Matt Chambers From: The Australian June 22, 2010 11:00PM
EXTRACT Resources has rejected speculation it is in danger of losing its grasp on the big Rossing South uranium deposit in Namibia.
The miner also said that the suggestion was an insult to the government of the sparsely populated southern African country.
Speaking after an extraordinary general meeting in Perth yesterday, chief executive John Leslie said Extract's strong shareholder register, which includes Rio Tinto, meant the company could finance the $US1 billion ($1.13bn) project without a partner.
"Namibia is a country which has a very liberal constitution and a working democracy," Mr Leslie said. "The idea that when you're as ahead of obligations on an EPL (exploration lease) as we are, your mining licence is in jeopardy, is really pretty insulting to the Namibians. There is just no precedent for that," he said.
Extract wants to mine up to 6700 tonnes of uranium a year at South Rossing from 2013, making it the world's second-biggest uranium mine after Canada's McArthur River. Doubts have been raised about Extract's hold on the project since Russia and Namibia signed a five-year memorandum of co-operation on uranium development.
Russia's state-owned Rosatom said it had put in an application to develop South Rossing and would be prepared to spend $US1bn on uranium development.
While some observers have said there is little chance the government will strip Extract of the project, others are not convinced.
Mr Leslie said he was not feeling any pressure from the Russian-Namibian agreement.
Referring to a year-long search for a partner being conducted by Rothschild, he said: "The problem we have is that we can't talk about individual parties we're talking to.
"What we've been very encouraged about is the interest from global participants."
He also said Extract had heard from the highest level of government that Namibia wanted Extract to engage with all interested parties and that the government would not interfere with commercial talks.
He said if the search was not successful, the mine could be financed by traditional means.
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