The national atomic company has signed a new subsoil use agreement with Kazakhstan’s Minister of Energy and received approval for up to four years of pilot production of a total of 701 tU from the Inkai 3 deposit.
Inkai is a key uranium deposit, located in the Suzak district of Turkestan region. The Inkai 3 deposit contains uranium resources of 83,100 tU, Kazatomprom said.
“This licence is important to our sustainable development strategy. Launch of pilot production at Inkai 3 will contribute to social and economic development of the Turkestan region,” Kazatomprom CEO Meirzhan Yussupov said. “Replenishment of the mineral resource base will further bolster our position as a uranium industry leader and help us to meet the rising demand for clean energy.”
Kazatomprom said it expects to transfer the Inkai 3 subsoil use contract to its 100%-owned Kazatomprom-SaUran LLP subsidiary, which mines uranium from the Kanzhugan, South Moyynkum, Central Moyynkum, Uvanas and Mynkuduk deposits in the Turkestan region. Last year, it completed a major investment project to modernise its 1600 tonne per year uranium refinery in Turkestan.
The company announced its plans to start production from the new deposit in June last year, when it said it was negotiating subsoil rights based on project documents with a validity of 25 years, including the pilot production phase. At that time, it said planned to construct operating assets with an annual capacity of 4,000 tU.
All uranium production in Kazakshtan is by the in-situ leach method. JV Inkai LLP, a partnership of Canadian company Cameco (40%) and Kazatomprom (60%), produces uranium from the Inkai 1 deposit.
Source: World Nuclear News
