Friday, December 28, 2012

Borshoff Says Two WA Mines Best Case


Published on Friday December 28 2012 (AEST) 


Paladin Energy chief executive John Borshoff has balked at Premier Colin Barnett's suggestion the State could have four operating uranium mines by 2023, saying two mines is a best-case scenario. 

The industry stalwart, who has been involved in uranium for more than 35 years and sits on the board of the Australian Uranium Association, told WestBusiness some companies with prospective projects in WA were living in a fantasy world. 

"I don't think the four deposits (Mr Barnett mentioned) will happen," Mr Borshoff said. "With Cameco's Kintyre and Yeelirrie projects, one of them could get up, maybe. (Mega Uranium's) Lake Maitland project will never happen. It's an inappropriate, low-grade and small deposit . . . it's a dead man walking. "Toro has a chance if the price of uranium goes up, so, realistically, that's two mines, maybe." Paladin, which has two operating mines in Africa, has the Manyingee and the Oobagooma projects in WA. Mr Borshoff said a uranium spot price of $US80 a pound would be needed before those projects were given the green light. 

Uranium is currently priced at $US43.37/lb. Reflecting on the year, in which uranium prices dropped to 2 1/2 -year lows and Paladin's shares to seven-year lows, Mr Borshoff said an impending supply gap would create a "tipping point" for the spot price. He predicted a price of $US65/lb by the end of next year and an upswing in Paladin's share price. In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Borshoff also weighed in on the green tape debate. 

This was brought to the fore in the uranium sector last week after Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke delayed making a decision on Toro Energy's Wiluna project. Mr Borshoff said that sort of inaction put companies in "suspended animation". "Businesses are trying to justify to banks and partners to invest and get capital, well, decisions like that just create unnecessary risk," he said.

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Labor Environment Minister Tony Burke Fails To Grant Toro Enery Green Light For Uranium Mine

Published on Tuesday December 18 2012 (AEST)  
Greg Hall managing director of Toro Energy.

Yet again we see the Australian Federal Labor Government playing games with the Mining Industry

Uranium aspirant Toro Energy has been dealt a blow on the eve of the Christmas break, with Environment Minister Tony Burke refusing to approve the company's plans for Australia's next uranium mine at Wiluna. While Mr Burke has not rejected the proposal, he has not approved it today as many in the market had expected. 

Instead he has told Toro that more information on certain matters is required before the mine - located in Western Australia's harsh interior - can proceed. Mr Burke has extended the deadline for a decision to be made to March 31, 2013, but has also indicated he may give his ruling earlier than that. Toro chief executive Greg Hall told BusinessDay this afternoon that it was not yet clear what extra information was being sought by Mr Burke. 

''We need to clarify that ... once we find that out we will know for sure,'' he said. ''Toro is very surprised and extremely disappointed with this further delay.'' While the market may not have expected a delay to approvals for the Wiluna mine, environment groups had been confidently predicting for some time that Toro had not done enough to satisfy the approval conditions. 

A recent consultant's report commissioned by the Conservation Council of Western Australia predicted that certain measures around storage of tailings were not adequate to meet federal approval. Council spokeswoman Mia Pepper said Mr Burke's decision was prudent and responsible. ''The Toro project is ill-conceived,'' she said. Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Dave Sweeney said Toro was a small company that would struggle to raise the funds needed to get the Wiluna project off the ground. Toro will have a change of leadership in February when Mr Hall steps down and is replaced by Dr Vanessa Guthrie. 

That transition has already made headlines for making Toro what is believed to be the only ASX company with an-all female leadership, given that its chairman is Erica Smyth.





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Saturday, December 15, 2012

Japan's Election Could Revive Uranium Sector's Fortunes

Published on Saturday December 15 2012 (AEST)  


JAPAN goes to the polls this weekend in an election that will be watched closely by Australia's uranium and liquefied natural gas companies. If the major opinion polls out of Tokyo are anything to go by, uranium stocks could be the big winner to come out of the election. And Australia's LNG players, already facing headwinds in the form of escalating costs and increased competition, may have something else to worry about. The Liberal Democratic Party, which historically has been more pro-business and pro-nuclear than its key rivals the Democratic Party of Japan, looks likely to take office from the DPJ. 


