Japanese Company Intends to Mine Uranium in Uzbekistan
October 10th, 2008 - Posted in UncategorizedUzbekistan, Tashkent, 10 October / corr TrendCapital T.Zhukov / Japanese Sojitz Corp. intends to establish
a joint venture on production of uranium, TrendNews correspondent reported in Tashkent.
Memorandum on intention was concluded between the Japanese corporation and the State committee on geology and mineral resources of Uzbekistan, the State committee told TrendNews. Uzbekistan authorized Sojitz with an exclusive right for study of opportunities on joint exploitation of ore fields in area ? 4 in the Central Kyzyl-Kum Desert. The exclusive right is valid during 18 months.
Experts of Sojitz Corp. will study papers, provided by State committee on geology and mineral resources of Uzbekistan on indicated area by the end of 2008. Final decision in implementation of subsequent geological exploration will be made afterwards.
Sojitz Corporation (former name is Nissho Iwai) is one of key commerce corporations of Japan with turnover of $42.5bln per year. Sojitz has 50-year experience in atomic industry and carries out stable delivery of uranium to Japan. The corporation is registered in Tokyo stock exchange with the capitalization of $5.3bln.
According to data of the State committee on geology and mineral resources, explored reserves of uranium make up 185,800 tons. Probable reserves comprise 242,700 tons. Production of uranium constituted 2,270 tons (by 0.5% more than in 2006) in 2007. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over 3% of world uranium resources is concentrated in the country. Uzbekistan does not have own atomic industry and exports uranium.
The correpondent can be contacted at Capital@trend.az
