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Gold/Mining/Energy : Uranium Stocks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ForYourEyesOnly who wrote (131)	6/22/1998 11:58:00 PM
From: traacs	Respond to of 30109

Monday June 22, 10:59 pm Eastern Time Asia Metals-Uranium price seen ready to rise By James Regan DARWIN, Australia, June 23 (Reuters) - A rise in Australian uranium production and uncertainty over export levels from a massive Russian stockpile will weigh on international prices, metals dealers and analysts said. But any price erosion linked to more uranium on the market is likely to be only temporary as nuclear power generation gains stronger footing in developed economies, they said. Diversification away from oil and expensive start-up costs for other forms of power, such as liquefied natural gas, is encouraging nuclear power generation and underpinning long-term demand expectations for uranium. ''Australia has the largest reserves of uranium in the world, with 29 percent of the world total,'' said John Borshoff, managing director of Paladin Resources NL (PDN.AX), which owns uranium deposits in Australia and in Malawi, southern Africa. Borshoff said uranium prices were poised for a significant price leap from the current level of around US$11.00 a pound as inventories are depleted. Global annual consumption of about 74,000 tonnes of uranium has been outrunning production of only about 50,000 tonnes, he said. The trend should continue through at least next year due to increasing demand from the nuclear power industry, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) forecasts. Nuclear power's share of the total electricity power generation market in Japan had risen to 35 percent from 27 percent between 1990 and 1996, Seiichi Tsurumi, general manager of Mitsubishi Corp's (8058.T) North West Shelf gas project department. ''When run at close to capacity, the generating cost is said to be the cheapest, so nuclear power was promoted and given a base load role,'' Tsurumi told an energy industry conference in the north Australian city of Darwin this week. In Australia, both Energy Resources Australia Ltd (ERA.AX) and WMC Ltd (WMC.AX) are lifting uranium production this year. ABARE has forecast Australian production for 1997/98 of 6,450 tonnes, rising to 8,000 tonnes in 1998/99. Paladin's Borshoff estimates that at least 10 companies in the United States, Canada, Africa, Mongolia and Australia are in the pre-mine production stage. With a total resource of 64 million pounds held by Paladin, only U.S. Energy Corp, with 100 million pounds in reserve in Wyoming, is bigger, he said.