Uranium One CEO Jean Nortier tells Miningmx that his company is keen to invest in uranium assets in Africa to diversify its production base away from Kazakhstan.
The opportunities which make the most sense for us are in Africa and that doesnt mean South Africa, he said. The hunt is on in countries like Niger and Namibia.
Uranium One then buys a minority stake in Namibian producer Paladin Energy, supposedly for investment purposes only, in a move that perplexes sector analysts - 'I cannot fathom why Jean Nortier has done this. It makes no sense and I cannot see where he is going with this.'
Rosatom in Russia says it is ready to invest US$1bn in Namibian uranium deposits this year.
10th June
Uranium One sells stake in Paladin. At the same time, Uranium holding comapny ARMZ (a unit of Rosatom) agree to purchase a controlling stake in Uranium One. Well use Uranium One as a platform for growth, Rosatom Chief Executive Officer Sergei Kiriyenko said in Moscow.
Uranium One is looking at Namibia to diversify their sources of U308. They saw something they liked at Paladin and took a stake. However, they then sold their stake prior to ARMZ taking a controlling interest, and dismissed the activity as merely an investment/trade.
Which leaves Uranium One still looking for a Niger/Namibian acquisition and now they are also 51% controlled by a Russian company that declared their desire to spend $1bn on Namibian U308 this year.
Question is: who will they acquire?
Well, to my mind, the tentative stake in Paladin may provide the clue. As one of those articles says: The Paladin management has shown itself to be streets ahead of Uranium One in the construction and development of new uranium projects, describing the nameplate production at Langer Heinrich as a success.
Clearly, the Paladin model has been proven successful.
Paladin opted for Heap Leach processing but encountered initial difficulties with their ore, which they resolved. On 12th April I posted a document on our metallurgy at Marenica and suggested that our ore might have more in common with Paladins Langer Heinrich deposit. Its all here:
If our ore is so similar, and at similar depths, we could learn from Paladins early processing glitches. In fact, perhaps Paladins model could provide us with a good road map to profitable production. (They might even want our ore).
In January this year, John Young told journalists: the scoping, will point one way or the other as far as economics are concerned. Well consider whether we treat it by heap leach, agitated tank leach, whether we look at a joint venture with a bigger partner, or whether we produce resin onsite and onsell it without producing yellowcake.
I imagine that the eyes of Uranium One / ARMZ and Russia will be upon us to see which course we take. Certainly, it would be nice to think that Areva wont have it all their own way where MEY is concerned.
Im happy for John and the scoping team to take all the time they need to decide on the best way forward for our ever-growing resource. It could make the difference between putting us in the shop window or the store cupboard.
I favour the former. But it's nice to know that the worst case scenario is that we simply dig up our shallow, high tonnage uranium and sell it on to Areva, Paladin, or one of the many producers seeking to lock-in supply.
MEY Price at posting:
10.7¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
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