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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Australian uranium producer Paladin Energy on Thursday reported a 20% narrower net loss of $338.4-million, or $0.34 a share, for the financial year ended June 30, as sliding uranium prices impacted revenues.
The Perth, Australia-based company reported a gross loss before impairments for the year of $3.4-million, compared with a gross profit before impairments for the previous year of $55.9-million, also mainly owing to lower uranium prices.
Uranium prices have declined 31% over the past three years. Uranium miners have been struggling since Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster hit in March 2011, which prompted all nuclear reactors to be shut down in Japan and created significant backlash for global uranium markets amid public concern about the safety of using nuclear-derived power.
TSX- and ASX-listed Paladin stated that a higher inventory impairment at its Kayelekera operation, in Malawi, which was placed on care and maintenance and ceased production on May 6, was $40.7-million, as opposed to $30.9-million a year earlier. Lower uranium prices also saw an inventory impairment at the Langer Heinrich mine, in Namibia, of $21-million compared with nil in the preceding year.
This excluded the Queensland exploration assets impairment charge on December 31, of $226.5-million after tax.
Paladin reported that uranium sales declined 20% in the year from $411.5-million in 2013 to $329.5-million, as a result of a 23% decrease in the realised sales price to $37.9/lb. Slightly higher uranium sales volumes offset the sliding prices at 8.67-million pounds of yellowcake, up 5% over sales of 8.25-million pounds in 2013.
With Kayelekera on care and maintenance, Paladin forecast the Langer Heinrich mine to produce between 5.4-million and 5.8-million pounds of yellowcake in the 2015 financial year.
Paladin said it was optimistic about near-term supply pressure in the uranium market.