While the debate around nuclear energy remains a highly sensitive one in Japan, the LDP has been campaigning on a platform far more nuclear-friendly than its rivals. The LDP has been proposing a three-year review that would determine which of Japan's 48 idled reactors are sufficiently safe to restart, raising the hopes of uranium miners and explorers eager to see Japanese uranium demand restored. The vote could well deliver a big boost to a uranium sector that has struggled to attract investor support since the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year. The subsequent shutdown of Japan's nuclear reactor network heralded a substantial fall in the price of uranium and the shares of the companies working in the uranium sector. Paladin Energy, for example, was trading at about $5 a share before the earthquake and tsunami that led to the Fukushima disaster but is now worth just 89c a share. 

The subsequent fall in the uranium price has dented the profitability of those already mining uranium, and the price is now considered too low to justify the development of new sources of supply. Greg Cochran, the managing director of Perth-based, Namibia-focused uranium explorer Deep Yellow, believes the election of the LDP could lead to a gradual restart of Japan's nuclear capacity, offering hope to the uranium sector. "While it's politically challenging -- and it's understandably a sensitive issue -- ultimately the rational outcome is for Japan to go back to nuclear," Mr Cochran told The Weekend Australian. Since shutting down its nuclear output, Japan has dramatically stepped up its reliance on imported coal, LNG and oil as a means of meeting its power needs. That, Mr Cochran said, had had an adverse effect on the country, environmentally and economically. "Japan's carbon dioxide emissions have increased dramatically since Fukushima, and that's in a world in which their industrial production is down," he said. "That's simply a result of the fact they're burning more oil and gas and coal to replace the 30 per cent of supply they had from nuclear. "The importation of all that additional carbon-based fuels is also meaning they're running significant trade deficits. It's a really challenging situation.

" While investors still are not pouring back into uranium stocks ahead of the election, Mr Cochran noted that Deep Yellow had been able to raise another $12 million in equity in recent months. Besides the increasing likelihood of Japan restarting its nuclear capacity, 2013 is also the year the long-running highly enriched uranium agreement -- which saw Soviet-era nuclear warheads from Russia recycled into nuclear reactor feedstock -- draws to an end. Mr Cochran noted that the HEU agreement accounted for about 15 per cent of the global uranium supply, and its expiry could be the catalyst for a further uranium price rebound. Uranium's election-inspired gain could be the LNG industry's pain. Japan's increased appetite for LNG in the wake of Fukushima helped drive a surge in spot LNG prices, providing a handy fillip for those producers with spare cargoes. 

The prospect of Japan abandoning nuclear forever also opened up the potential for the country -- which already ranks as the world's single-biggest buyer of LNG -- stepping up its appetite even further. Those hopes will look much more remote if indeed the LDP triumphs tomorrow. Japan's potential nuclear restart adds another layer of uncertainty to the LNG demand outlook. 

The market is already under pressure as buyers eye the potential to secure cheaper gas supplies out of North America, and China works hard to prove up what are expected to be vast domestic supplies of shale gas and coal-seam gas. Speaking to The Weekend Australian, CLSA's head of Asian oil and gas research, Simon Powell, said Australia's LNG projects looked increasingly likely to be caught in a pinch between rising costs and worsening market dynamics. "Australian LNG projects are an awful way up the global cost curve relative to other projects, number one. Number two, demand for LNG beyond 2015 may not be as much as people predict," he said. 

"China will prove up a lot more unconventional gas than people actually think, the Japanese could potentially restart their nuclear program as their demand for electricity rises. "And a prolonged economic malaise in Europe means we're already seeing European LNG cargoes end up in Asia." But before uranium players begin to celebrate and LNG companies start to fret, there is an important reason to keep calm. Assuming a change in leadership this weekend, Japan will have had seven prime ministers in just five years. Given that record, it is easy to see how major policy changes may never be far away.



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Monday, December 10, 2012

Pro-Nuclear Liberal Democrat Party Favored To Win Power In Japanese Election

Published on Monday December 10 2012 (AEST)  



TOKYO — Japanese voters look likely to hand victory to a party that favors nuclear power in the first election since the March 2011 Fukushima radiation disaster - a result a baffled Greenpeace activist likens to one of the “wonders of the world.” But even if the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wins the Dec 16 election, it will not reflect any groundswell of popular support for nuclear power. Instead, it would underline a lack of credible anti-nuclear political standard bearers in Japan and the ability of the LDP to focus the debate on security matters and the stalled economy. 

