Reefton trading halted after discovery
March 18, 2005 - 1:59PM
Shares in Reefton Mining NL have been placed in a trading halt after almost doubling in value on the back of a new uranium discovery in the southern African nation of Namibia.
The stock was the most heavily traded on the Australian Stock Exchange before trading was halted at 1317 on Friday, surging to a high of 13 cents after closing on Thursday at 6.6 cents.
The stock was up 4.4 cents at 11 cents when trading was halted. By that time 98.89 million shares worth $11.08 million had changed hands.
The Perth-based explorer said radiometric surveying of four anomalies at its Erongo project returned significant readings up to 94,320 counts per minute, indicating the presence of uranium-bearing mineralisation.
One of these anomalies, Hakskeen, is located north of the Rossing mine, owned by Rio Tinto, the world's fifth largest uranium producer.
Rossing has produced about 70,000 tonnes of uranium since it opened in 1976.
Reefton said the geology at Erongo appeared similar to the developing Langer Heinrich uranium deposit, also located south of Hakskeen and owned by Paladin Resources Ltd.
Uranium prices have jumped 79 per cent since 2003 to $US21.75 a pound from an annual spot month-end spot price average of $US11.54, fuelled by supply shortages and growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.
The company requested the trading halt pending a further announcement about the Hakskeen project."
RTM
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