This will take 15m lbs per annum out of the supply forecasts for...

This will take 15m lbs per annum out of the supply forecasts for 2012 and 2013 - and I'd be prepared to bet for some time after that too!!!!! Just shows how hard it is to get a uranium mine up and running..... In addtion the comment on the slump in U prices is smoke and mirrors in my view - is $73/lb at the moment they announce the decision - pretty healthy.

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Areva Delays Trekkopje Uranium Mine Ramp-Up to 2013
February 01, 2011, 1:27 PM EST

(Updates with output forecast in fourth paragraph.)

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Areva SA, a French uranium miner, said production at its Trekkopje project in Namibia will be delayed because of the complexity of the $1 billion venture.

Full output will be pushed back to 2013, Areva said today in an e-mailed statement. Trekkopje, 70 kilometers (43 miles) northeast of Swakopmund, was initially expected to reach full capacity in 2012.

A slump in uranium prices prompted Areva to review its projects worldwide over the past two years. The company said last March it may cut its 2012 global output target of 12,000 metric tons by as much as 20 percent, following an assessment of expansion plans.

Upon commissioning, the Trekkopje mine will process 100,000 tons of crushed ore a day and produce 3,000 tons of uranium a year, Areva said in an April presentation.

Patricia Marie, a Paris-based spokeswoman for the company, declined to elaborate on today?s press statement.