No expansion for Uranium One due to poor market

Rosatom’s Uranium One to Freeze Expansion Moscow Times, 13 November 2013 | Issue 5255 Reuters  Canadian miner Uranium One Holding, acquired this year by state-owned reactor builder and supplier Rosatom, said it would freeze expansion projects in Russia and elsewhere due to low uranium prices.

The price of uranium, used mainly as fuel for nuclear plants, plummeted after the March 2011 meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant and has shown no signs of recovery.

“We cannot discount the dramatic fall in natural uranium prices, as a result of which more than 50 percent of global uranium production is currently loss-making,” Uranium One President Vadim Zhivov said in e-mailed comments Wednesday.

 ”Given the unfavorable market environment, we have decided to freeze expansion projects both in Russia and abroad,” Zhivov said.

Uranium One, which Rosatom took private last month, will mothball the Honeymoon mine in uranium-rich South Australia, local media reported this week, citing high costs and unfavorable contracts with Japan’s Mitsui.

A company spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the mine would be put in ”care and maintenance” mode. Zhivov did not specify which of the company’s projects had been cancelled, saying the details would be announced later…….

November uranium futures on the New York Mercantile exchange closed at $35.85 per pound on Tuesday, compared with $68 per pound before the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/rosatoms-uranium-one-to-freeze-expansion/489582.html#ixzz2klcYXhbe

Uranium One n the doghouse

Uranium One cutting 26 staffhttp://www.mining.com/uranium-one-cutting-26-staff-43352/Michael Allan McCrae | June 15, 2013 Bowing to miserable prices for its product, Uranium One (TSE:UUU) is letting go of 26 employees.

The company’s Willow Creek Mine will see 16 people cut. The Casper operation will lose the other 10.

Donna Wicher, the company’s senior vice president of Americas, told the Wyoming Staff Tribune that the company is adjusting to the market.

“The price is so low that we have to sell our uranium at these low prices, and that’s not good,” said Wichers.

“We need higher prices in order to make a profit that we need to develop new well fields.”

Uranium One operates in situ recovery at its Willow Creek Mine in Wyoming. It also has additional exploration projects in Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.

Uranium is in the dog house after the spot price hit a seven-year low last week. In January Uranium One’s board approved a deal to be taken private by the the Russian firmJSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ) for C$1.3 billion, a move that was oppos

Uranium One makes aloss agasin

Uranium One posts $9.5m Q1 loss, production up 10% Mining Weekly, By: Natasha Odendaal 14th May 2013 JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE- and TSX-listed Uranium One on Monday reported a net loss of $9.5-million for the first quarter ended March 31.

This was down from earnings of $4.5-million recorded in the comparative period the year before.

The group, which owns assets in Kazakhstan, the US, Australia and Tanzania, recorded a 60% drop in earnings from mine operations, including joint ventures (JVs), reaching $19.6-million during the first quarter, compared with the $49.3-million achieved in the corresponding period the year before.

Revenue for the period dipped to $5.2-million, from $5.3-million in the first quarter of 2012, while its JV operations contributed revenue of $57.4-million, down from the $90.6-million earned in the comparative quarter last year.

Uranium sales also declined year-on-year with 1.38-million pounds of uranium sold at an average price of $45/lb in the first quarter, compared with the 1.8-million pounds sold at $53/lb in the first quarter of 2012…… the company warned that the year ahead would be capital intensive as it incurred capital expenditure of $164-million on its assets in Kazakhstan, the US and Australia.

About $98-million was allocated for wellfield development, and the remaining $66-million for plant and equipment.

Uranium One noted that general and administrative expenses – excluding noncash items – were expected to reach about $40-million.

Exploration expenses were expected to reach $8-million. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/uranium-one-posts-95m-q1-loss-production-up-10-2013-05-1

Uranium One – “future results may differ from expected results”

Uranium One’s CEO Discusses Q3 2012 Results – Earnings Call Transcript Seeking Alpha November 6, 2012 “…..This upcoming discussion does contain certain forward-looking information with respect to Uranium One’s operations and financial results. Actual future results may differ from expected results for a variety of reasons which are described in the cautionary statements regarding forward-looking information in our press release..

…  during the quarter, we did determine that it would not be economical to mine, the South Zarechnoye satellite deposit due to lower uranium prices following the Fukushima incident together with a decrease in the resource base
resulting from recent exploration work.

As a result, we incurred non-cash expenses $79 million by writing down the carrying value of South Zarechnoye. This resulted in a net loss for the quarter of $61.6 million or $0.06 per share……  Uranium One now owns 100% of the Honeymoon mine

Another uranium company posts a loss

Uranium One posts 3Q loss despite production increase 11/5/2012   Stockhouse Editorial Uranium One Inc. (TSX: T.UUU, Stock Forum) announced its third quarter financial results on Monday and said total production rose 23% to 3.1 million pounds from 2.5 million pounds in the year earlier period.

