Kazatomprom says no delays in JV Inkai uranium shipment to Cameco

ASTANA. Aug 25 (Interfax) - Delivery of the first shipment of uranium products in 2023 from a joint venture with Kazatomprom, JV Inkai LLP to the Canadian Cameco will be on time, without delay, Dastan Kosherbayev, Chief Commercial Officer of Kazatomprom, said.

"We, as a national operator that handles all our own shipments, confirm that there are no problems on this route [The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route]. All documents, and permits, everything needed by the Azerbaijani side, everything is going according to plan, so all planned shipments on this route to this partner are planned to be 100% fulfilled," Kosherbayev said at a briefing on Friday.

Cameco had previously reported that it expects uranium shipments from JV Inkai in the Q3 2023, but does not rule out delays. "The geopolitical situation continues to create transportation risks in the region. We continue to work closely with JV Inkai and our joint venture partner Kazatomprom to receive our share of production through the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which is independent of Russian rail lines or ports" , the Canadian company said.

Cameco also did not rule out that this year there might be further delays in the supply of products from the Inkai field. "To mitigate the risk of delays, we have inventories, long-term purchase agreements and loan agreements that we can rely on. Depending on when we receive our share of Inkai's production, our share of the profits from this project may change (...) as may the timing of our share of dividends from the joint venture," the company said.

In December 2022, it was reported that Kazatomprom and JV Inkai made its first delivery of uranium to Canada via the Trans-Caspian route across the Caspian Sea.

The Inkai uranium deposit is located in the Suzak district of the Turkestan region in Kazakhstan. Uranium mining using in-situ leaching at Inkai site Number 1 is conducted by JV Inkai LLP, whose participants are Cameco (40%) and Kazatomprom (60%). Site Number 1 contains 148,000 tonnes of uranium.

Section Number 4 of the field is being developed by another Kazatomprom joint venture, JV Southern Mining and Chemical Company LLP. Section Numbers 2 and 3 are at the exploration stage, Kazatomprom's annual report says.