OREANDA-NEWS. On April 13, 2007 Buryatia regional office of subsoil resources management has submitted to Rosnedra (the Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency of Russia) the documents to back license applications for the right to develop 5 uranium deposits (Istochnoye, Kolichkanskoye, Dybrynskoye, Namarusskoye and Koretkondinskoye). TVEL-submitted feasibility studies for development of these deposits are in full compliance with bidding terms announced last December. Total explored reserves in C1+C2 categories are 17,700 tons of uranium with probable reserves amounting up to another 12,200 tons, reported the press-centre of TVEL.


“The licenses are to be granted to the managing company - JSC TVEL - rather than separate uranium miners,” TVEL’s Acting President Anton Badenkov said. One of the deposits development options is the expansion of existing Khiagda facility. All five deposits are located within 5 to 7 kilometers of the Khiagdinskoye uranium deposit, therefore, they can be expansion targets for the said site and can boost its design output by 1,5-2 times. The development plans foresee uranium output of up to 2,000 annually by 2015. JSC Khiagda is one of three Russian natural uranium miners. It operates on a pilot scale the Khiagdinskoye uranium deposit by in-situ leaching (ISL). The deposit explored reserves in category C1+C2 are estimated 11,300 tons. At the moment, the site design capacity is 1,000 tons of uranium per year. At present, TVEL Corporation’s mining companies are sole uranium miners of uranium in Russia. These include the JSC Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union (Chita Region), JSC Dalur (Kurgan Region) and JSC Khiagda (Buryat Republic). In 2007 a planned uranium output is to be 3,400 tons.