PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Uranium miner Paladin Energy has reported record quarterly and yearly production at both its Langer Heinrich and Kayelekera operations.

Combined production for the December quarter reached 2.1-million pounds of uranium oxide (U₃O₈), up 13.6% on the previous three months, while total yearly output was up 34% to 7.9-million pounds of U₃O₈.

Paladin noted that considering the Stage 3 expansion of the Langer Heinrich mine was still in the commissioning phase until mid-2012, the 12-month production of just over five-million pounds U₃O₈ that was achieved at the operation came to within 98% of nameplate production of 5.2-million pounds.

At Kayelekera, where the operation was still in commissioning phase until September, requiring plant upgrade with considerable downtime involved, a 12-month production of 2.86-million pounds U₃O₈ was achieved, which was 87% of the nameplate capacity of 3.3-million pounds U₃O₈.

During the three months to December, the Langer Heinrich mine, in Namibia, produced 1.41-million pounds of U₃O₈, a 9.9% increase on the previous quarter.

During the quarter under review, the plant delivered further improved performance to reach new production levels, with overall plant throughput up 2%, to 914 847 t.

Paladin said on Thursday that the Langer Heinrich mine was performing consistently, with continuous improvements taking place.

At the Kayelekera mine, in Malawi, Paladin produced 772 280 lb U₃O₈, exceeding the previous quarter by 20.9%.

Total material mined for the quarter was on target, with ore mined 12% above the target, owing to a change in the mine sequencing.

Paladin said on Thursday that the strong combined production over the past two quarters at both the Langer Heinrich and Kayelekera mines, with signs for continued improvement, placed the company in a good position to achieve its production target of between 8-million and 8.5-million pounds U₃O₈ for the 2013 financial year, with the opportunity to deliver in the upper end of this range.

The miner was also looking to reduce costs at the operations over the next two years, saving some $10-million at each of the mines during 2013, through key improvements that include discretionary spending and better management of corporate overheads.