The Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) share price has slipped into the red in early trade on Monday following the release of its quarterly activities update.
Paladin shares are down around 1% at the time of writing to trade at $12.53 apiece as the market continues digesting its results.
Let's see how the company performed in the three months ending June 30, 2024.
Paladin Energy share price wobbles on production numbers:
- Produced 517,597 pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8) at its Langer Heinrich mine
- Recorded no serious safety incidents or reportable environmental incidents
- Agreed to acquire 100% of Canadian-listed Fission Uranium Corp. (TSE: FCU) in June
- Held US$48.9 million in unrestricted cash as of 30 June, with US$80 million in undrawn debt facilities
What did the company report?
Paladin's major highlight of the quarter surrounded its Langer Heinrich uranium mine, located in Namibia. Given this is its flagship asset, the Paladin share price has been sensitive to announcements regarding the site.
The company achieved commercial production at Langer Heinrich during the period and shipped its first batch of 319,229 pounds of U3O8 on 12 July.
U308, or triuranium octoxide, is a compound of uranium in which the radioactive metal is transported.
The LHM Restart project was completed on time and within budget, with a total expenditure of US$119.7 million.
In addition, Paladin entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fission Uranium Corp. (TSE: FCU), a Canadian-based uranium exploration company.
The transaction aims to diversify Paladin's asset base across Canada, Namibia, and Australia and could provide exposure to "highly attractive long-term uranium fundamentals".
Paladin paid a 30% premium to Fission's 20-day volume-weighted average share price (VWAP) on June 24. Fission shareholders now own roughly a quarter of Paladin following the acquisition.
What did management say?
Paladin Energy's CEO, Ian Purdy, expressed his satisfaction with the early production achievements at Langer Heinrich and highlighted the strategic acquisition of Fission Uranium as a key step in Paladin's growth.
It is exceptionally pleasing to deliver our first quarterly production update since returning the Langer Heinrich Mine to production. The Langer Heinrich operations team has done an exceptional job in delivering early production, and the operational knowledge gained has underpinned our FY2025 production guidance of between 4.0 to 4.5 Mlb of U3O8.
Regarding the Fission transaction, Purdy said the company was ready to diversify, explaining:
The acquisition of Fission, along with the successful restart of our Langer Heinrich Mine, is another step in our strategy to diversify and grow into a global uranium leader across the top uranium mining jurisdictions of Canada, Namibia and Australia. Fission is a natural fit for our portfolio with the shallow high-grade Patterson Lake South (PLS) project located in Canada's Athabasca Basin.
What's next for the Paladin Energy share price?
Paladin completed its first U308 shipment from its Langer Heinrich asset in July, consisting of around 319,000 pounds. It expects an "operational ramp up during FY2025" at the site. Moreover, it says that "ore feed [will be] sourced from previously mined stockpiled ore".
Higher production levels are expected in the second half of the year. Following this, it set annual production guidance of 4.0 – 4.5 Mlb of U3O8 for FY2025 at Langer Heinrich.
It envisions to sell over 90% of this production, equal to roughly 3.8 – 4.1 Mlb, respectively.
If all this goes according to plan, management forecasts it will spend roughly US$26 million on the plant over the next twelve months.
How much income it receives will highly depend on what the price of uranium does.
Paladin Energy share price snapshot
The Paladin Energy share price is up more than 71% in the past twelve months and is up nearly 29% this year.
