Uranium company celebrates first shipment
24 September 2012
An Australian uranium trader is celebrating its first shipment of uranium from Australia to China, which it claims signals the start of a significant opportunity for Australian uranium producers.
Uranium exploration company Energy Metals is hailing the shipment of uranium concentrates by its wholly owned subsidiary NT Energy. The concentrates are due to arrive in China in mid-October, where they will be re-sold to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co subsidiary CGNPC-URC. Energy Metals is 60.6%-owned by CGNPC.
Energy Metals has widespread uranium exploration interests across the Northern Territories and Western Australia, none of which have moved to the production phase. The uranium concentrates in the shipment were purchased from an "independent Australian supplier" by NT Energy.
Energy Metals says the first shipment by its newly launched trading business heralds a new chapter for the company and for Australian uranium producers in general. According to Energy Metals, the company's "unique" relationship with its Chinese majority owner presents a "significant" opportunity for Australian uranium producers to capitalize on the Chinese market.
Australia is one of the world's major uranium producing countries, but to date, only modest amounts of its output reach the Chinese market (some 3% of its total exports in 2009, according to Energy Metals). Energy Metals managing director Weidong Xiang thinks that could be set to change. "We are confident that this first shipment marks the start of a significant opportunity for both the company and Australian uranium producers," he said.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News