NAC Kazatomprom JSC (Kazakhstan) signed an agreement about foundation of a joint venture with two Japanese corporations

/KASE, January 23, 06/ - National atomic company Kazatomprom JSC (NAC Kazatomprom JSC, Almaty) today spread press-release saying: Quotation start Today, 23 January 2006, in the City of Astana (Kazakhstan) the National Atomic Company Kazatomprom JSC of Kazakhstan, (represented by its President Mr.Moukhtar Dzhakishev ) of Kazakhstan, and two Japanese corporations: Sumitomo Corporation (represented by its Managing Director Mr. Michihisa Shinagawa ), one of the Japanese largest integrated trading companies based in Tokyo, Japan, and The Kansai Electric Power Co.,Inc.(represented by its Managing Director Mr. Tetsuji Kishida ), Japanese second largest electric utility company based in Osaka, Japan, entered into a agreement which provides creation of a tripartite joint venture in Southern Kazakhstan for development of West Mynkuduk Deposit to develop a new uranium deposit, produce and sell uranium products from that mine and it is first part of realization of strategic partnership program among companies. In accordance with this program it is planned to supply Kazakh higher valued uranium products to Japanese market. Sumitomo and Kansai will invest in the joint venture APPAK LLP which has been already established in Kazakhstan by Kazatomprom. The shares of Kazatomprom, Sumitomo, and Kansai are distributed as follows: 65%, 25%, and 10%. The necessary initial funding will be approximately US$100Million. According to the current development plan, APPAK LLP plans to start pilot production of uranium products after the completion of the necessary construction stage in 2007 and commence its full scale commercial production of 1,000 tons of uranium per year in and about 2010. The mine life is expected to be approximately 22 years and the total production of uranium from this mine will be about 18,000 tons. APPAK LLP will employ in-situ leaching mining method, which has been developed and proven by Kazatomprom on other existing mines. This method is one of the most competitive production methods and has a number of high technology advantages. The uranium produced by APPAK LLP will be basically sold in the Japanese market by Sumitomo. The establishment of a long-term business partnership cooperation between Kazatomprom, Sumitomo and Kansai will contribute to the creation of friendly and constructive relations between Kazakhstan and Japan. Quotation end [2006-01-23]