Company news in brief
Etango promises bigger potentialBannerman Energy yesterday released the results of its scoping study results at the Etango uranium project in Namibia, which showed that the mine and plant throughput could be expanded to 16 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) from the fifth year of operation.
The company, listed on the Development Capital Board (DevX) of the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), received a mining licence for its flagship Etango in December, along with award of initial contracts for the Etango early works programme.
The new scoping study also showed that Etango’s life of mine could potentially be extended by between 15 to 27 years.
Bannerman CEO Gavin Chamberlain yesterday said developing the “world-class” Etango project at an initial 8 Mtpa throughput scale is the company’s core.
The scoping study was undertaken to demonstrate the ready technical and financial viability of expanding or extending Bannerman’s base case Etango operation following its successful construction and ramp-up.
The cost estimates for the development of Etango is about US$320 million or around N$6 billion.
Celsius suffers another loss at Opuwo
Celsius Resources’ net assets from its exploration activities in Namibia amounted to nearly US$14.5 million or more than N$270 million at the end of last year.
Celsius owns the Opuwo cobalt project in Namibia and is listed on the Development Capital Board (DevX) of the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (LSX).
The ministry of mines and energy last October renewed Celsius’ exclusive prospecting licence (EPL) for the Opuwo project, which covers about 683 km², for two years.
“The renewed license will enable Celsius to further evaluate the project’s viability and strategically unlock its potential value with a view to finding a suitable partner,” the company said.
Celsius suffered a loss before income tax of US$28 062 or about N$528 000 for its Namibian operations for the six months ended 31 December 2023, down from the loss of about US$81 002 reported in the same half-year in 2022.
OUTsurance ups dividend
Multinational property and casualty insurer OUTsurance has raised its interim dividend even as its half-year financial results lagged due to severe storm events in Australia.
Market trends suggest that reinsurance market pressure is abating, the company said. It also cited a resumption in dividend payments from OUTsurance Life and a stronger pay-out ratio from Australian business Youi in its decision to up its interim dividend by 7.7% to 61.2c per share.
The company, which holds an 89.8% interest in subsidiary OUTsurance Holdings, reported a 0.5% increase in normalised earnings to R1.41 billion for the six months end December yesterday. But its normalised return on equity fell to 21.6% from 23.
Normalised earnings at OUTsurance Holdings, which houses its insurance interests, was 3.3% lower at R1.55 billion due to the impact of higher natural perils claims, mostly in Australia, which was hit by severe thunderstorms in December.
Despite this, the company's shares were up 4.6% yesterday morning and have gained more than a fifth in the past year. – Fin24