Russia has reportedly sold its stakes in certain Kazakh uranium deposits to Chinese-owned companies, marking a significant shift in the global uranium market.
The development involves Kazakhstan’s nuclear resources company, Kazatomprom, and Russia’s Rosatom transferring interests to Chinese entities.
Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, revealed that Rosatom’s Uranium One Group sold its 49.97 per cent stake in the Zarechnoye joint venture (JV) to SNURDC Astana Mining Company, whose ultimate beneficiary is China’s State Nuclear Uranium Resources Development Company.
The Zarechnoye JV operates the Zarechnoye mine, which had uranium reserves of approximately 3,500 tonnes at the start of 2024. Mining operations at the mine are expected to be completed in 2028.
Additionally, Uranium One is expected to relinquish a 30 per cent stake in the Khorasan-U JV to China Uranium Development Company, linked to China General Nuclear Power Corporation.
The Khorasan-U operates at the Kharasan-1 block in the Zhanakorgan district, with reserves of around 33,000 tonnes and an expected maturity in 2038.
Despite these transactions, Kazatomprom’s stakes remain unchanged.
After the Khorasan-U stake sale, Rosatom will retain interests in Kazatomprom deposits with combined reserves of 255,000 tonnes, including the Budennovskoye deposit, according to a report by Reuters.
Uranium One produced 4,831 tonnes of uranium in Kazakhstan in 2023, contributing to Russia’s position as the world’s sixth-largest uranium producer.
According to the report, Kazatomprom’s chief executive, Meirzhan Yussupov, highlighted that Western sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine conflict complicate uranium sales to Western buyers.
Kazatomprom sells 29 per cent of its output to Europe and has outlined the risks of sanctions in its annual report, noting potential reputational and corporate governance risks associated with Russian partners.
The company is currently concentrating on its strategic goal of replenishing its mineral resource base and fostering sustainable reserve growth. It has initiated an extensive exploration programme designed to evaluate promising areas and identify new deposits.
In the current year, the company has secured four new licences for the exploration of potentially lucrative uranium blocks, which it intends to develop independently. Initial assessments indicate that the total projected resources of these blocks surpass 180,000 tonnes of uranium.
Kazatomprom’s chief executive Meirzhan Yussupov told the Financial Times in September that sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine conflict made it difficult to sell uranium to Western buyers.
Kazatomprom sells 29 per cent of its output to Europe, according to the company’s documents.
The company outlined the risks in its latest annual report, stressing that although Rosatom was not directly targeted, some of its companies as well as senior Russian nuclear power industry executives were under Western sanctions.
“There are also risks associated with Russian partners in the Group’s subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures, including reputational and corporate governance risks,” it said.
Rosatom has also expressed interest in building Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, aimed at phasing out polluting coal.
