Berkeley Energia (AIM/ASX:BKY) has further boosted the appeal of its Salamanca project in Spain with the recently-completed definitive feasibility study (DFS) that shows an upfront capital outlay of $95.7 million and all-in cash costs of $15.06 per pound U3O8, significantly below current spot and term price indices ( see sidebar, right). The firm announced the DFS results on July 14, highlighting that the study “has confirmed the Salamanca project as one of the world’s lowest cost producers capable of generating strong after tax cash flow through the current low point in the uranium price cycle.”
Berkeley Energia: A sustainable project
Berkeley Energia’s project is defined by its commitment to economic and social development and its respect for health and the environment Berkeley Energia is now developing its ambitious
project mining for uranium in Salamanca, near Cuidad Rodrigo, the same area that Enusa was extracting uranium until 2001. Berkeley, an Australian company, has invested more than 60 million euros to date in the development of this project, and mining will begin at the Retortillo-Santidad deposit, situated in the Retortillo and Villavieja de Yeltes areas.
Is Berkeley Energia plc a better buy than BHP Billiton plc
In the emerging energy economy, many people have talked about the rise of solar and wind power.
And indeed these renewables are rapidly becoming cost competitive with oil and gas, and will grab an increasingly large market share in the energy sector. But in this energy revolution, there is relatively little mention of nuclear power. Yet most agree that this will be a crucial component of the future energy mix. The nuclear power industry is growing year on year, and China and India alone plan to build 300 new reactors.
Wine region generates a nuclear future
Salamanca is a part of Spain best known for its wine and its 12th century university, but after a $10 million fundraising yesterday the city could soon be regarded as a nuclear center. Berkeley Energia, the AIM quoted uranium miner, secured the backing of Resource Capital Funds (RCF), one of its largest shareholders, for financing towards the early infrastructure work before construction begins this year.
Weighing up new uranium
The nuclear renaissance interrupted by the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011 looks set to continue.All of the catalysts linked to the need for ‘clean’, large scale power are present and China, which pushed the majority of commodities to new highs in the recent past, is ready to do the same in the uranium space. While underfeeding at reactors and excess inventories are currently keeping spot prices suppressed, the long term picture is very different. One of China’s biggest state reactor builders has mooted the country’s total installed nuclear capacity is set to grow to 120 150GW by 2030 from just 28.3GW in 2015. This makes the recent predictions of the Asian nation building eight to 10 new reactors every year until the end of the next decade, spot on.
Der Gold Report interview with Paul Atherley
Interview with Paul AtherleyManaging Director of Berkeley Energia (911733, ASX:BKY, London: BKY) Hannes Huster: Dear Paul, thank you very much for the opportunity to interview you today as I know you are very busy moving the company forward. Before we start to talk about the BERKELEY ENERGIA please give my readers an overview about the work you did before you joined BERKELEY.
The Nuclear Review: interview with Paul Atherley
Berkeley has been operating in Spain for nearly a decade, formerly under a consortium with State uranium company ENUSA, which ended in 2012, and resulted in Berkeley taking on 100 percent interest in a number of high-quality uranium deposits, collectively known as the Salamanca Project. The project was completely transformed just over one year ago when our geologists discovered the Zona 7 deposit, which contains more than 30 million pounds of high-grade uranium and sits just four meters below the surface. This discovery transformed the economics of the project.
Berkeley set to launch Salamanca
The deregulated states of the Northeast have seen several nuclear plants fall against cheaper competition, particularly from gas power, in the last few years. The New York CES seeks to buck that trend, with a requirement that its utilities source 15.7% of their forecasted load from existing upstate nuclear facilities by 2020. The plan, which also ramps up renewable energy capacity to 30% of the forecasted load by 2020, recognizes nuclear power as a zero-emissions generation source eligible for Zero Emission Credits (ZECs) that can betraded like renewable energy credits.
Berkeley’s nuclear re-rating
Analysts believe Berkeley Energia (BKY:AIM)is worth four times as much as its current market value, assuming that it can successfully raise money to build a uranium mine in Spain. The project economics are very good for the Salamanca project; Berkeley is one of the few miners that could theoretically make a profit at current depressed commodity prices. Is this a no-brainer stock to own or should you treat the story with the same caution applied to most other mining stocks in the current environment?
Business Big Shot
His work as a mining engineer has exposed him to 50-degree heat in Australia and minus 50 degree temperatures in China (Marcus Leroux writes). Paul Atherley likes to joke that with his last endeavor he has at last found a happy medium. The uranium miners Salamanca project has more going o it than a balmy climate and proximity to some of pains best wine. Mr Atherley reckons it can produce the worlds cheapest uranium and enough to power Britain’s energy needs or more than five years.