An LDP win would also signal successful lobbying by Japan’s “nuclear village”, a web of vested interests including utilities, bureaucrats and lawmakers that remains powerful despite the world’s worst radiation crisis in a quarter century. “This is the first election since the Fukushima nuclear disaster and if it does not result in an anti-nuclear government, that will be one of the wonders of the world,” said Kazue Suzuki, a campaigner at environmental group Greenpeace. “Since Fukushima, Germany rejected nuclear power and Italy rejected nuclear power. 

If Japan can’t, the world will be amazed.” The March 11, 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, triggering meltdowns, spewing radiation and forcing some 160,000 people to flee their homes, many never to return. The disaster destroyed a carefully cultivated myth that nuclear power was cheap, clean and safe. It also mobilised Japan’s often apathetic voters in huge anti-nuclear demonstrations during a summer of discontent. Media surveys have shown a majority of Japanese want to exit nuclear power by 2030 if not sooner. But opinion polls also show the pro-nuclear LDP with a big lead over Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), although a hefty chunk of voters remain undecided ahead of the lower house election. “The LDP is the likely winner and is pro-nuclear, but it will not win because it is pro-nuclear but because the DPJ is so hapless and the economy is in trouble and people figure it is time for a change,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University’s Japan campus. The DPJ swept to power in 2009 for the first time, promising to put more money in the hands of households through such steps as child allowances and to boost the economy by re-orienting spending and cutting waste. But critics say its promises were honored mostly in the breach, and the economy is now widely believed to be in its fourth recession since 2000. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who as LDP head aims to get his old job back after quitting in 2007, is calling for hyper-easy monetary policy to rescue the economy and tough diplomacy toward a rising China as the core of his campaign. “It’s as if public opinion doesn’t matter at all,” Kingston said, referring to the sidelining of the nuclear issue by the main opposition party. “It reinforces perceptions about Japan’s democracy deficit.” The small Japan Communist Party and tiny Social Democrats are firmly against nuclear power but unlikely to win many seats given that few voters back their anti-capitalist ideologies. A group led by former DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa joined a new party launched last Tuesday by Yukiko Kada, the female governor of Shiga Prefecture in western Japan. The new party has made opposition to nuclear power a key plank. Ozawa is seen as the force behind Kada’s party. Critics say the veteran deal-maker Ozawa, who quit the DPJ over Noda’s plan to raise the sales tax to curb debt, lacks credibility given his checkered record of political flipflops, although Kada might offset his negative image and help bring together disparate anti-nuclear mini-parties. Noda, for his part, is trying to strike a contrast between the Democrats as committed to phasing out nuclear power and the LDP, which promoted atomic energy during its nearly six decades in power and remains vague about the future even now. 

The LDP says it will decide gradually on restarting reactors deemed safe by a new regulatory agency over the next three years and reach a conclusion on Japan’s “best energy mix” in 10 years. In its campaign manifesto, the DPJ included a pledge to aim to cut Japan’s reliance on nuclear power to zero by the 2030s, echoing a government strategy unveiled in September after months of public and expert debate. That sharp shift in energy policy was met with howls of criticism from business lobby Keidanren. Before the Fukushima disaster, Japan had planned to boost atomic power to more than half of electricity supply from nearly 30%. Manufacturers argue the DPJ’s shift would raise electricity rates and force production and jobs offshore. Days after unveiling the strategy in September, Noda’s government stopped short of fully endorsing it in a cabinet meeting although Noda said the target stood. “Noda is trying to emphasize nuclear policy to distinguish the Democrats from the LDP. 

Unfortunately, as a standard bearer for getting out of nuclear, Noda lacks credibility,” said Andrew DeWit, a professor at Tokyo’s Rikkyo University who researches energy policy. “Keidanren pulled out all the stops and made it very difficult for them to stand their ground.” A new party set up by popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto to woo disaffected voters also blotted its anti-nuclear copybook by dropping a target for ditching nuclear power after merging with a small pro-nuclear party led by former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara. 

