Uranium Miner Posts First Profit, Enters Spot Market

(Wyoming Business Report, July 31) – Ur-Energy, which has a uranium mine near Jeffrey City has finally entered the spot market after having avoided the avenue for roughly the first 18 months of production from the mine.

The company, based in Littleton, Colorado, opened the Lost Creek Mine in 2013 and sold its first shipment of yellowcake in December that year. Since then, the company has avoided sales on the shoddy spot market. Current spot prices stand at about $36 per pound, a common hovering point since the Fukushima disaster mauled the commodity’s market.

In federal documentation, the company said it added two sales contracts in June with U.S. utilities to up their total to 11. Such contracts generally secure pricing above the spot market, which explains the company’s average selling price of $45.08 for the most recent quarter. The company said that’s a 24.3 percent profit per pound, which helped the company exhibit its first quarterly profit since it was incorporated in 2004. Quarterly profit came in at roughly $1 million for the quarter.

“Our production team continues to deliver outstanding performance by consistently lowering our production costs per pound while routinely increasing production rates,” said acting CEO Jeff Klenda, who stepped in to the position after former CEO Wayne Heili couldn’t come to terms on a contract renewal  with the company.

Even with new contracts in place, Ur-Energy said in federal documentation it expects to continue selling on the spot market and hunting for new contracts since its current contracts don’t represent a substantial portion of its projected annual production.

The company recently barreled its millionth pound of uranium, what it referred to as a major milestone.

Original article here.