JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed exploration and development company Uranium Resources on Monday announced that it would delay further drilling at its flagship Mtonya uranium project, in Tanzania, until uranium market fundamentals improved and the true potential of the project was recognised by the wider market.
MD Alex Gostevskikh said that, while the depressed perception of the uranium exploration market remained prevalent, the company would conserve cash in the near term to enable it to realise the true value of Mtonya once the uranium market strengthened.
“There are strong nuclear fuel market fundamentals in place, including the continued growth in Asian and European power generation; and finite supplies of secondary uranium and existing limits on economically viable uranium resources, and as such we remain optimistic that we will be able to continue to advance Mtonya,” he added.
Uranium Resources further stated that it would continue to evaluate its exploration and development strategy, including corporate transactions to “advance and crystallise” the value of the project, which had already benefitted from a 26 485 m resource-definition drilling programme.
In conjunction with the evaluation process on how best to build shareholder value from Mtonya, the board had also implemented a review of its overall tenement strategy in Tanzania and had relinquished its licences in the Ruhuhu basin, which were located some 150 km from Mtonya and not central to the company’s future growth potential.