WildHorse sets production forecasts

West Perth-based uranium minnow WildHorse Energy Ltd has stated its intentions to be a future uranium producer, with the company looking to have its flagship projects in the United States online at the end of the decade.

Between its Bison Basin and Sweetwater projects in Wyoming, US, and its Pecs project in Hungary, WildHorse managing director Richard Pearce believes there is 45 million plus pounds of resource.

“All our focus has been on assets in Hungary and the US in areas where there is an absolute demand for uranium,” he said.

“We are not an exploration company, it is very much a development focus.”

Mr Pearce said the company’s Bison Basin project, which has upwards of 20 million pounds of resource, and Sweetwater project, where they are targeting 10 million pound resource, had the potential to be in production in 2010.

“The key thing everyone is interested in is when projects will produce,” he said.

“Since we now have the data we are moving into doing a scoping study in the next few weeks, and then commence a new feasibility study in the first half 2008.

“Bison Basin is that short-term production opportunity which really gets the industry excited about what might happen.”

Mr Pearce said the Macquarie-backed company would look to go to market again in the next few months for more money to help fund its Bison Basin and Sweetwater activities, which are located adjacent to Rio Tinto-owned uranium mill.

He said the future of the Sweetwater mine was dependent on Rio Tinto, which pulled back from the sale of the mill due to the heightened interest in uranium.

Since listing in November after raising $10 million, WildHorse’s share price has shot up 397 per cent after listing at 40 cents. Earlier this week the stock was trading at $1.99 with a market capitalisation of $75 million.

Meanwhile, West Perth-based uranium company Uran Ltd has announced plans to spin off its nickel exploration assets into a separate company, to enhance its focus on eastern European uranium projects.

Under the proposal, the nickel assets, located in the Forrestania Greenstone Belt, will be transferred to a new company Great Western Exploration, which will undertake a capital raising and seek to list on the ASX.

The news follows what has been a productive year of spin offs, with the likes of Giralia Resources Ltd spinning off its uranium assets into U308 Ltd and its iron ore, gold and base metals into Red Hill Iron Ltd. The latter company topped the list of Western Australia’s best performing IPO’s for 2006 in WA Business News with a 700 per cent increase in its issue price after listing last February.