The easy answer to the question on an Australian U producer that...

The easy answer to the question on an Australian U producer that is making money is ERA.

ERA not only has no debt and circa $500M in the bank but its large stockpiles are of a high grade and will keep them going for years.

Then on top of that they too have stopped mining and no longer have exploration and mining costs, so their cost of production will reduce significantly. This will be seen in the next annual report.

The paper losses that they currently show are items carried forward, and are just that, paper losses. These losses will attribute tax benefits until they are exhausted. The proof to this is that their bank balance keeps growing.

The main cost they currently have is the reclamation of Ranger. However this is well under way and the money is already in the bank to cover this.

The next few annual reports from ERA should be very interesting as they now have a low cost of production and the bank balance just keeps on growing. At some stage they will have to start paying out their cash in dividends to the shareholders. When it becomes evident that the dividends will start to be paid out their should be a nice increase to the share price.

ERA do not need to mine to make their shareholders money. However if they do at some stage get permission to mine either Jabiluka or The Deeps their shareprice would increase significantly.

ERA has the luxury at the moment to be sitting in a win win situation. And Rio knows this.