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JSC Uranium Mining Company (UMC) is a company established within the frames of the nuclear industry reform with the purpose to consolidate industrial, financial and natural resources to increase mining and reprocessing of natural uranium to meet the growing demands of Russian nuclear industry.
UMC got a state registration certificate on November 30, 2006. Two leading nuclear Russian companies JSC TVEL and JSC Tenex became founders with equal shareholding. On December 15, 2006 in Moscow there was the first meeting of the Company’s Board of Directors headed by the Deputy Head of the Agency for Atomic Energy V. Travin. The composition of the board was the following: Head of Rosatom Strategic Development Department B. Boldirev, Deputy Head of Rosatom Nuclear Materials Industry Department V. Fedoseev, TVEL Acting President A. Badenkov, Techsnabexport Director- General V. Smirnov and others.
UMC plans to operate in several directions: development of current deposits, prospecting, creation of joint uranium mining companies in CIS and other countries. UMC also plans the active Russian and foreign investments attraction in uranium mining.
The UMC’s activity will be carried out in several stages. The first stage – development of the joint strategy, the second stage - transfer of uranium mining enterprises’ shares for asset management, the third – transfer of mining assets to UMC. The plan of UMC operation for 2007 envisages independent evaluation of mining assets to be transferred to UMC by TVEL and Tenex as well as transfer itself (in exchange for companies’ shares) and licenses for development of Russian uranium deposits.
By 2020 the company plans to increase uranium mining volume by 28,8 thousand tons a year. It is expected that the PIMCU will mine 5 thousand tons per year, Hiagda – 2 thousand tons and Dalur – 1 thousand tons. Elkonsky group deposits will provide 5 thousand tons annually. The rest volume is planned to be mined at new uranium deposits in Buryatia and Chita region, as well as at new joint ventures abroad.
Presently uranium mining in Russia is done only by TVEL Fuel Company’s mining enterprises: JSC Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union (Chita region), JSC Dalur (Kurgan region) and JSC KHiagda (Republic of Buriatia). The first one mines uranium by excavation, the rest two use in-situ leaching. The volume of mined uranium in 2006 was 3,2 thousand tons of uranium.
According to “Federal Programme of Development of Nuclear Industry and Nuclear Power Complex of Russia for 2007-2009” the NPP’s power starting 2010 should increase by 2015 by 3 GWt every year. Thus total demand in uranium including export will grow to 36 thousand tons as forecasted by 2020.
Russia’s uranium potential is 615 thousand tons of discovered reserves and forecasted resources – 830 thousand tons. The main deposits are concentrated in Streltsovsky, Zauralsky, Vitimsky and Elkonsky regions. Besides to meet the demands of the Russian nuclear industry mineral deposits of other countries – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and others - can be used. |