Extract Says Uranium Deposit in Namibia Could Be the World's Sixth Largest

Extract Resources Ltd., the uranium explorer partly owned by Rio Tinto Group, said an increase in resources at its Rossing South project in Namibia makes the deposit the sixth biggest in the world.

Extract upgraded the size of the resource to 257 million pounds, a tenfold increase from July 2009, it said in a statement today to the Australian stock exchange. The deposit was previously rated the world’s eighth largest, Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Leslie said in a webcast.

“We fully expect to continue to move up the ranking” as Extract has a large area yet to explore at Rossing South, Leslie said. “We think there’s significant scope to expand the resource beyond what we’ve announced today.”

Extract, about 15 percent owned by Rio Tinto, is aiming to develop the world’s second-biggest uranium venture after Cameco Corp.’s McArthur River mine in Canada. The company intends to gain from a nuclear power revival as countries turn to the technology to meet energy demand and cut emissions.

Extract rose 1.9 percent to A$6.85 at 10:52 a.m. in Sydney trading, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 1.3 percent. The stock has dropped 19 percent in Sydney this year, compared with a decline of 7 percent for the index.

The company moved its head office to London from Perth this year and said in June it aims to begin production in 2014. The latest Rossing South results take it “another step” toward achieving that goal, the company said today.

Itochu Corp., a Japanese trading house, agreed last month to buy a 10.3 percent stake in Extract to benefit from global growth in demand for the fuel.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Paton in Sydney jpaton4@bloomberg.net.

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