The French company will invest up to 500 million dollars in uranium mining and processing in Uzbekistan

The French company Orano will invest up to 500 million dollars in uranium mining and processing in Uzbekistan. Minister of Mining and Geology Babur Islamov informed Spot about this at the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum. The minister noted that the country has signed an agreement on strategic partnership with Orano. The French company is currently conducting geological exploration, and the initial technical and economic basis of the project will be developed by the end of this year. "The strategic agreement states that there will be two additional fields [in the Tomdi district of the Navoi region], where [Orano] will conduct geological exploration. Everything will of course be decided by the feasibility study, so far everything is going well. The total amount of the total investment is set at 500 million dollars in the contract," Islamov said. According to the minister, the available volumes of uranium production have already found commercial markets. As the volume of production of nuclear fuel increases, Uzbekistan will make a decision on export based on the price situation, he added. "No matter who we work with on uranium, we are based on world prices. "If the price goes up, everything depends on the formula and our delivery price will go up," the minister concluded. Islamov informed that the export of uranium has increased in all directions this year and emphasized the importance of diversifying the supply.