Haywood-1-1A final feasibility study for the Ranger uranium mine in Australia has been cancelled, effectively suspending any future plans for development of Ranger 3 Deeps indefinitely. The news is the latest in what has been a difficult period for uranium miners following the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, which resulted in the shutdown of Japanese nuclear plants and increased global stockpiles as a consequence, which were already in over-supply prior to the disaster. Whether this announcement is a catalyst for similar announcements at other marginal uranium operations remains to be seen, but could see a shift in sentiment for the price of uranium which has been depressed for some time. The UxC Broker Average Price (BAP) for uranium was up marginally for the week (↑2%) finishing at $36.44 per pound on Friday. Meanwhile, the price of gold remained steady this week (↑0.8%), despite more positive economic news out of the U.S. including retail sales and consumer price figures. Gold finished at $1,180 per ounce, while silver (↓0.9%), platinum (↓0.06%) and palladium (↓2%) all finished lower, closing at $15.89, $1,096 and $739 per ounce respectively. All the major base metals suffered marginal losses during the week; copper (↓0.6%), nickel (↓0.4%), lead (↓2%), and zinc (↓0.25%) each finishing at $2.68, $5.94, $0.84 and $0.96 per pound respectively. Copper in particular suffered a late-week slump after a four-day rally reached over $2.75 per pound mid-week. Finally, the price of WTI crude continued its volatile run, finishing at $59.97 per barrel on Friday..