Tuesday, 28 November, 2006

by Paul Daniel
AFX News

SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - Energy Resources of Australia Ltd said it will build a 27.6 mln aud plant in 2007 at its Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory to process its stockpile of lateritic ore.

ERA, majority owned by global miner Rio Tinto Ltd, said the new processing plant will contribute approximately 400 metric tons of uranium oxide per year to production over a period of seven years from 2008 through 2014.

The miner said approximately 1.6 mln tons of lateritic ore have been stockpiled since the mine began operating to allow for the optimum processing method to be developed.

It said because of the clay-like nature of this material, it has to be introduced into the main processing plant through a dedicated handling facility.

Construction of the plant will commence in April 2007, with the first lateritic ore scheduled for processing in the first quarter of 2008.

In late October, ERA said it had increased its total reserve estimate of uranium oxide at the Ranger mine in the Northern Territory by 11,100 metric tons as a result of screening and processing stockpiled material between the grades of 0.02 and 0.08 pct uranium oxide.

Material with a grade greater than 0.02 pct uranium oxide and below the economic cut-off grade has been stockpiled, but recent increases in the market price of uranium oxide have warranted a review of these stockpiles.

It said reserves at the mine now total 52,433 tons.