Print

Mail

wiki links

Uranium rumors lift mine shares

Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday that "very good progress" had been made in negotiations on opening Australia's vast uranium reserves up to China and a deal could be signed when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) visits next week.

In remarks that sent shares in Australian-listed uranium producers and explorers soaring, Howard said there had been progress in lengthy talks on Canberra's insistence that its uranium is not used in Chinese nuclear weapons.

"We have made very good progress," Howard said during a joint press conference in Canberra with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"It's possible that the discussions could be satisfactorily concluded so that something could be said or signed when the Chinese premier visits Australia next week," he said.

Australia has some 40 percent of the world's known uranium reserves and has been keen to increase exports to fuel China's rapidly expanding nuclear power industry.

A senior Chinese official in Beijing said on Monday the two governments were poised to sign two deals, one on exports of Australian uranium to China and another on Chinese involvement in uranium exploration and mining in Australia.

Liu Jieyi (劉結一), head of the foreign ministry's North American and Oceanic Affairs Department, told reporters two draft texts had been completed and would likely be signed during Wen's four-day visit, which begins on Saturday.

Liu stressed the agreements would cover the "peaceful use of nuclear energy" and would be in line with safeguards laid down by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

During two days of meetings and speeches in Canberra, Blair and Howard have repeatedly stressed the strategic importance of helping the rapidly emerging economies of China and India achieve energy security.

Both Blair and Howard suggested nuclear power would offer the Asian giants a cleaner and more sustainable source of energy than the polluting coal and oil-fired stations on which they now rely.

Howard did not rule out lifting a ban on selling uranium to India due to New Delhi's refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, although he said the government was "not contemplating" a change in policy.

He said Australia will send a delegation to India and the US next month to examine details of a new nuclear agreement between the two countries.

Under the deal, India gains access to US nuclear technology in exchange for it separating its civil and military atomic programs and placing a majority of its reactors under international inspection.

Howard's comments about a possible deal with Beijing raised the prospect of cashed-up Chinese resources companies looking for joint ventures in Australia, sending shares in uranium companies skyrocketing.

Encounter Resources, a company holding exploration rights in parts of Western Australia, was up A$S0.40 or 85 percent at A$S0.88.

Toro Energy, which holds uranium exploration ground in South Australia, was up A$0.8 cents or 6.6 percent at AS1.40 dollars.

Deep Yellow, a Northern Territory explorer, was up A$0.05 or 44 percent at A$0.16.

BHP Billiton, which owns one of the world's largest uranium mines at Olympic Dam in South Australia state, rose A$0.07 or 26 percent to A$0.26 to a record closing high.

The country's other major uranium producer, Energy Resources Australia (ERA) rose A$0.45 or 3.5 percent to A$13.75.
This story has been viewed 1956 times.