Nigeria resumes mining in Zamfara state on improved security
Nigeria has lifted a ban on mining exploration in the northwestern state after a five-year suspension.
Australia’s Paladin Energy has signed three new uranium sale agreements with US customers for output from the stage 3 expansion of the Langer Heinrich mine in the Namib desert (pictured).
The company said that the production commitments from the agreements total more than 2.8 million pounds of uranium oxide, with deliveries between 2012 and 2016. Contractual prices range from the low- to mid-$60’s per pound compared to spot prices of $50. Paladin lost almost 5% on the Sydney stock exchange on Wednesday where it is valued at $1.5 billion.
allAfrica.com reports in June Paladin’s chief executive officer, John Borshoff, had to publicly reassure investors that the company’s financial standing was in good order and that an expansion feasibility study for the mine on the West coast of Namibia would be completed by the end of the year.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday uranium-oxide concentrate for immediate delivery sold for $50.50 a pound in the previous week 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.
