Ivanhoe’s Kipushi zinc mine in the DRC officially reopens
The restart marked exactly a century since the mine first went into production.
Hathor Exploration announced early Wednesday that its board unanimously recommends that shareholders reject Cameco’s unsolicited offer for the company calling it ‘opportunistic’ and ‘predatory’ coming in the wake of the Fukishima disaster in Japan that sent uranium oxide prices to lows of around $50/pound. Hathor opened down slightly on Wednesday trading at $4.15 versus Cameco’s offer of $3.75.
Yesterday the company said a preliminary economic assessment of its Roughrider uranium deposit showed it would potentially be one of the lowest cost uranium producers in the world at only $14.44/lb U3O8. The junior uranium explorer (TSE:HAT) has gained about 56% since the offer and 121% since the start of the year. In contrast $8 billion industry bellwether Cameco’s stock (TSE:CCO) has almost halved in 2011.
Uranium-oxide concentrate for immediate delivery sells for around $50 a pound and the spot price for the nuclear fuel has declined 24% since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan damaged the Fukushima nuclear power station. Uranium oxide prices peaked above $70/pound at the start of 2011.
Press Release of September 14, 2011:
Hathor Exploration Limited announced that its Board of Directors, after careful consideration and receipt of the recommendation of a special committee of its independent directors (the Special Committee), and after consultation with its financial and legal advisors, unanimously recommends that Hathor shareholders REJECT the unsolicited offer (the Offer) from Cameco Corporation (Cameco) to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Hathor (Hathor Shares).
The Board recommends to Hathor shareholders that they REJECT the Offer and DO NOT TENDER their Hathor Shares for the following reasons Offer is predatory. The Offer was announced prior to Hathor’s planned release of the preliminary economic assessment (PA) for the Roughrider uranium deposit and the completion of the anticipated first mineral resource estimate for the Far East zone.
Therefore, the Offer was made prior to Hathor being able to disclose important information regarding the size and value of the Roughrider uranium deposit. The Offer is opportunistic. The timing of the Offer takes advantage of the depressed uranium prices and the decline in share prices of uranium companies post-Fukushima and the general market downturn. The Offer fails to recognize the strategic importance of the Athabasca.
