The Darwin-based company got an average of $15.57 a pound for uranium in the first half of 2006, lower than the $17 it received on average for all of 2005, it said in a presentation lodged late yesterday with the Australian Stock Exchange. Similarly, the average price this half will be lower than the $18.36 received for the whole of 2006, it said.
Energy Resources earlier this month forecast a first-half loss after flooding at its Ranger mine in northern Australia disrupted output, forcing the company to declare ``force majeure'' on deliveries. Spot prices for the nuclear fuel have jumped 12-fold since early 2003 and are at $135 a pound, according to The Ux Consulting Co.'s Web site.
``Year-on-year realized pricing continues to rise, however customers still have great flexibility in the timing of deliveries,'' the Darwin-based company said. ``ERA is expecting lower realized pricing in the first half of 2007 compared with full-year 2006, as experienced last year.''
Shares in Energy Resources, which is 68 percent owned by Rio Tinto Group, fell as much as A$1.07, or 5.4 percent, on the exchange to A$18.88, their lowest for almost six months. The stock was at A$19.05 at 11:52 a.m. in Sydney.
Energy Resources said June 8 that the timing of sales this year ``will be heavily weighted in the second half.''
The company's so-called legacy contracts, which were settled at lower prices, ``are being steadily replaced by higher- performing contracts,'' Energy Resources said in yesterday's presentation.
Energy Resources reiterated today in a separate presentation lodged with the exchange that it expects 2007 production to be similar to the about 4,700 tons of uranium oxide it produced in 2006, while 2008 output will be between 25 percent and 35 percent lower because of heavy rainfall at the mine in February-March.
prices
