Energy Resources Australia Uranium Output Down Sharply After Spill

   By Rhiannon Hoyle 
 

SYDNEY--Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA.AU) said uranium oxide output rose in the final quarter of 2014, although annual production was still sharply lower after a radioactive leak disrupted activities at its Ranger operation in Australia's Northern Territory earlier in the year.

The Australian company, which is majority owned by Rio Tinto PLC (RIO), said it produced 599 metric tons of uranium oxide in the three months through December, up 19% on year. It produced just 1,165 tons over the course of the year, though, down 61% on 2013 levels.

Processing of uranium oxide was suspended in December 2013 following a leak of about 1 million liters of contaminated slurry, which was caused by toxic material eating through a steel tank. The processing plant only restarted in June.

The company had already stopped mining uranium at Ranger in late 2012 after its ore was depleted. But it continued to process stockpiled ore while it studied the viability of digging a new underground pit called Ranger 3 Deeps.

Energy Resources of Australia said a prefeasibility study is being finalized and would be reviewed by the board in the first quarter of this year.

Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at [e-mail]

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