Energy Resources of Australia Ltd, which mines a tenth of the world's uranium, reported a 1 percent fall in fourth quarter output on Wednesday, exceeding a full-year forecast.

ERA, a 68.4 percent subsidiary of global miner Rio Tinto, reported full-year production for 2008 of 3.54 million tonnes. It had forecast annual output to come in close to its 2007 result of 2.93 million tonnes.

ERA reached agreement last year to sell uranium to China for the first time.