STRUGGLING uranium miner Energy Resources Australia has underwhelmed the market with its production forecasts, raising fears that its terrible 2011 could stretch into 2012.

The stock plunged almost 14 per cent yesterday after the company - majority owned by Rio Tinto - revealed a $153.6 million loss for the year to December 31.

Although a spectacular 427 per cent worse than the previous year, the result was not unexpected given the company's Ranger mine was shut down for much of 2011, and a massive depreciation of assets had already been announced in August.

The bigger surprise for the market came when ERA forecast production of between 3000 and 3700 tonnes of uranium oxide in 2012 - well below the 4100 tonnes forecast by analysts at Goldman Sachs.

Production figures at Ranger are highly dependent on the weather, with water management problems during the Northern Territory's wet season often causing interruptions.

With record rainfall continuing through December, ERA warned that its underwhelming production forecasts could be further dented if bad weather returned.

The ERA board has approved $220 million of spending on a brine concentrator, which will help mitigate its water problems.

ERA's future rests on hopes of finding new uranium deposits beneath the Ranger open cut and turning it into an underground mine.

Exploration on that project, known as Ranger Deeps, has been mixed so far and investors will have to wait until 2014 before knowing if it will proceed.

With the stock falling 21¢ to $1.33 yesterday, ERA chief executive Rob Atkinson said investors would be missing good value if they waited until approval was granted in 2014 before investing.

Hopes that Rio Tinto will come to the rescue of another ASX-listed uranium play - Extract Resources - appear dashed, after Rio sold a strategic investment to state-owned Chinese interests.

Extract has been stalked by the China Guandong Nuclear Power Group, which is attracted to Extract's Husab uranium deposit in Africa.

Extract has been cultivating rival suitors, but hopes that Rio Tinto may be such an alternative appeared to fade when Rio sold its 11 per cent stake in Kalahari Minerals to the Chinese group.

The sale means the Chinese now own more than 40 per cent of Kalahari and are close to the trigger point - set by Australian regulators - that would force a downstream bid for Extract.

Shares in Extract were unchanged at $8.55.