RIO Tinto's listed uranium subsidiary, Energy Resources of Australia, has ruled itself out as a buyer of its parent's undeveloped Kintyre uranium deposit in Western Australia.

Kintyre is one of the assets Rio is putting up for sale as part of its $US15 billion ($A17.1 billion) garage sale to fund debt reduction after its $US38 billion acquisition of Alcan.

There has been speculation that ERA, 68% owned by Rio, would be a natural buyer of Kintyre, given its 26 years of experience as a uranium miner at the Ranger mine in the Northern Territory. Apart from anything else, it would enhance ERA's growth profile.

But ERA chief executive Chris Salisbury said yesterday the ERA board's strategy was "very much about exploiting the resources that we have on our lease areas" inside Kakadu National Park.

"There is no doubt in my mind that we are sitting in amongst the most prospectable ground in the world," he said. "The board has reaffirmed the strategy of let's exploit that."

The speculation that ERA had growth ambitions beyond its Kakadu leases were partly fuelled by its decision to apply for the exploration licences covering the Angela/Pamela uranium deposits near Alice Springs. Mr Salisbury said the board would "consider opportunities" as they arose but the focus was on its Ranger leases. He said ERA had made an exception in applying for the Angela/Pamela licence.

"It's in our backyard if you like, and we've got a large presence in the NT and it was a low threshold to entry," he said. ERA expects the NT Government will announce the winning applicant in the first half of next year. It faces stiff competition, with more than 40 applicants in the field, including a half a dozen Chinese nuclear groups.

After addressing the Melbourne Mining Club, he said ERA was "very much focused on the ($A57 million) Ranger expansion". The status of the nearby but undeveloped Jabiluka deposit has not changed.

"It remains on care and maintenance, the traditional owners have right of consent over its development," Mr Salisbury said. Jabiluka was a valuable resource and ERA wanted to develop it, but only with consent of the original owners, he said.

ERA shares closed 35¢ higher at $20, with investors at the lunch taking away the message that ERA was bullish on uranium prices. Prices have come back from recent peaks but at about $US93 a pound, the price is still up from the $US10 a pound level of three or four years ago.

"We can see prices being maintained or (going) even higher," he said. "We've seen a number of stumbles by various operations, including Ranger, although that is now behind us."

And because of the potential for more supply disruptions, prices could "rise even beyond where they are now", he said.

Like other uranium producers compelled to sign low-price contracts in the early 2000s, ERA is starting to see them roll off and be replaced by higher-priced contracts that capture more of uranium's price spike.

Mr Salisbury said the low-priced contracts were generally of three to five years' duration and were now starting to end. "The uranium price has been steadily climbing and we've been signing contracts all the way up that climb. We will see improved prices sweep into our portfolio, which will allow us to achieve much better realised prices."