LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Aura Energy has announced that Cameco, one of the largest producers of uranium in the world, will temporarily suspend production from the McArthur River mining and Key Lake milling operations in Canada, by the end of January 2018, and that it will reduce its annual dividend to $0.08 per common share in 2018.
According to Aura, Cameco attributed the decision to the state of continuous oversupply in the uranium market with no expectation of change for the foreseeable future.

"With the continued state of oversupply in the uranium market and no expectation of change on the immediate horizon, it does not make economic sense for us to continue producing at McArthur River and Key Lake when we are holding a large inventory, or paying dividends out of proportion with our earnings," said Tim Gitzel, Cameco's president and CEO.

The company said the suspension would also see the workforce at the operations reduce temporarily, while expecting its share of the costs to maintain operations during the suspension to range between $6.5m and $7.5m a month.

"As a result of the suspension, the workforce at the operations will be reduced temporarily by about 845 workers (560 employees and 285 contractors). About 210 workers (160 employees and 50 contractors) will be retained to maintain the facilities in safe shutdown state."

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE