As they told us,Mr.Young and Mr.Woolford are currently in London.
Here is some coverage on this from reuters:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKWLA739520090624
LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - West Australian Metals Ltd (WME.AX) said on Wednesday that Areva (CEPFi.PA) is interested in its key uranium project in Namibia and that it has held "a couple of discussions" with the world's biggest nuclear power company.
West Australian Chief Executive John Young told Reuters Areva would probably be keen to expand its presence in the uranium-rich southern African country given the extent of the French company's Namibian investments.
West Australian's major asset is the Marenica uranium project, immediately north of Areva's large Trekkopje mine, which the French state-owned company acquired when it bought UraMin in 2007 for $2.5 billion.
"They are interested in our project," Young said in an interview, without specifying the nature of their discussions. He noted, however, that Areva are spending over $1 billion to develop the neighbouring Trekkopje project.
"It's a lot of capital going into a project with a 14-year mine life. They will be looking for additional resources," he said.
A further affirmation for this statement can be found in the following article(published yesterday),where Areva stated,it wants to increase their Namibian output !!! and that it wont continue to pursue most of its canadian projects,because they are simply too expensive:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYFLFoKTzh9U
June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Areva SA, the world’s third-largest miner of uranium, aims to almost double production within three years by increasing output in Namibia and Kazakhstan to help plug a future global supply deficit of the nuclear fuel.
The company, which produced 6,300 metric tons of uranium last year, forecast output of 7,500 tons this year and 12,000 tons in three years’ time, Sebastien de Montessus, director of Paris-based Areva’s mining business unit, said yesterday in a phone interview. Further expansion beyond 2012, particularly in Niger, depends on prices, he said.
Uranium for immediate delivery has risen to $55 a pound from this year’s low of $40.50 in mid-April and remains 60 percent below its June 2007 peak, according to Denver-based pricing service TradeTech LLC. The current price wouldn’t be enough to make an investment of $500 million to $1.5 billion profitable, De Montessus said.
“Producers around the world need to see some signs of higher spot prices over the next few months to press the button for new projects,” De Montessus said. “With a spot price at $40 there are already some existing mines that cannot produce, so you can imagine for new projects it is simply impossible. The market price has to go up to $70 to $80.”
The uranium market may face a production shortfall after 2015 because demand from India, China and the Middle East has been underestimated, he said. Nuclear power, with 436 reactors currently operating, provides about 15 percent of the world’s electricity and there are 45 plants under construction, the World Nuclear Association said on its Web site.
Supply Accords
Areva signed a uranium supply agreement with India in December and plans a similar accord with the United Arab Emirates “soon,” De Montessus said. He declined to be more specific.
Production at Katco, the Kazakh venture in which Areva holds a 51 percent stake, is likely to total 4,000 tons by 2012. In Namibia, the world’s fourth-largest uranium producer, output at the Trekkopje project would start at the end of this year, ramping up to 2,500 tons by 2012, De Montessus said.
In Niger, the world’s sixth-biggest uranium producer, Areva should invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in the Imouraren project, scheduled to come on stream in 2012. The project is already delayed a year because of political turbulence in the country, which accounts for 40 percent of Areva’s output.
“We will decide in 2011-2012 whether we should scale it for 2,000 tons or 5,000 tons or even 7,000 tons,” De Montessus said.
Canada Cost
Areva owns two-thirds of Imouraren and Niger’s government holds the rest. The company already operates the 1,200 ton-a- year Cominak mine in Niger and will increase production at Somair to as much as 2,500 tons for the rest of the site’s 10- year life, he said.
In Canada, Areva was unlikely to develop further projects apart from the 6,000 ton-a-year McArthur mine, in which Cameco Corp. holds 70 percent, De Montessus said. The company shelved the Midwest project in Saskatchewan in November.
“Most of the projects in Canada are going to be too expensive,” he said.
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