Comment: Let's hope the price of uranium stays low! No to uranium mining, we do not need it and we do not need nuke plants, only true green energy!
Uranium Miners Need 25% Price Advance for Expansion Incentive, Rio Says
By Anna Stablum - Sep 22, 2010 10:02 AM ET
Uranium must rise 25 percent to give mining companies an incentive to start or expand projects outside of top producer Kazakhstan, said Clark Beyer, managing director of Rio Tinto Uranium Ltd.
His comments apply to uranium-oxide concentrate’s “long- term” price, defined as delivery in more than 24 months by Ux Consulting Co. The price is $60 a pound, UxC said Sept. 20 in its latest weekly report, compared with a 2010 low of $58.
“You need probably a $75 price to incentivize a lot of the new projects around the world,” Beyer said yesterday in an interview. “It is certainly a helpful sign that things are picking up, but as yet we haven’t seen much movement in the long-term price.”
Harmony Gold Mining Company: Uranium project hit by price slump
September 23rd, 2010
In a nutshell Harmony are not too keen to push ahead with an investment into a uranium mining project while the uranium price languishes around the $45/lb level.
Although it makes sense to wait until uranium prices improve we have always found it surprising that prices have to rise to a pre-determined level before a project gets the go ahead. When the price triggers a go ahead it then takes years to bring the project on stream and the price may well have have soared and then retreated again as the project enters the production phase.
The other problem is that a number of projects are triggered at the same time thus making it difficult to recruit the staff and the associated resources necessary to execute the project.
Anyway here is the bones of an article from miningmx.com:
CONSTRUCTION of the proposed R3.5bn Rand Uranium plant to be built near Randfontein could be delayed because of current low uranium prices.
That’s according to Harmony CEO, Graham Briggs, who was replying to a question posed after his presentation to the Denver Gold Forum being held in Denver, Colorado.
Harmony holds a 40% stake in the unlisted Rand Uranium into which it injected assets formerly belonging to the Cooke and Randfontein sections of the Randfontein mine including the high uranium grade Cooke tailings dump.
Briggs told the conference that: “Rand Uranium is a great project at a uranium price of $65/lb.
At prices closer to $45/lb it is not so great and you probably would not make that investment.”
Uranium prices have been depressed for the past 18 months with the spot price currently sitting around $48/lb and the long-term contract price stuck at around $58/lb.
“Spot prices of around $70/lb can be expected to provide uranium producers with the right incentive to develop new supplies.”
DRDGold executive Charles Symons told financial media during a recent visit to the group’s Ergo gold recovery plant near Springs that a price of $113/lb for uranium was required to justify a decision to restart the former Ergo uranium plant.
“Uranium is clearly not feasible for us at current prices but it’s an option should uranium prices ever get that high in future,” he said.
Read more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-22/uranium-miners-need-25-price-gain-to-expand-rio-s-beyer-says.html
http://www.uranium-stocks.net/harmony-gold-mining-company-uranium-project-hit-by-price-slump/
