New chief for Langer Heinrich’s Paladin

Jo-Maré Duddy – Paladin Energy, the Australian company which owns 75% in the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia, yesterday appointed Ian Purdy as its new chief executive officer.Purdy is the previous chief financial officer Quadrant Energy, one of Australia’s largest and most active oil and gas companies. In his new role, which became effective immediately, Purdy will oversee the planned restarting of Langer Heinrich, which has been on care and maintenance since August 2018 due to the persistent low uranium price.In an announcement on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) yesterday, Paladin said Purdy earlier in his career also stood at the helm of Mirabela Nickel Limited, an ASX-listed mine in Brazil. He led Mirabela through the transition from construction into production as well as the recapitalisation of the business and its repositioning in the market.“During his time at Mirabela, Mirabela successfully raised over US$350 million in equity and refinanced approximately US$450 million of complex legacy debt positions,” Paladin said. Strategic positionIn its latest quarterly report, released last week, Paladin stated its amortised debt balance at 31 December 2019 at US$138.8 million.“Ian has the necessary experience and skill set to optimise Paladin’s existing assets, improve the company’s strategic position within the nuclear fuel market, maximise Paladin’s strategic options and work comfortably and confidently with our shareholders and the wider investment community,” Paladin said.Langer Heinrich is currently undergoing a full review under Paladin’s new business improvement model successfully used in a prefeasibility study (PFS). Paladin started with a two-stage PFS for the possible restart of the mine in March last year. The first phase, of which key highlights were announced last October, will cost US$4.8 million.According to the PFS, the lead time to bring Langer back into production is 12 months from a restart decision, compared to three years for a new project. Restarting Langer Heinrich at production levels of 5.2 million pounds per year will cost an estimated US$80 million, nearly N$1.2 billion at yesterday’s exchange rate.An aspirational average life of mine AISC target of US$30/lb was confirmed as achievable with the potential for further AISC improvements of approximately US$4.50/lb through significant process changes after restart, Paladin said in its quarterly report. AISC is all-in sustaining costs.Uranium marketAnnouncing the PFS last year, Paladin said should the uranium price recover, Langer Heinrich could be back in full swing as early as the middle of 2021. In its latest report, the company said further work on the rapid restart feasibility study (FS1) and phase 2 of the PFS has been deferred to when restart is imminent.“A restart of the Langer Heinrich Mine will be considered only if forecast cash flows from uranium sales provide an appropriate return on investment,” Paladin said.Commenting on the uranium market last week, now former Paladin CEO Scott Sullivan said the TradeTech weekly spot price average for the December quarter was US$25.15/lb, a 1% decrease compared to the previous quarter and 12% lower than the December 2018 quarter. “Drawdown of utility and producer inventories continued in 2019, marking the seventh successive year that replacement uranium purchasing has been below consumption. “European and North American inventory levels have limited scope for further reduction and, as a result, utility activity is expected to increase over the next 12-18 months,” Sullivan said.

New chief for Langer Heinrich’s Paladin

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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New chief for Langer Heinrich’s Paladin

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-04

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