Mine go ahead for Uranium One

(FIN24) - Uranium One, the Canada-based uranium producer with a secondary listing on the JSE, on Friday received Australian governmental approval to proceed with the establishment of a new uranium mine.

The mine will be developed at Uranium One's Honeymoon Uranium Project, near Broken Hill in South Australia, at a capital cost of A$66m or R401m.

"Construction work on infrastructure at the Honeymoon site will be carried out according to our schedule of commencing production later this year," the company was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

The mine, which was rubber-stamped by the Uranium One board in August 2006, is expected to produce up to 400 tonnes of uranium oxide annually and generate about A$40m or R243m a year in exports.

Australia's fourth uranium mine will have a life of up to seven years. With nearly 40% of the world's uranium, Australia has the potential to make a major contribution to security in global energy supplies.

"Our industry remains optimistic that, over time, it will be able to expand operations to help meet the world's clean energy needs and, at the same time, help offset the cost of structural adjustment that may accompany Australia's own efforts to deal with its greenhouse emissions," Australian Uranium Association executive director Michael Angwin told AAP.

The Australian government's approval of the Honeymoon uranium mine comes after last year's decision by Australia's new federal government to ban the construction of nuclear power reactors, but allow additional exports of uranium to other countries.

Uranium One originally expected to start off production at Honeymoon in the first quarter of 2008, but in August said this would be delayed to the second quarter after a decision to modify the technology used in the treatment plant.
 

Read more at FIN24

U.S. Stocks Decline; American Express, Tiffany Fall on Outlooks

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell as lower-than- estimated profit forecasts at American Express Co. and Tiffany & Co. heightened concern the economy is shrinking and sent the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to its worst start since 1991.

American Express, the third-largest U.S. credit-card network, fell in New York Stock Exchange trading after its projection for first-quarter earnings trailed analysts' estimates by 3.2 percent. Tiffany, the second-biggest luxury jewelry seller, lost the most in more than three years after holiday sales growth shrank to 8 percent. Countrywide Financial Corp. retreated after Bank of America Corp. agreed to buy the mortgage lender for less than its market value.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 9.68, or 0.7 percent, to 1,410.73 as of 12:52 p.m. in New York, extending its decline this year to 3.9 percent. The benchmark for U.S. equities has dropped for three straight weeks, the longest streak since August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 163.79, or 1.3 percent, to 12,689.3. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 28.17, or 1.1 percent, to 2,460.35. About two shares declined for every one that rose on the NYSE.

``There was this perception that the upper-end consumer was resistant to the economy, and that may be starting to roll over,'' said Matthew Kaufler, who helps manage $2.6 billion at Clover Capital Management in Rochester, New York. ``Housing has been in recession, the financial institutions are also feeling it, and now you have signs that the consumer is starting to buckle. We seem to be in a rolling recession.''

 

Read more at Bloomberg