Just months after rejoining the uranium producers’ club with the March restart of its Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia, Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN; US-OTC: PALAF) has set its sights on a second mine that could catapult it to one of the world’s largest uranium producers.
In late June, the Australian miner launched a friendly, $1.1-billion bid for Fission Uranium (TSX: FCU; US-OTC: FCUUF) and its high-grade Patterson Lake South development project in Saskatchewan. The acquisition comes as a strong push for nuclear power around the world runs into the reality of more than a decade of underinvestment in new uranium supply.
“There's a shortage of primary production coming out of the ground today and into the future,” Paladin CEO Ian Purdy said during a Fission Uranium)">mid-July visit to Toronto.
“We've seen very strong demand for our Langer Heinrich product. And we expect that when we're ready to bring our customers to underpin PLS later this decade, that demand (will) be extremely strong.”
Paladin expects the merger to lift it to the third largest listed uranium miner in the world, with production potential of 15 million lb. uranium oxide (U3O8) annually by the end of the decade.
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