Record uranium production at Langer Heinrich mine

The mine produced nearly 1, 2 million pounds of uranium in the fourth quarter of 2011, an raise of 40, 5 per cent compare to the third quarter. Production was also 33 per cent top than that of the second quarter and nearly 50 per cent more than what was mined in the first quarter of 2011.

In total, Langer Heinrich delivered about 3, 7 million pounds of uranium last year, Paladin Energy’s fourth quarter report, on the loose yesterday, shows.Tonnage through the process plant increased by 26 per cent in the fourth quarter with a throughput of 630 397 tonnes of ore crushed.Paladin, owner of Langer Heinrich, said overall plant competence during the quarter improved from 80,2 per cent in the third quarter to 83,8 per cent.

Paladin said the construction phase of the mine’s Stage 3 development project has been completed.“Ramp-up of the plant is predictable to be completed in the March quarter of 2012 with the project at an overall 99 per cent state of completion,” Paladin said. The company said all technical aspects of the Stage 4 possibility study were finished at the end of 2011. The economic modelling and compassion analysis are currently underway.

Paladin's Kayelekera mine costs offset uranium profits

NET losses by uranium miner Paladin Energy sank to $US123.4 million ($120m) in the quarter ended September 30, as a $US178.9m harm on its Kayelekera mine wiped out modest profits from its uranium sales in a quarterly activities report, Paladin said that revenues in the quarter additional than doubled to $US103m from $US49 1m in the same quarter the year before.

But rising production costs still left the company in the red after amortisation and depreciation, and weakness in the uranium price forced Paladin to write down the haulage value of Kayelekera, a mine in northern Malawi with a resource of 19.1m tonnes.

Paladin said its selling price in the September quarter was an average $US51 per pound, against $US55 over the year to the end of June the regular production cost from Kayelekera and the bigger Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia during both periods was $US35.

Uranium miner seeks $70m in fresh funds

IT IS not the best of times for a uranium producer to be patter the market for fresh funding but that is what ASX-listed African uranium producer Paladin Energy is doing, in search of up to $70 million from an institutional placement of shares.

The funds are needed to strengthen the group's balance sheet to "ensure the company is well placed to meet all future commitment and pursue recognized growth options"" it was not inspiring stuff from a company whose share price has been trashed because investor confidence in uranium stocks was undermined by the incomplete meltdown at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant in March.

Expansion at the group's Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia and the improvement of the Kayelekera mine in Malawi have also cause some headaches, fundamental to the group's 74 per cent share price fall.