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21 Jul 2011 08:01:00


Sydney - Thursday - July 21: (RWE Australian Business News) -

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PALADIN ENERGY (PDN) may be mining uranium in Namibia but it is still suffering after-effects of a disaster in Japan - the tsunami which engulfed the Fukushima nuclear reactor.

Paladin was changing hands for around $5.14 when the tsunami hit and the worries over nuclear reactors knocked the price to as low as $2.25 in June.

It was still lacklustre at $2.37 yesterday (steady on the day).

The stock took no heart from news that uranium production was up 32pc to 5.7m pounds in the year to June 30.

The company says the uranium supply sector remains under considerable stress with some producers uneconomic at present prices.

"Difficulty in financing new uranium operations under current circumstances places Paladin in a good position with its relatively new mining operations in Namibia and Malawi," it says.

"Paladin fully anticipates that market conditions will recalibrate in order to provide the necessary incentives to progress new uranium developments."

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MARMOTA ENERGY (MEU) yesterday said high grades of uranium mineralisation up to 5538 ppm continued to be intersected in recent drilling at the Saffron and Bridget prospects at Junction Dam, which is just inside South Australia's border with NSW and close to the Honeymoon uranium mine.

Marmota edged up just 0.2c to 6.2c on the news, which was sod all considering the stock had fallen 1.3c to 6c in the previous sale.

It's been as high as 12c this year (in February) so punters may come back for more, particularly as there is "significant expansion potential of uranium mineralisation in the 8km-long Yolanda target area confirmed from drilling".

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WOOLWORTHS (WOW) managed a 20c rise to $27.45 on news year sales were up 4.7 per cent or only 4.1 per cent excluding petrol.

It's interesting to note the changes in commentary.

CEO Michael Luscombe said yesterday, "This result has been achieved in a very challenging year for retail which saw continuing deflationary effects, the disruption caused by natural disasters, increased consumer caution and higher domestic savings rates.

"This outcome reflects our ability to adapt and perform in all economic environments."

Three months ago, in announcing a third-quarter sales rise of 5.1 per cent, the company said, "The negative impact of consumer confidence levels, inflation, interest rates and global economic conditions continue."

That inflation sure became deflationary quick smart.

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WAM CAPITAL (WAM) boosted investors' misery scale yesterday.

It said analysts' earnings forecasts were too high for FY2012.

"Costs are growing at a fast pace for many companies while revenue is only growing modestly on the back of high interest rate and slowing consumer demand," it said.

"While equities are reasonably priced on a historical P/E basis, we believe the upcoming reporting season FY2011 will see a downward revision in analysts' estimates.

"Consumer sentiment in Australia has recently declined to levels not seen since the GFC on the back of uncertainty resulting from the European and US debt worries and confusion about the impact of the proposed carbon tax."

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Two hot reports in three days is as much as a mining spec can hope for and that's what BLACK RANGE MINERALS (BLR) has delivered for shareholders.

On Monday it reported thick, high-grade intersections at the Hansen uranium deposit in Colorado.

The shares rose 0.7c to 3.6c and closed at 3.2c.

On Tuesday the shares managed to lose the rest of that gain with a 0.3c fall to 2.9c.

But yesterday Black Range announced the completion of a JORC Code-compliant calculation for the combined Hansen/Taylor Ranch project - Indicated and inferred resource has increased 51pc to 90.9m pounds at a grade of 0.060pc U3O8.

The resource upgrade confirmed it as one of the largest uranium projects in the US - the world's largest consumer of U3O8.

The size of the resource is large on a global basis and the grade of the resource is high on a peer comparison basis.

Black Range jumped 1c to 3.9c and closed at 3.8c.

This time shareholders hope the gains are retained.