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Japan`s ITOCHU Enters Uzbek-French Uranium Project
A new partner from Japan, ITOCHU Corporation, is joining the uranium project of Uzbekistan and France.
As reported by the French company Orano, ITOCHU has acquired a minority stake in Nurlikum Mining, a joint venture between Orano and the state-owned enterprise Navoiyuran. Before this deal, the French side owned 51% of the stake, and the Uzbek side owned 49%. It is not reported whose stake ITOCHU bought.
“This new partnership strengthens the recent achievements within the joint venture and reflects the determination of all parties to continue developing the South Dzhengeldy deposit,” the statement said.
The partners plan to begin exploration of the deposit, with the goal of at least doubling the joint venture’s mineral resources.
According to certified data, the deposit will be able to provide uranium production for more than 10 years, with peak production volumes of 700 metric tons of uranium per year.
The South Jengeldy project is part of a broader cooperation program with Navoiyuran, laid out in a strategic agreement signed by Orano with the government of Uzbekistan in 2022.
As previously reported, on March 12, on the sidelines of the Uzbek-French business forum, which is taking place as part of the state visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Paris, Navoiyuran and Orano signed a new agreement on cooperation in the field of uranium deposit development and uranium industry development.
The document provides for joint exploration and production of uranium, and also includes commitments to comply with environmental and safety standards, create jobs and support local communities.
The contract lays the foundation for the industrial development of the South Dzhengeldy uranium deposit. It will be integrated into the existing production base of Navoiyuran, which will become its operator.
Navoiyuran reported that at the first stage of the deposit development, the expected investments will amount to $214 million over three years, and the average annual uranium production is expected to be at the level of 500 tons.
Recall that since December 2019, a joint venture for uranium exploration and production in the Navoi region, Nurlikum Mining, has been operating in Uzbekistan, created by the leader of the French nuclear industry Orano (51%) and the State Committee for Geology (49%). The resource base of the enterprise includes three promising areas of "sandstone" uranium - North and South Dzhengeldy and Yangikuduk.
In November 2022, the State Committee for Geology, Navoiyuran and the French Orano signed a trilateral agreement to expand uranium production and processing. Uzbekistan intends to focus on the French model in the "nuclear fuel value chain".
Then, Orano CEO Nicolas Maes told Gazeta.uz that the agreement envisaged a five-year development program with investments of "several hundred million euros" (at the initial stage - 50 million euros).
In November 2023, Minister of Mining and Geology Bobir Islamov noted that Orano plans to invest up to $ 500 million in uranium mining and processing in Uzbekistan. According to him, geological exploration will be carried out at two more sites in the Navoi region.
Navoiyuran is the fifth largest uranium producer in the world, playing a key role in ensuring sustainable and responsible supplies of nuclear fuel. Specializing in the extraction and processing of natural uranium into uranium oxide, the company meets the global demand for clean energy through export supplies.
ITOCHU Corporation is one of Japan's leading trading companies engaged in import, export and investment in various sectors including textiles, machinery, metals, minerals, energy, chemicals, food, real estate, information technology and finance.
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