Paladin Energy has withdrawn $127.2 million from the project finance facility for its Langer Heinrich uranium mine. The project is said to be the fifth biggest uranium mine in the world based on output.
The money is to be used to replenish cash reserves that have been spent on the development of the project.
The company has spent $141 million on Langer Heinrich to expand its output from 3.7 million pounds of uranium to 5.2 million pounds a year by the first three months of 2012. The company statement said that the undrawn portion of the facility post drawdown, being $US7.8m, will be used to meet the remaining construction expenditure.
Paladin Energy said that the expansion of the mine was on schedule. The finance facilities were provided by Societe Generale, Nedbank Capital, Standard Bank, Barclays Capital and Rand Merchant Bank. The Langer Heinrich mine is located on one of the biggest deposits in Namibia’s uranium belt close to the Rio Tinto Rossing mine. The Rio Tinto mine is the third largest uranium mine in the world as per output.