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BUSINESS OVERVIEW
06
6.4 Operations
IMOURAREN PROJECT
Located 80 kilometers south of Arlit, this deposit was discovered in 1966
and constitutes one of the largest deposits in the world today (reserves of
174,196metric tons of uranium after recovery). The feasibility study was completed
in December 2007 and submitted in April 2008. AREVA received the mining permit
for the deposit in early January 2009. The Imouraren SA mining company was
established, with AREVA NC Expansion (86.5% AREVA and 13.5% Kepco/KHNP)
holding a 66.65% interest and Sopamin and the government of Niger holding the
remaining 33.35%.
In view of market conditions, production startupwork has been suspended. The site,
equipment and facilities are currently mothballed, and all demobilization operations
together with implementation of the restructuring plan were completed in the first
quarter of 2015.
The project will restart when uraniummarket conditions permit. A strategy committee
set up by the State of Niger and AREVA regularly reviews these conditions.
Kazakhstan
Katco was established in 1997 to develop andmine the Muyunkum and Tortkuduk
deposits in southern Kazakhstan, approximately 250 kilometers north of Shymkent.
The shareholders are AREVA (51%) and the Kazakh company Kazatomprom (49%),
the national natural uranium producer of Kazakhstan.
Industrial development of the two sites, located approximately 60 kilometers
apart, started in April 2004 after the signature of agreements between the two
shareholders. The in-situ recovery (ISR) technology was chosen to solubilize the
uranium directly in the rock.
In 2008, Katco received a permit to raise production to 4,000metric tons of uranium
per year; it has maintained this level since 2013. Since 2015, Katco has continued
studies and work aimed at bringing the South Tortkuduk deposit into production;
this deposit is located between two deposits currently in production. The request
to register South Tortkuduk resources and reserves in the State of Kazakhstan’s
records is under review and constitutes the first stage of development of this deposit.
Namibia
AREVA has owned 100% of the Trekkopje deposit in Namibia since its acquisition
in 2007. In 2012 and 2013, a pilot phase demonstrated the feasibility of the selected
technical solutions and confirmed the production cost objectives. Nonetheless,
the deterioration of uranium market conditions prompted AREVA to mothball the
project in October 2012.
Mongolia
For more than 15 years, AREVA has successfully conducted mineral exploration
work in the Sainshand basin at two sites, Dulaan Uul and Zoovch Ovoo.
Following an initial feasibility study, mining licenses were granted for the Dulaan
Uul and Zoovch Ovoo deposits in June 2015 to Cogegobi, the subsidiary of AREVA
Mongol
(1)
that will lead AREVA’s exploration operations.
In 2016, these mining licenses were transferred to AREVA Mines LLC, which will
be held by AREVA Mongol1 (66%) and by Mon-Atom (34%), a public company
under the supervision of the State Properties Commission. Subject to the upcoming
activation of the joint venture, these licenses will enable the start of detailed technical
and economic studies, in particular the creation of a pilot site at Zoovch Ovoo using
the in-situ recovery (ISR) technology.
Gabon
In Gabon, exploration work resumed a few years ago at AREVA’s former mining
sites and continued in 2016.
(1) The shareholders of AREVA Mongol are CFMM, a wholly owned company of AREVA Mines (66%), and Mitsubishi Corporation (34%).
2016 AREVA
REFERENCE DOCUMENT
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