Photo by: Bloombeg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused uranium miner Paladin Energy has reported a 19% decline in output at its Langer Heinrich mine, in Namibia, to just over one-million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) for the three months to September 30.
Lower grades had negatively impacted production, which was down from the 1.33-million pounds of U3O8 produced in the June quarter.
However, with the bicarbonate recovery plant (BRP) operating at greater than 200% of its design capacity, the amount of drummed material for the quarter was up 5% quarter-on-quarter to 1.2-million pounds of U3O8.
Paladin said this week that the company anticipated the trend at the BRP to continue, exceeding guided production for the remainder of the 2016 financial year.
Meanwhile, C1 cash costs at Langer Heinrich increased by 7% quarter-on-quarter to $27.82/lb, as a result of the lower production volumes.
Operations at the Kayelekera mine, in Malawi, remained suspended during the quarter under review.
Activities on site were focused on modifying the water treatment plant, which would enable the mine to move from a conventional reagent-based precipitation water treatment method to a nonreagent water treatment method.
Plant commissioning began in late September.
For the December quarter, Paladin was expected to produce between 1.5-million and 1.7-million pounds of U3O8.
Production for the full year to end June 2016 would be between 5-million and 5.4-million pounds of U3O8.
C1 cash costs were expected to reach a full-year average of between $25/lb and $27/lb.