Mercuria signs first uranium financing deal with Malawi miner

Trading house Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. signed its first prepayment agreement with a uranium miner, striking a deal with the owner of an operation in Malawi.

Australia’s Lotus Resources Ltd. said last week it has signed a non-binding term sheet with the commodity trader for production from the its Kayelekera mine. If finalized, Mercuria will pay up to $30 million and be able to market 3 million pounds of uranium over 30 months.

The arrangement is Mercuria’s maiden foray into financing uranium miners in return for a portion of their output. The market for the nuclear fuel has recovered in recent years following a lengthy downturn after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and demand is forecast to grow as multiple countries – led by China – expand their fleet of reactors.

Lotus acquired the Kayelekera asset in 2020, six years after it was shuttered due to weak uranium prices. The company restarted the mine last year and is targeting annual output of 2.4 million pounds of uranium oxide, although earlier this month it announced a temporary pause in production after the Iran war disrupted sulfuric acid supplies.

Mercuria’s funding – which won’t be available until September at the earliest – will provide “significant additional working capital flexibility to progress the project,” Lotus said. That involves repairing the mine’s acid plant.

Under the marketing agreement, Lotus will retain “full control” over who Kayelekera’s production is sold to, including to power utilities that have existing offtake contracts with the mine, the company said.

A spokesperson for Mercuria declined to comment.

(By William Clowes and Archie Hunter)