WMC Resources’ chief executive Andrew Michelmore and chief financial officer Bruce Brook said it wouldn’t be until current contracts ran out around 2009 that the company stood to benefit from the current (and forecast) high uranium price.

WMC uranium contracts are typically 3-5 years, with the price received a mixture of spot, recent historical prices, and a fixed component.

“The forward commitments that we entered into over the last few years do tend to keep our level of realisations relatively flat in the scenarios that you’ve outlined – where the price stays steady at US$21 per pound over the next few years,” Brook said in response to a question.

“We could [receive] for the next few years in the mid-teens territory, and it’s about 2009 that we’ve got large uncommitted components of our production … and the new contract prices really kick in.”

Michelmore said the company was currently in negotiations with buyers over future contracts, “with the numbers in the mid-20s”.

Still, while WMC may have to wait a few years to cash in, Michelmore cited an average 23,000t per annum uranium shortfall (between production and demand) for the next 15 years. And this before the addition of a total of 33 new reactors that Japan, China and India wish to build.

WMC’s Olympic Dam contains the world’s largest uranium resource. Last year that resource yielded 4404t in 2004, with sales recorded of 4172t.

Overall Australia’s last independent miner achieved a record profit after tax of US$1.3 billion.

Shares in WMC closed down 4c at $7.48, with the stock unchanged in midday trade today.