Energy Resources Quarterly Uranium Output Falls 31%
Angela Macdonald-Smith
Bloomberg
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd., producer of more than a 10th of the world's mined uranium supply, said second-quarter production fell 31 percent because of restricted access to higher-grade ore.
Output for the three months ended June 30 dropped to 2,271 pounds of uranium oxide, Darwin-based Energy Resources, majority owned by Rio Tinto Group, said today in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. First-half production dipped 6 percent to 5,196 pounds.
Energy Resources, known as ERA, is spending A$57 million ($55 million) to extend the operating pit at its Ranger mine in the Northern Territory, prolonging production to 2012 amid rising demand for the radioactive metal from power utilities. The company in April forecast lower output in the second quarter because of water in the pit, arising from flooding in early 2007.
"At the end of the wet season, although water levels in the pit were substantially lower than at the same time in 2007, there was still restricted access to higher-grade ore, which is predominantly in the bottom of the pit," Energy Resources said in today's statement.
Energy Resources gained as much as 54 cents, or 2.3 percent, to A$24.50 in Sydney trading on the exchange. It was at A$24.26 at 11:14 a.m. local time.
Output for the three months ended June 30 dropped to 2,271 pounds of uranium oxide, Darwin-based Energy Resources, majority owned by Rio Tinto Group, said today in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. First-half production dipped 6 percent to 5,196 pounds.
Energy Resources, known as ERA, is spending A$57 million ($55 million) to extend the operating pit at its Ranger mine in the Northern Territory, prolonging production to 2012 amid rising demand for the radioactive metal from power utilities. The company in April forecast lower output in the second quarter because of water in the pit, arising from flooding in early 2007.
"At the end of the wet season, although water levels in the pit were substantially lower than at the same time in 2007, there was still restricted access to higher-grade ore, which is predominantly in the bottom of the pit," Energy Resources said in today's statement.
Energy Resources gained as much as 54 cents, or 2.3 percent, to A$24.50 in Sydney trading on the exchange. It was at A$24.26 at 11:14 a.m. local time.