Whether an LDP victory would spell business as usual for energy policy, however, remains far from clear. Some changes are already afoot, including the introduction of a feed-in-tariff (FIT) program under which utilities must buy power from suppliers of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power at pre-set premiums for up to 20 years and moves toward more competition in the utilities sector. “There are a number of factors that would likely stand in the way of a return to business as usual. But it’s not impossible,” DeWit said. “I think we can’t dismiss the capacity of the nuclear village to ram through a ‘back to the future’ scenario.” 



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Friday, November 30, 2012

'Significant' Uranium Find Near Beverley Mine, Says Core Exploration

Published on Friday November 30 2012 (AEST)  


Core Exploration (ASX:CXO) has found significant high grade uranium including 5 metres at 2,540 parts per million of U3O8 from its maiden drill program at Fitton in South Australia. Grades also included 14 metres at 1,047 ppm and 11 metres at 316 ppm that included 1 metre at 1,465ppm of U3O8. Moderate grade copper and uranium were also found with the best intersection of 5 metres at 0.18% copper and 217ppm U3O8. The assay results confirm high scintillometer readings in field reports and further assays from 15 holes are to be received by mid December. 

Core recently completed a reverse circulation drill program at its Fitton project, which is just 25 kilometres north of Heathgate's Beverley uranium mine. The drilling successfully intersected high-grade uranium mineralization within the broader shear zone at the Scott Lee Prospect with seven of the ten drill holes drilled at Scott Lee reported significant uranium results. 

The mineralization is open at depth and along strike in both directions with substantial potential for further uranium mineralization away from Scott Lee Prospect based on interpretation of magnetic and radiometric data of the area. Drilling until now has focused on the magnetics targets and many of the nearby uranium radiometric anomalies are yet to tested and drilled, which could provide further upside. Core's 2012 drilling program at Fitton is now concluded and totaled 1,902 metres in 29 drill holes. 

The program tested seven separate prospects with the most number of holes drilled in the Scott Lee. The next phase of drilling at the project will focus on improving the extent and grade of mineralization intersected in the first pass program and testing any newly identified target areas. 



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Thursday, November 22, 2012

Peninsula Energy Granted Permit To Mine For Ross Uranium Project - Wyoming USA

Published on Thursday November 22 2012 (AEST)  

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) granted the Permit to Mine for the Ross Production Unit to wholly-owned subsidiary Strata Energy. Strata received the first licence, the Deep Disposal Well licence, in April 2011. 

The final licence required before commencement of production is the Combined Source and 11e.(2) Byproduct Material Licence issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Strata received the draft Source Material Licence for the Ross Production Unit in early November 2012, a month ahead of projections. Having concluded the Permit to Mine licensing process, Strata can now focus its entire permitting efforts on completing the Source Material Licence application process. Within the coming weeks, Strata will begin allowable construction, prior to receiving the final Source Material Licence, at the Lance Projects. 

This will include the development of deep disposal wells, monitoring wells and central processing plant site and civil works. Simpson told Proactive Investors today effectively the pre-Source Material Licence construction will shorten the entire time to production. “The risk for us going to production is dramatically reduced by the grant of these licences.” Peninsula Energy (ASX: PEN) has marked a milestone today in its rapid advance towards production at its Lance Projects with the granting of a Permit to Mine for the Ross Production Unit. This is the second of three licences required for the advancement of the Lance Projects to production, which is targeted for the second half of 2013. 

Gus Simpson, executive chairman, commented: “With the issuance of the WDEQ Permit to Mine, the Lance Projects continue to gain momentum toward production. “Yet again, the project team and regulatory authorities have achieved a significant project milestone on time and without issue.” 


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Monday, November 19, 2012

China To Become Worlds Nuclear Number One Nation

Published on Monday November 19 2012 (AEST)


CHINA is on track to become the world's largest generator of nuclear power between now and some time in the 2020s, a senior Rio Tinto executive says. Rio Tinto Energy general manager of markets and industry analysis Stephen Wilson said China was currently about the eighth or ninth largest nuclear energy producer. By the end of the decade, the emerging economic superpower was expected to leap to the number two position, Mr Wilson said, before overtaking the United States in the 2020s, producing 100 gigawatts of power. 

"Their vision is to produce 400 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2050. That's been publicly stated by Chinese officials," Mr Wilson told the Australian Institute of Energy national conference in Sydney on Monday. "That's more than the whole world has got today." The growth in nuclear energy in China would come from new third generation power plants that produced electricity more cheaply than coal and gas plants in coastal China, he said. "What we are looking at in China now is a situation where it is the very early stages of a very, very significant nuclear build program," Mr Wilson said. 

