He said the company was confident that there was a 34,000- tonne resource under its existing open pit mine, which would be exhausted by the end of 2012.

"It's one of the largest finds anywhere in the world of uranium and it's right on our doorstep, so I think it's a very exciting challenge and the exploration decline which we've worked through, we are very close to a decision on that as to whether or not we're proceeding with that," he said on the ABC'sInside Business program yesterday.

The company does not expect to have access to the high-grade ore at the bottom of pit three until at least later this year.

Mr Atkinson said the company's other mining projects would continue after its open pit mine was exhausted in 2012.

"We do believe we've got very good projects," he said.

"But at this point in time it is important for the company to take stock, to review in particular its costs, to review its priorities and we simply must deal with water management and getting water treatment up and running."

He defended the company's decision to suspend mining at its open pit mine until late July because of heavy rain and the large volume of water that had accumulated in pit three.

At the end of January, ERA, which is majority-owned by Rio Tinto, said there would be a 12-week shutdown of its processing plant. But it now expects operations to remain closed until late July.

The company last week slashed its 2011 production forecast by 37 per cent, from 3800 tonnes to 2400 tonnes. It also warned the market to expect a full-year loss of up to $50 million because of heavy rain at its Ranger mine. ERA had forecast a full-year loss of between $30m and $50m, down from a profit of $22.7m in 2010.