A pitch to claw back from a $54 million half-yearly loss may be paying-off for one Australian uranium miner.

Energy Resources Australia (ERA) has released some results from its underground uranium explorations near the Ranger Uranium Mine in NT. The Ranger mine has been extracting ore for over 30-years as an open-cut setup, now ERA are looking at tunnelling for the next big strike. 

The drilling results varied from 0.14 per cent uranium up to 1.1 per cent uranium at different depths, with an average level of uranium at between 0.2 and 0.25 per cent – typically considered a low grade find. 

It may be just enough for ERA though, with the company strapping its future to the underground works now that open-cut digging has ceased. Chief executive Rob Atkinson says the results show an earlier estimate of 34,000 tonnes of uranium oxide is looking like a reasonable mark for the new project.

Mr Atkinson will end his time with the company this month after five years as CEO, but he believes ERA will redeem itself from tough financial times and forge ahead in coming years; “I think there is a terrific team at ERA,” he said, “I'm sure they will still work very hard to produce uranium safely, but also work closely with the community around them.”