"This is a quiet revolution." Mr Wilson noted Japan's reduced nuclear energy production after the recent Fukushima nuclear disaster, as well as moves from countries such as Germany and Switzerland to cut back on nuclear energy production. Despite the big buildup in nuclear power, Mr Wilson said China, as well as India, would continue to rely heavily on coal for the bulk of its electricity needs and to keep up with growing demand. 

Mr Wilson said meeting the rising energy demand of billions of people would require both improvements in energy efficiency and how to find new resources. "We hope there will be significant improvements, significant contributions from energy efficiency but there will need be growth in energy supply," Mr Wilson said. 



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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Australia's Fifth Uranium Mine Four Mile Project In South Australia To Begin

Published on Thursday October 25 2012 (AEST)  


It will be Australia's fifth uranium mine and comes as the Gillard government begins work on agreements to sell uranium to India. 

THE much-delayed Four Mile uranium project in South Australia - a joint venture between ASX-listed Alliance Resources (25 per cent) and US group Heathgate (75 per cent) - is finally being developed.

Shares in Alliance, 25.8 per cent owned by Ian Gandel's Abbotsleigh, shot 55 per cent higher to 29.5c on news of the go-ahead. That was despite plans for Four Mile to start at a much smaller scale than Alliance would have preferred - a situation that underpins ongoing litigation between the partners in the joint venture. 

Four Mile is one of the best uranium discoveries in recent times, at 32,000 tonnes, and was given environmental clearance by former anti-uranium activist Peter Garrett when he was federal environment minister in 2009. Squabbling between the partners over the best way to develop the resource delayed a go-ahead decision. 

Heathgate's operating subsidiary Quasar wanted to use its processing facilities at the nearby Beverley uranium operations, while Alliance pushed for a stand-alone operation on a larger scale. Litigation continues but Quasar, the project operator, has used its 75 per cent vote to push the button on a "start-up" proposal which will see Four Mile producing 2.12 million pounds of uranium a year from the third quarter of next year, using existing Beverley plant and equipment. 

Alliance has previously made the case for a 5 million pound-a-year stand-alone operation on the basis that it would generate greater returns, as well as giving it an ownership stake in a processing plant. But since it was out-voted by Quasar it will now contribute its $24.45 million share of the $97.8m development cost. Quasar has given Alliance reason to believe the initial project will in fact be a stage one development, the purpose of which is to allow production rates to be considered before full-scale facilities are constructed. 

According to Quasar, the cash operating cost at Four Mile will be $40.33 a pound. Despite the Fukushima disaster, Japanese trading group Itochu emerged earlier this year as a backer of Alliance in Four Mile. It struck a deal under which it could own about 40 per cent of Alliance's stake in the project once legal action in the joint venture is completed. 


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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Japan To Begin It's Nuclear Start Ups With Areva Hydrogen Technology

Published on Sunday October 21 2012 (AEST)  


Areva is to fit all 23 Japanese pressurized water reactors with hydrogen recombiners that help to prevent the explosive gas building up in emergency situations. 

The French company announced a contract to provide a bulk order of its passive autocatalytic recombiners. The devices use catalytic oxidation to turn traces of hydrogen into steam, a process that works constantly and requires no power. 

They will be fitted in the reactor unit containment vessels to help prevent hydrogen explosions and "preserve the integrity of the reactor," said Areva. Many nuclear operators installed systems to manage hydrogen after the partial core melt at Three Mile Island in 1979. Unfortunately, this was not the case in Japan. During the accident at Fukushima Daiichi last year, many hours without power for cooling water pumps saw nuclear fuel in the cores of units 1, 2 and 3 overheat to the point that zirconium fuel cladding oxidised in the presence of steam, producing hydrogen and oxygen. At units 1 and 3 this was able to escape the containment and concentrate in the tops of the buildings, where it eventually exploded and caused extensive physical damage to those units as well as unit 4. 

Areva said it will install more than 100 of its devices at the Japanese pressurized water reactors, which make up 23 of the country's 50-reactor fleet. The reactor type is used at the following Japanese nuclear power plants: Ikata, Mihama, Ohi, Sendai, Takahama, Tsuruga, Tomari and Genkai. 



