Uzbekistan wants to become a uranium supplier with the help of China, France and Kazakhstan
A state-owned uranium producer in Uzbekistan is in talks with China Nuclear Uranium, also state-owned, about working together to develop some mines in the Central Asian country.
Navoiuran, the Uzbek nuclear company, said in a March 12 statement that the black shale uranium deposits under consideration – Jantuar and Madanli – are both located in the Navoi region of Uzbekistan. Black shale uranium refers to ore deposits found within organic rock formations of this type. Navoiuran has been operational since 2022, when it was spun off from the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Plant.
The tie-up with China Nuclear Uranium is part of a broader agenda promoted by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who in July 2022 issued a resolution setting a domestic uranium production target of 7,100 tonnes by 2030, up from around 3,500 tonnes in 2021.
In an effort to achieve this goal, the Government has actively solicited international partners.
In November, Mirziyoyev's office reported that Uzbekistan was looking to expand its partnership with the French state company Orano, which handles the entire uranium cycle, from mining to fuel production. The French company has been present in Uzbekistan since 2019. In the same year it created a joint venture called Nurlikum Mining and the development would be consistent with the easing of supplies from Niger.
“Advanced processing of strategic raw materials and production of industrial products based on advanced technologies is an important area for cooperation,” the Uzbek presidential office had said coinciding with the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.
There will be a strong counterpart component in any such cooperation. Ahead of Macron's visit, energy analysts suggested that France could see Uzbekistan, as well as neighboring Kazakhstan, as strong alternative sources for the uranium it needs to keep its vital energy sector running. nuclear energy.
Uzbekistan's Minister of Mines and Geology, Bobir Islamov, later that month announced that Oran had committed to investing up to $500 million in uranium mining in Uzbekistan.
“A strategic agreement provides for [Oran] to carry out geological exploration work at two additional sites [in the Tamdyn district of the Navoi region]. Of course, everything will be decided by a feasibility study, but at the moment everything is going very well,” Islamov said, quoted by Gazeta.uz.
Uzbekistan hopes that Kazakhstan, currently the world's largest uranium producer, can also help grow the country's nuclear fuel production sector.
In late February, Aigul Kuspan, who chairs the Committee on International Affairs, Defense and Security of the Lower House of the Kazakh Parliament, reported to her colleagues that Uzbekistan had expressed interest in jointly extracting and processing the uranium in areas along the common border.
A first memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the uranium sector was signed between China Nuclear Uranium and Navoiuran a few days after Macron's visit. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the first International Forum on the Natural Uranium Industry, held in Beijing.
In addition to wanting to strengthen its position among the world's largest uranium producers, Uzbekistan is also exploring the option of building its own nuclear power plant and, as a result, is tentatively exploring potential suitors, including companies in France and Russia .
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The article Uzbekistan wants to become a uranium supplier with the help of China, France and Kazakhstan comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/luzbekistan-vuole-diventare-un-fornitore-di-uranio-con-laiuto-di-cina-francia-e-kazakistan/ on Fri, 15 Mar 2024 09:00:17 +0000.