Private uranium
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 04.02.2010 |
Vedomosti
First ever private company allowed to mine uranium in Russia
En+ has become the first privately owned company in Russia to be granted a permit to mine uranium.
En+ mines raw materials for energy production, has electricity generation assets, and also produces non-ferrous metals (revenue $19.04 billion). It is a division of billionaire Oleg Deripaska's investment vehicle Basic Element (Basel). En+ declared its interest in uranium mining in 2004 and said it was considering several assets two years later, but private companies were not allowed to produce uranium in Russia then. The legislation was amended in 2007.
Russia's only uranium producer for now is a unit of state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, AtomRedMetZoloto, which was recently renamed ARMZ Uranium Holding Company.
A joint venture between ARMZ and the gold mining company Zoloto Seligdara has a license to mine uranium and is developing the Lunnoye gold and uranium deposit in Yakutia. However, ARMZ takes all the uranium the joint venture produces.
So far, En+ has no uranium assets, said the company's spokesman, adding that it could cooperate with ARMZ. The two companies are in talks on establishing a joint venture for uranium exploration and mining, said Vladislav Solovyov, general director of En+. An ARMZ representative confirmed that they are holding talks but refused to specify.
The two companies are considering developing areas near Khiagda, an asset of ARMZ, two sources with close ties to the companies said. Khiagda is developing the Khiagdinskoye uranium deposit located on the border of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory.
The Khiagdinskoye group of fields includes seven other deposits. ARMZ is conducting exploration at five of them, with their uranium reserves estimated at 17,700 metric tons.
It also needs a partner to develop the huge Elkonskoye deposit in Yakutia, with estimated uranium reserves of 600,000 metric tons. However, the state holding will most likely choose a stronger partner for this project, for example in China or Japan, said Mikhail Stiskin, an analyst with investment company Troika Dialog.
Viktor Vekselberg's Renova group of asset management companies and direct and portfolio investment funds has also expressed interest in uranium mining in Russia.
Renova has a uranium asset in Kyrgyzstan and is considering projects in Russia's Trans-Baikal Territory or "somewhere nearby," a company spokesman said.
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