Azernews.Az

Friday March 29 2024

Uzbekistan to launch supplies of uranium to South Korea

23 November 2017 13:38 (UTC+04:00)
Uzbekistan to launch supplies of uranium to South Korea

By Kamila Aliyeva

The first long-term contract for the supply of uranium from Uzbekistan to South Korea was signed in the course of the state visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Seoul.

The explored and estimated reserves of uranium make about 190,000 tons, of which more than 140,000 tons fall for uranium deposits of sandstone type and 47,000 tons - for black shale type, according to the Uzbek State Committee of Geology.

In addition, Uzbekistan has recently signed a contract for the supply of uranium to the U.S. Uzbekistan will begin supplying uranium to the U.S. and plans to obtain a sovereign credit rating. Uzbekistan will supply U.S. Nukem company with uranium concentrate worth $300 million in the next seven years.

India has also expressed interest in additional supplies of uranium from Uzbekistan. Also, Uzbek uranium has been successfully supplied to Japan.

Uzbekistan has large mineral reserves, which include more than 1,800 known mineral deposits. The country’s mineral resources include petroleum, natural gas, gold, silver, uranium, molybdenum, tungsten, coal, copper, zinc and lead. Uranium, copper and gold are the country’s chief minerals.

Over the past few years, the government of Uzbekistan has been trying to attract foreign investors to the development of black shale-type uranium deposits, which require substantial investment in economic terms.

Attraction of the foreign investors comes from the following factors. Firstly, Uzbekistan has significant resources for increasing capacities of the operating enterprise and creation of new ones. Secondly, the Republic possesses a highly developed efficiency of the mineral industry, a favorable infrastructure and highly skilled manpower. Thirdly, many deposits can be developed by open mining which is the cheapest method. Finally, Uzbekistan has the favorable investment climate provided by «The Subsoil Law» and a support by the governing bodies.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more