Uranium One is a Toronto-based company with assets in Kazakhstan, the United States and Australia…..
The company posted a net loss of $61.6 million or 6 cents a share in the quarter. That compared to a net profit of $45.8 million or 5 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue in the quarter was $142.6 million, down from $157.7 million in the year ago period.
Down 1% Monday to $2, Uranium One has a market cap of $1.9 billion, based on 957.2 million shares outstanding. The 52-week range is $3.45 and $1.98. http://www.stockhouse.com/natural-resources-news/2012/nov/5/uranium-one-posts-3q-loss-despite-production-incre.aspx#uEqGXOEW55vDjfL4.99

Actually sendng uranium from Australia to India – a distant dream

 the glacial pace of nuclear power plant construction and activation in India in the face of anti-nuclear campaigns;

Indian uranium deals a long way off  GEOFF HISCOCK   The Australian October 29, 2012 AUSTRALIA’S new willingness to sell uranium to India is more about snuggling up to Asia’s third largest economy than any actual nuclear
commerce. It is highly unlikely that Australian uranium will be powering Indian nuclear reactors in this decade.

India’s 20 operating reactors, spread across six sites, have an installed capacity of 4.8 gigawatts (GW) and consume about 1000 tonnes of uranium a year. With New Delhi setting revised goals of boosting nuclear output to 14.4 GW
by 2020 and between 27.5 and 63 GW by 2032, the decision by the Gillard government to allow uranium sales to India seemingly presents an opportunity for Australian producers BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Heathgate Resources and Uranium1.

Uranium prices falling steadily over past year

Fukushima affects uranium stocks, Star Tribune, 18 DecShare prices of global uranium majors continue to suffer the aftereffects of an earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant last March.
That’s the assessment of Sydney, Australia-based Resource Capital Research, which noted share prices for selected companies have declined substantially.
An analysis noted that Cameco shares declined by nearly 50 percent over the past year, while Uranium One shares had dropped by nearly 45 percent. Energy Resources of Australia stock fell by 82.1 percent.
“The Merril Lynch Uranium Equity Index (a global basket of uranium equities) is down 2 percent over the past month, down 7 percent over three months and down 54 percent over the past 12 months,” the firm said in a report earlier this month. …..
The uranium spot price was pegged at $52.25, down from $67.75 prior to the Fukushima disaster. In the near-term, Resource Capital Research said Fukushima will continue to weigh on the market, “including Germany’s decision to
close reactors and the potential for disposal of surplus utility inventory.”…..

Cameco, Denison, Uranium One, Paladin – uranium share prices falls down 27%

Shares of Denison Mines and Uranium Resources Face Strong Downward Pressure, MarketWatch, NEW YORK, NY, Sep 30, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX)–– Uranium stocks have struggled this month as prices for the radioactive material have plunged. According to the latest quarterly report by Resource Capital Research, uranium prices are down 27 per cent over the past three months and 23 per cent over the past year….

Uranium explorers that suffered double-digit share price percentage falls in the past one to three months include Cameco, Denison Mines, Uranium One and Paladin….

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/shares-of-denison-mines-and-uranium-resources-face-strong-downward-pressure-2011-09-30?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Poor growth predicted for uranium industry – Uranium One

Uranium One cuts demand forecast by 8%-10% TORONTO Mining Weekly, 9th August 2011 – Canada’s Uranium One has cut its demand growth projections for uranium for its namesake product by 8% to 10% over the next decade,…..

Last month, Australia-based Paladin Resources cut its 2012 uranium production guidance to 7.4-million pounds and 7.9-million pounds from the previous forecast of 8.2-million pounds, mainly because of delays to its stage-three expansion at the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia.

This was followed by an August 4 announcement by uranium’s perennial under-performer, Rio Tinto’s Energy Resources of Australia, that it had nearly halved the reserves at its Ranger mine……

Yellow cake prices dropped to $49/lb from around $66/lb in the immediate wake of the Japanese disaster, and have since settled at about $52/lb.–

Uranium One suffers price dive

Uranium One has year-end loss  The Calgary Herald March 8, 2011 . Uranium One Inc. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $148.2 million on Tuesday, compared with a profit of $179.6 million in the same period a year earlier. It said the loss was due to a series of one-time expenses.
The company, based in Vancouver and Johannesburg, said the loss amounted to 24 cents a share, compared with a profit of 38 cents a share during the fourth quarter of 2009……