Long term market supports new uranium: Toro

The Chair of the Toro Energy Board, Erica Smyth, update shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting, held on November 9th.
“The long term uranium market has maintained a consistent demand strength which in my view recognises the incentive pricing needed to bring on new production,” said Smyth.
“Toro Energy, through its Wiluna Uranium Project and pipeline of other potential projects, intends to be a part of this new uranium production by targeting its first production early in 2013.”
The optimisation study for Wiluna focused on improving the technical certainty and economic outcomes.
“It resulted in a robust project using the pre-feasibility assumptions,” said Smyth.
Based on the outcomes of the optimisation study, Toro Energy embarked on a capital raising through share placements which targeted investment groups and sophisticated investors to raise $40 million. The successful raising occurred in three tranches.
“We are very pleased that our major shareholder, OZ Minerals Ltd, elected to maintain its support level of the company through this placement by taking up an allocation based on its existing share ratio.
“We welcome our new shareholders to Toro Energy, including those international investment funds that support Toro Energy’s aims to advance its Wiluna Project through to production,” said Smyth.
A significant portion of the funds raised has allowed the company to commence a detailed bankable feasibility study for Wiluna. This will include initial work evaluating key project parameters, involving a resource evaluation pit and a heap leach trial at the Wiluna site early next year, followed by detailed design and costing for the final project.
Two weeks ago, Toro Energy passed a further milestone, when it submitted the Referral Documents to initiate the Government environmental approval process for the Wiluna Uranium Project.
“Toro Energy recognises that the Government and public of Western Australia expect a professional approach to commencing this new industry, in line with safe and modern uranium mining practice,” said Smyth.
Last month, Toro also released details of a new uranium discovery at Lake Mackay in NE Western Australia. This discovery is the culmination of work commenced some years ago when Nova Energy secured the tenements and an agreement with local people to explore.
Along with this work, the Company is re-evaluating the Napperby Uranium project in the Northern Territory and the surrounding exploration prospects, to determine the best way forward for the assets in this region.
“In addition to the projects I have discussed we are continuing to evaluate our existing exploration project opportunities as well as project or corporate consolidation opportunities where these can add to an economic uranium supply pipeline for your company,” said Smyth.

Uranium and India
Speaking at the In The Zone conference, a senior editor of the Hindustan Times, Pramit Pal Chaudhuri told delegates that Australia faced the prospect of being shut out of discussions with India over nuclear energy because of its stance on uranium exports.
Chaudhuri said nuclear power alliances were being made across the world, between countries that supply uranium and their potential customers.
“Australia’s problem will be: who will be your reactor partner when you change your (federal nuclear) policy?” he said.
Also speaking at the session ‘India: Twenty-first century powerhouse’, the diplomatic editor of The Times of India, Indrani Bagchi, said India’s 2008 nuclear deal with the United States was the “coming out” of its foreign policy interests.
Bagchi said the first meeting between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama would occur on November 24th.
“India loved George Bush,” she said. “Can this be replicated with Barack Obama? These issues will shape Indian foreign policy in the very near future.”
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Chair Ziggy Switkowski told the conference that Australia’s failure to embrace nuclear energy perplexed people from overseas.
“When it comes to uranium mining Australia leads the agenda; when it comes to nuclear energy we are struggling to keep up,” he said.
He said 15 per cent of the world’s electricity was produced from nuclear power and two thirds of the world’s population derived their electricity from nuclear reactors. Australia has around 38 per cent of the (known) recoverable uranium and Australian uranium powered a fifth of the world’s reactors.
He anticipated several years of public debate and education would be needed before the public was ready to seriously consider nuclear power.