15.37.