Paladin Energy rose to the highest in more than a week in trading today after more than doubling estimated ore reserves at its only operating mine.

The Perth-based company gained as much as 37 cents, or 8.5 per cent, to $4.71 on the Australian stock exchange and was at $4.69 at 10.45am. That compared with an advance of as much as 1.9 per cent in the benchmark energy index.

The Langer Heinrich deposit in Namibia is now estimated to hold 65.8 million pounds of uranium oxide, compared with the 25.6 million pounds projected in 2005, Paladin said today in a statement to the exchange. An expansion of the project is due for completion by year-end and a further capacity increase is planned.

“This large improvement in ore reserve status and the strong potential for further increase continues to confirm the importance of the Langer Heinrich deposit on a world scale,” Paladin said in the statement. “The revised mine model will allow a remaining mine life of 11 years, based on the expansion of processing capability to 6 million pounds per year.” – The West Australian