Uranium producer Energy Resources Australia is on course to resume normal operations in mid-July at an ore processing plant shut down earlier this year over safety concerns, causing a sharp drop in production, a company spokeswoman said on Friday.

"That processing plant is operating and tracking to plan," the spokeswoman said.

The company, 68.4 percent owned by Rio Tinto , was forced in late January to suspend uranium processing at its Ranger mine for the remainder of the wet season in tropical northern Australia after heavy rains filled a waste tailings dam to near capacity.

The suspension led to a 42 percent drop in first-quarter production of uranium oxide to 518 tonnes and the firm is also expected to have reduced second-quarter output.

The company said in mid-June that following the end to the rains that it would take about one month for the plant to return to normal production levels.

ERA is scheduled to provide new production guidance for 2011 when it reports its second-quarter production performance on July 13.