Paladin Energy Ltd has concluded a feasibility study on expansion options for its 100% owned Langer Heinrich Uranium Mine in Namibia. As a result, nominal production is to increase to 5.2Mlb pa U3O8 with a target completion date of September 2010.
At the current planned production rate, Paladin said that there are currently sufficient ore reserves and stockpiles available to sustain the operation for a minimum of 12-13 years with a Run of Mine grade of 800ppm U3O8.
The implementation schedule is driven largely by the procurement and delivery of a new scrubber as part of a complete second feed line, likely to take approximately 12 months.
Infill drilling will commence in the near future to upgrade a portion of the remaining 91.5Mlb U3O8 of Inferred Resources to enable sequential integration into mine planning. Historical conversion rate of 75% to 80% from the Inferred Resources category to Indicated and Measured Resources are expected to be maintained. Such a conversion rate would sustain a mine life in excess of 20 years at 800ppm, at the expanded production rate of 5.2Mlb pa. After this the project will have available 40Mt of low grade stockpiles at 350ppm U3O8 for which a mining model is expected to be determined. The resource base used for these mine life forecasts is based on the Resource and Reserve statements released to the ASX and TSX on 28 May 2008 and 26 September 2008 respectively.
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