The idea would have been improbable a few years ago: Canadian and German companies forming a joint venture to exploit uranium deposits in Kazakhstan, once part of the Soviet Union. But things change, and a new partnership will be producing uranium in Central Asia for electric utilities in the West.
KATEP — the national shareholding company formed to bring the former Soviet republic’s state-owned assets to market — has signed on to a joint venture with Uranerz and Cameco (TSE) to mine uranium.
The three companies will share equal interests in the Inkai and Mynkuduk uranium deposits in southern Kazakhstan. Uranerz will be the principal operator, KATEP will contribute technical staff, and all three partners will market the uranium.
KATEP is an established uranium miner, having produced 7% of the world’s U3O8 in 1994. Uranerz and Cameco are household names in the nuclear family, together accounting for about a quarter of world production in 1994.
Inkai and Mynkuduk are large, low-grade, uranium deposits in sandstone host rocks. They resemble those of the Colorado Plateau in the western U.S. Uranerz has operated the Crow Butte uranium mine in western Nebraska since the 1970s, during which time it has gained valuable experience in in situ leaching of sandstone-hosted deposits.
The joint venture has its roots in a marketing and investment agreement signed by the three companies in 1993. When the prime minister of Kazakhstan visited Canada last March, Uranerz and Cameco presented a proposal for the joint venture.
Both Western companies see the joint venture as an opportunity to diversify their uranium holdings. KATEP sees it as a doorway to the Western uranium market, and wants to prove itself a reliable supplier. Viktor Yazikov, president of KATEP, says he expects the projects will be marked by “cost-effectiveness, high productivity and stringent environmental protection.”
Be the first to comment on "Uranerz, Cameco form partnership with Kazakhs"