  | |
| |
 |
|
| ||
Uranium One sets Q1 for 'commercial' output Posted: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 [miningmx.com] -- UNFOUNDED speculation Uranium One was struggling to commission its South African project and that it was considering a bid for rival, Paladin Resources, were to blame for large selling of the company’s shares last week, said Neal Froneman, president and CEO of the Toronto-listed firm. But it's also likely the sudden withdrawal of Uranium One from a European roadshow organised by BMO Nesbitt Burns triggered the selling, according to one mining analyst: "You get selling when companies withdraw from conferences,” he said. “Traders think there’s something wrong.” Miningmx reported on Monday that about 12% of the issued share capital of Uranium One, equal to about R3bn in value, had traded on October 11 and 12. That's about 43 million shares trading between C$11.70 to C$10.01.share. Uranium One recovered slightly on October 15 trading up to C$10.83/share, but well off its 52-week high of $18.65/share. Froneman confirmed the company's representatives had pulled out of the BMO conference. And while Uranium One was not suffering significant commissioning problems at Dominion Reefs, its officers were giving particular focus to the project, south of Johannesburg, he said. Dominion Reefs, which is estimated to produce about 500,000 lbs of uranium oxide by the calendar year-end, is running behind schedule, a development that Froneman puts down to normal commissioning glitches. Uranium One said earlier this year it hoped to declare commercial production – where the cost of running the mine is expensed and not capitalised – in the fourth quarter. That will now take place in the first quarter of 2008. Commercial production is called when the project is at 60% of capacity. Capital cost and equipment inflation, which is endemic to the entire mining industry, was also a factor in the building of the mine, said Froneman. “Reagent costs, labour and capital items are all more expensive. But the commissioning is going well,” he said. “We’re in the final stages of commissioning. We hope to give clearer guidance in a couple of weeks,” said Froneman who has a lot on his plate at the moment. Froneman is due to visit the company’s Khazakstan projects next week, bought from Energy Metals Corp. earlier this year, and has recently signed a number of agreements in the US. Plans to expand in Australia have currently been shelved. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
| ||||||||
0% 
