US supply contracts for Paladin

Wednesday, 24 August 2011 Australia's Paladin Energy has signed three new uranium sale agreements with US customers for output from the stage 3 expansion of the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia. The company said that the production commitments from the agreements total more than 2.8 million pounds U₃O₈ (1077 tU), with deliveries between 2012 and 2016. Contractual prices range from the low- to mid-$60's per pound U₃O₈, Paladin said. The Langer Heinrich stage 3 expansion is near completion with commissioning and stage ramp-up progressing well, according to the company. Stage 3 will increase the mine's annual output from 3.7 million pounds U₃O₈ (1425 tU) to 5.2 million pounds U₃O₈ (2000 tU). Ramp-up of stage 3 is on track to reach nameplate by the end of the 2011, according to Paladin.