The Nurlikum Mining joint venture, created by the French Orano Mining and Navoiyuran, plans to start uranium production at the South Dzhengeldy deposit before 202, announced the joint venture's CEO Benoit Lemonne at the Tashkent International Investment Forum on June 12.
According to Benoit Lemonne, the company has been issued two exploration licenses since its creation in December 2019.
"Over these five years, we have carried out over 200 thousand meters of exploration work. We also completed a pilot project to make sure that uranium mining from this deposit is really possible," he said.
He added that the company signed an "important agreement" with Navoiyuran, as well as with a third party that will soon join the project. We are talking about the Japanese corporation ITOCHU, which acquired a stake in Nurlikum Mining.
According to certified data, the deposit will be able to produce uranium for more than 10 years, with a peak production volume of 700 metric tons of uranium per year.
“As far as we are concerned, the South Dzhengeldy deposit is almost ready for launch. We plan to make a final investment decision on the start of production in the coming weeks or months, but certainly before the end of this year,” he emphasized.
He noted that it will take less than six years from the start of the project until the decision to start production is made. “For those familiar with mining investments, this is a very good result,” he concluded.
The South Dzhengeldy project is part of a large-scale strategic partnership program between Orano and the Uzbek Navoiyuran, based on an agreement with the Uzbek government signed in 2022.
Earlier, on March 12, as part of the Uzbek-French business forum in Paris, timed to coincide with the state visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Orano and Navoiyuran signed a new uranium mining and development cooperation agreement.
The agreement covers joint exploration and industrial production of uranium, includes provisions on mandatory compliance with environmental requirements, safety standards, job creation and support for the population in the regions of presence.
South Dzhengeldy will be industrially developed as part of the production base of Navoiyuran, which will act as the operator of the project.
At the first phase of the field development, the expected investments will top $ 214 million over three years, and the average annual uranium production is reach 500 tons.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Uzbekistan ranks 7th in the world in terms of uranium production, supplying an average of about 3,500-3,700 tons of natural uranium per year (as of 2022-2023). The main export partner is currently France through Orano, as well as South Korea and China.
