French Orano will invest up to $500 million in uranium mining in Uzbekistan

The French company Orano will invest up to $500 million in the mining and processing of uranium in Uzbekistan, Spot reports, citing a statement by the Minister of Mining and Geology Bobir Islamov at the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum.

According to him, Uzbekistan has a signed strategic partnership agreement with Orano. The French company is currently carrying out geological exploration work, and a preliminary feasibility study of the project will be prepared by the end of this year.

“The strategic agreement stipulates that there will be two additional areas [in the Tamdyn district of the Navoi region] in which they [Orano] will carry out geological exploration work. Everything will be decided, of course, by a feasibility study, but now everything is going very positively. The total amount of investment, in general, is fixed by the agreement to $500 million”, – Islamov said.

The minister noted that the existing volumes of uranium production have already found markets. As production of nuclear fuel increases, Uzbekistan will make decisions on exports based on price conditions, he added.

“Whoever we work with on uranium, we are tied to world prices. If the price rises, in principle, everything is tied up with our formulas and our cost of supplies also rises”, – the official concluded.

Islamov also reported an increase in uranium exports in all directions this year, emphasizing the importance of diversifying supplies.

During the recent visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, it became known that Orano would engage in new projects in the field of geological exploration and uranium mining in Uzbekistan.

On the eve of this, Bloomberg noted that the purpose of Macron’s visit to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan is to discuss expanding uranium supplies, since France sees Central Asia as a replacement for Russian nuclear fuel.