Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Uranium miner Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) on Friday reported an increase in its after-tax loss to $188-million for the full year ended December, compared with a loss of $136-million in 2013.
Earnings during the full year were impacted by the requirement to purchase uranium oxide (U3O8) to fulfil sales obligations, after the miner was forced to suspend processing operations at its Ranger mine, in the Northern Territory, during the first half of the year.
The miner undertook a progressive restart of the Ranger processing plant in June, after receiving approval from the state and federal governments.
The Ranger mine produced 1 165 t of U3O8 during the year, down 61% on the 2013 production figure.
The company reported revenue of $379-million on the sale of 1 348 t of U3O8, compared with $356-million in revenue on the sale of 2 815 t in 2013.
A loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $165-million was reported during the full year, down from earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $33-million in 2013, on the back of a $48-million write-down.
The uranium miner said the market would remain challenging in the near term; however, the company was optimistic about the long-term outlook.
Uranium production in the 2015 financial year was expected to reach between 1 600 t and 2 200 t, with sales expected to be in line with production.