Kazakhstan to boost uranium output by 10% in 2011

Kazakhstan plans to increase its uranium output by 10% this year to 19,600 tn from 17,803 tn in 2010, the head of Kazatomprom, the state-owned uranium miner, said recently. By itself, Kazatomprom, which operates a series of mining joint ventures across Kazakhstan with foreign investors, could produce more than 11,000 tn in 2011, the company’s president, Vladimir Shkolnik, said.

Kazatomprom operates its own uranium mines in Kazakhstan as well as several joint ventures with global players such as Cameco Corp, Areva, Toshiba Corp and Russia’s Rosatom. According to Shkolnik, Kazatomprom expected its 2010 consolidated profit to be around KZT 53.6 bn ($ 380 mm).

Kazakhstan, which holds the world’s second most significant reserves of uranium after Australia, surpassed Canada as the world’s largest producer of the metal in 2009.