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Friday, October 12, 2012

Next Generation Nuclear Power VIDEO

 Published on Friday October 12 2012 (AEST)




Since we discovered the power of the atom, there's been great optimism for nuclear. We'll have to wait and see how this long-time love hate relationship works out. 



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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

State Approves WA's First Uranium Mine - Toro Energy

Published on Wednesday October 10 2012 (AEST)  


Environmental approval has been granted for what could be Western Australia's first uranium mine. Environment Minister Bill Marmion today announced Toro Energy Limited's proposed uranium mine near Wiluna, in the northern Goldfields had been granted final environmental approval, subject to conditions. Mr Marmion said his decision followed three weeks' consultation with other decision-making authorities following the draft environmental approval. 

"In reaching this agreement I took into account comments made by agencies, including the Department of Environment and Conservation, resulting in even tighter conditions," he said. The new conditions are designed to strengthen protection of stygofauna; fauna that lives in groundwater systems and groundwater-dependent vegetation as well as better address surface water flows, dust management and rehabilitation. "Toro will also be required to research the water requirements of groundwater-dependent vegetation and more closely monitor stygofauna in the three calcrete ecosystems to be partially impacted by the proposal," Mr Marmion said. Toro Energy's Vanessa Guthrie who is the executive general manager of the Wiluna project said the company had seen the conditions and was comfortable Toro could work within them. The project still has a number of hurdles to pass before construction for the project begins. 

Ms Guthrie said the project was still subject to federal government approval which she anticipated would be completed by the end of the year. The mine would have to go through a project financing phase and go before Toro's board before a final decision on going ahead with the mine would be made. "This would be in mid 2013 and we anticipate construction could start at the end of 2013 before production could start in late 2014." Nuclear free campaigner for the Australian Conservation Foundation, Dave Sweeney said there were concerns about the mining of uranium in general as well as the capacity of Toro to manage this project. He said the foundation would join with other concerned parties in an effort to convince the Federal Government not to approve the mine. 

 "There is no transport plan, no adequate water plan and no closure plan," Mr Sweeney said. "How can you sign off on a project if you don't know how to ship the product off? "They've acknowledged they'll be out of water within a decade but have no answer to that. "Our concern is corners will be cut." The mine is expected to produce up to 1200 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate per year across an anticipated mine life of 10 years. Currently, WA has no operating uranium mines. 

In 2008, the Liberal state government lifted a six-year ban on uranium mining that was imposed by the previous Labor government. The opposition still opposes uranium mining but says it will not stand in the way of any planned mine that has received approvals if the party wins the state election in March. There are no other uranium projects in WA that would be fully environmentally approved by the time of the election. 



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Saturday, October 6, 2012

Deep Yellow Hits Highest Uranium Grade Of 11% at MS7 Deposit

Published on Saturday October 06 2012 (AEST)  


Australian Uranium Explorer Deep Yellow (DYL)has intersected 1 metre at 110,500ppm (11%) uranium from 288 metres at the MS7 deposit at the Omahola uranium project in Namibia, its highest ever grade it has encountered in the country. 

This result came from a hole that was drilled to undercut previous intercepts at depth that cut off shallow mineralisation to the north, with the company saying it represented a narrow vein system that was not entirely representative of the usual MS7 mineralisation. Other significant results include 33 metres at 1,325ppm uranium from 50 Meters, 3 Metres at 1,723ppm uranium from 26 metres and 8 metres at 633ppm uranium from 48 metres. Further outstanding intercepts have been submitted for chemical assay with results anticipated at the end of September. 

The consistent relatively shallow, frequently wide intersections with grades well above Deep Yellow’s 400ppm reporting threshold from the ongoing drill program confirm the MS7 deposit’s higher grade nature and continuity. The program is primarily designed to increase the size and confidence of existing resources as well as test for lateral and depth extensions. Deep Yellow is targeting a nominal 50 million pound resource before it resumes a Pre-feasibility Study it halted due to the discovery of high grade alaskite mineralisation. Interim results from the study had in early 2011 demonstrated the potential for a mine capable of producing 2.2 million pounds of uranium for 12 years. 

This would have a capital cost of about US$340 million including a 10% contingency with operating costs of about US$32 per pound of uranium. 


