Uranium developer Paladin Energy voluntarily halted the trading of its shares on Tuesday after investors wiped off 20% of its market value on the ASX.
The decline was attributed to an announcement that Namibia is considering taking minority stakes in mining and petroleum producers.
“The securities of Paladin Energy Ltd will be placed in a trading halt at the request of PDN, pending the release of an announcement. Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in a trading halt until the earlier of the commencement of normal trading on Thursday, 1 June 2023, or when the announcement is released to the market,” the company stated in a market announcement.
Bloomberg quoted Minister of Mines and Energy Tom Alweendo saying, “We are advocating that local ownership must begin with the State, which holds ownership of our natural resources.”
“The proposed State ownership should involve the State having a minimum equity percentage in all mining companies and petroleum production, for which it does not have to pay,” he added.
At the start of trading on Tuesday, Paladin shares tumbled from around 66 Australian cents per share to around 54 cents per share.
Paladin owns 75% of the Langer Heinrich mine, which has been inactive since August 2018 but is currently undergoing a N$2.3 billion ($US118 million) restart effort.
Paladin anticipated the resumption of first production from Langer Heinrich in early next year. It remains unclear whether this schedule would be affected by the government’s plan. The China National Nuclear Corporation is Paladin’s partner in the Langer Heinrich mine.
Husab and Rossing, which are also operated by Chinese companies, are managed by the China General Nuclear Power Group and China National Uranium Corporation, respectively.
