Denison sees $150 uranium, pricey takeovers

By Cameron French

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of uranium could reach $150 this year or next, but should ease over the longer term, the chief executive of Denison Mines Corp. (DML.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Reuters Global Mining and Steel summit, Peter Farmer also said his company has had talks with potential takeover targets, although high stock valuations are a deterrent to making moves, he said.

"We're talking to a lot of people and continue to," he said.

"We're looking, but it's tough to determine what a fair deal is, and what a reasonable deal is, and a lot of stock is pretty frothy."

Shares of small-to-mid tier uranium players such as Toronto-based Denison, SXR Uranium One SXR.TO and Mega Uranium MGA.TO have soared over the past year, as uranium prices jumped to levels last seen in the 1970s on strong demand that has outstripped the industry's ability to produce.

The price of uranium touched $125 this week, but Farmer said that it could go considerably higher before it peaks.

"(The price) keeps climbing every couple of weeks at least," he said.

"You're going to see, I would suspect clearly, $150 a pound. and probably a push beyond that."

However, over the longer term, he sees prices receding well below current levels, as production begins to catch up to demand. He said prices by 2011 would likely average $50 to $80 per pound.

Farmer also said Denison has not yet made a decision on whether to match a A$222 million bid by British miner CAMEC BFP.L for Australia's OmegaCorp OMC.AX.

Denison made a made a A$170 million cash bid in December for OmegaCorp, then sweetened the offer in March after having taken up about 33 percent of the company.

"We're looking at all our alternatives: selling it, keeping it ..., maybe putting out a new bid ourselves," he said.

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)