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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian uranium producer Uranium One on Friday reported a bigger adjusted net loss for the three months ended September 30, as production faltered in Kazakhstan owing to permitting issues.
The Toronto-headquartered company, with a globally diversified portfolio of assets in Kazakhstan, the US, Australia and Tanzania, reported an adjusted net loss of $12.7-million, or $0.01 a share, compared with adjusted net earnings of $4.9-million, or $0.01 a share.
The total attributable output in the quarter fell by half to 1.6-million pounds, as a result of no production being recognised between June 4 to September 30 from the Akdala, South Inkai and Kharasan mines, in Kazakhstan, after the company lost subsoil rights to produce uranium at those mines.
On March 26, a special interdistrict economic court for the city of Astana issued an order that invalidated the original transfers in 2004 and 2005 from Kazatomprom to Uranium One’s Betpak Dala and Kyzylkum joint ventures (JVs) of the subsoil use contracts for the Akdala, South Inkai and Kharasan fields.
On October 17, the Ministry of Energy finally approved the transfers by Kazatomprom and granted subsoil use rights to the Akdala and South Inkai fields to JV Southern Mining and Chemical, indirectly owned 70% by Uranium One and 30% by Kazatomprom, and subsoil use rights to the Kharasan field to JV Khorasan-U, indirectly owned 30% by Uranium One, 33.98% by Kazatomprom and 36.02% by Energy Asia Holdings.
The company said it was still waiting on authorities to execute definitive documentation and to receive all remaining Kazakh regulatory approvals for the mines to resume production.
Being one of the world's largest uranium producers, Uranium One was in October last year bought out by Russian State-owned nuclear reactor builder and supplier Rosatom.
Attributable uranium sales volumes in the period were 2.6-million pounds, down from about six-million pounds in the comparable period a year earlier.
The average realised sales price was $29/lb compared with $37/lb a year earlier, reflecting lower spot prices. The uranium market in the third quarter showed no fundamental change from the first half of the year, remaining in a state of surplus supply as a result of factors such as the lack of reactor restarts in Japan.
Uranium One reported revenue of $118.3-million, down 49% year-over-year when compared with $231.7-million in the same quarter of 2013. It noted a narrower net loss of $10.8-million, or $0.01 a share, compared with a net loss of $63.6-million, or $0.07 a share, a year earlier.
The average total cash cost was $13/lb, down from $16/lb a year earlier.
Uranium One expected to produce ten-million pounds of yellow cake this year, at an average cash cost of about $14/lb.