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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Do You Support Uranium Mining In Queensland ? CAST YOUR VOTE

Published on Thursday September 20 2012 (AEST)

Let's talk about Uranium Mining: Qld Govt 

Queensland's Government is calling for public debate on uranium mining after miners urged it to lift a decades-long ban. 

Resources Minister Andrew Cripps called for discussion on Friday after the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) said it was time to overturn the ban. 

"Uranium mining has not been the subject of a serious public discussion in Queensland for many years," he told AAP. "The Queensland Government is keen to hear all views." The state's last uranium mine, Mary Kathleen, closed in 1982. 

"A generation of Queenslanders have never experienced or contributed to this debate," Mr Cripps said. Western Australia and the Northern Territory currently allow uranium mining and QRC president Michael Roche said in an article on Friday it was time to follow suit. "The time is ripe for Queensland to move from uranium exploration to mining."

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Friday, September 14, 2012

Uranium Stocks Begin Initial First Stage Of Breakout

Published on Friday September 14 2012 (AEST)
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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Uranium Spot Price Optimism Beginning To Build

Published on Wednesday September 05 2012 (AEST)  


Over the course of August there were 17 transactions that took place in the spot market, with a total of 2.9m pounds of U3O8 equivalent changing hands. This is significantly more than the 1.4m pounds that were traded on the spot market in July. Industry consultant TradeTech notes buyers were utilities and intermediaries for the most part, with the selling group being comprised of traders, producers and financial entities. 

The prominent featuring of traders and financial entities does little to inspire optimism amongst the bullish crowd, as it signifies that there remains a significant amount of speculative interest in the energy metal. TradeTech believes the increased uranium market activity can be attributed to the pullback in the spot price that played out over July and August. 

The consultant notes that prices in deals reported during August declined as each successive deal was done. In fact, the pullback gathered momentum as the month neared its end. Seller resolve finally began to crack under the strain of inactivity, with a number of marketers who were unwilling to drop offer prices finally buckling, seemingly determined to do some business even if it meant dropping prices. 

The lower the price went the more buying interest and thus an increase in volume traded for the month. The positive side of their equation, if there is one, is that hopefully these "distressed" transactions are helping to clear the market of discount stock. Still, demand remains patchy at best and continues to be highly price sensitive. 

TradeTech does see some improvement in these dynamics, but notes it will take time for a higher quality of demand to filter through. There are potential buyers that are yet to enter the spot market despite the recent weakness in prices. 

For utilities, it is a question of available budget to build inventory or make discretionary purchases, but management and budget allocations take time. Until there is a pickup in steady demand, TradeTech notes there is increased talk in the market that prices could fall even further, seeing many prospective buyers delay purchases in hopes
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

BHP Cancels $30 Billion Olympic Dam Copper-Uranium Mine Expansion Near Roxby Downs

Published on Wednesday August 22 2012 (AEST)  


BHP Billiton has shelved its $30 billion Olympic Dam expansion and will go back to the drawing board to find a cheaper alternative. Market conditions, subdued commodity prices and higher capital costs led to the decision, said BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers in a statement. 

"As we finalised the details of the project ... it became clear that the right decision for the company and its shareholders was to continue studies to develop a less capital-intensive option to replace the underground mine at Olympic Dam," Mr Kloppers said. 

 "Value is always our primary consideration. We believe today's decision reflects an appropriate, prudent and disciplined course of action." 

The mine would have become the world's biggest open cut copper and uranium mine at six Kilometres long and one Kilometre deep. 


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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Paladin Energy Signs $200m Uranium Offtake Contract

Published on Wednesday August 15 2012 (AEST)  


Paladin Energy has signed a massive US$200 million long term off-take contract for its Uranium. According to the company it has signed a six year off-take agreement with an unnamed "major utility" to provide 13.73 million pounds of uranium from 2019 through to 2024. 

 It will supply the uranium from its current African mining operations or its upcoming projects. All of the "uranium delivered under the long term contract will be sold at market prices prevailing at the time of delivery bounded by escalating floor and ceiling prices," Paladin says. 

 As part of the agreement, the unnamed utility will hold security over 60.1% of Paladin's Michelin project in Canada. 

The prepayment of the US$200 million will be applied to the repayment of US$ 134 million worth of convertible notes, with the remainder held in the balance sheet as working capital. Paladin "will now re-evaluate its strategic options in the light of this major achievement"
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