Canada extends review of Paladin deal to end-December

PALADIN Energy will have to wait until at least December 30 to discover if its proposed C$1.1bn takeover of Canada’s Fission Uranium Corp. will proceed.This was after the Canadian government extended a review of the transaction in terms of the country’s Investment Canada Act (ICA), legislation that assesses in-bound investment by non-Canadians for their economic benefit.Paladin said in an update on Wednesday that the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry had extended the review of the proposal to the year-end.“In light of the national security review of the Arrangement, there can be no certainty that Paladin will be able to obtain ICA clearance in a timely manner or at all,” the company said. “Failure to obtain ICA clearance would prevent the arrangement from being successfully completed,” it added.On October 8, the Supreme Court of British Columbia approved the transaction in which Paladin offered 0.1076 shares for each of Fission’s shares.Paladin’s proposed takeover comes amid improved sentiment for uranium as a key component of the global power mix. In anticipation of this, Paladin gave the green light to the restart of its Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia in 2022, about six years after a plummeting uranium oxide price forced it to close.However, on November 12 Paladin cut uranium oxide production guidance at Langer Heinrich after running into ramp-up problems.The Sydney-listed firm said it now expected to mine one million to 1.5 million pounds (lbs) less of uranium oxide than planned owing to grade variability of stockpiled ore and water shortages at the site.A new production forecast of between three million to 3.5m lbs of uranium oxide (compared to four million to 4.5m lbs previously) has been set by the company. All other guidance, including total costs, had been withdrawn, it added. As of October the cost of production was $44/lb compared to a $28 to $31/lb target set out in June.Shares in Paladin fell just over one percent on the Australian Securities Exchange, extending losses to 22.5% year-to-date.The post Canada extends review of Paladin deal to end-December appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com