The 46.59% drop in the uranium price to a 12-year low of $18.40 a pound since January 1 makes it the world’s worst-performing commodity in 2016. This is likely to defer investment decisions by firms like Sibanye Gold and Oakbay Resources that own uranium resources they are keen to exploit — at the right price. AngloGold Ashanti is SA’s largest producer of uranium. It converts uranium to U308, or yellowcake, at the Nufcor calcining facility about 50km southwest of Johannesburg. The group produces about a million pounds (Mlbs) of uranium a year as a by-product of gold mined at its Vaal River operations. This year its uranium production is expected to be 1Mlbs-1.3Mlbs and it will remain at similar levels in the medium term. Sibanye has about 99Mlbs of uranium resources in its West Rand Tailings Retreatment project, and said recently it was considering funding options for a first phase to produce 2.2Mlbs a year, as well as 100,000oz of gold, for 18 years. Oakbay Resources, the Gupta-fam...
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