Uranium One

Last updated
Uranium One Inc.
FormerlySouthern Cross Resources Inc.
SXR Uranium One Inc.
TypeGroup of companies
IndustryUranium industry (ISIC 3)
PredecessorsSouthern Cross Resources Inc.
Aflease Gold and Uranium Resources Ltd.,
Founded2 January 1997 (1997-01-02)
Headquarters
Moscow
,
Russia
Key people
Andrey Shutov (President of JSC Uranium One Group)
ProductsUranium
Lithium
Biofuels
Number of employees
201–500 [1]
Parent Part of the TENEX Group
Website https://uranium1.com

Uranium One is an international group of companies, part of the management circuit of the TENEX Group of Rosatom State Corporation. Since 2013, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Moscow-based Uranium One Group, a part of the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom. [2]

Contents

History

The company was established as Southern Cross Resources Inc. on January 2, 1997, in Toronto, Canada. It was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange on August 25, 1997. In 2005, Southern Cross Resources Inc. reverse merged with South African Aflease Gold and Uranium Resources Ltd. under the name SXR Uranium One Inc. [3] [4] After merger, the company received secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Aflease Gold and Uranium Resources Ltd. became a subsidiary of SXR Uranium One and was renamed Uranium One Africa Ltd. The main uranium asset of Aflease was the Dominion mine. [4] The gold assets of Aflease were divested by 2008 and Uranium One Africa was sold in 2010 to Gupta family. [5]

In 2007, Uranium One Inc. acquired UrAsia Energy Ltd. And a 70% stake in the Akdala and South Inkai uranium mines, as well as a 30% stake in the Kyzylkum venture in Kazakhstan. In June 2009, JSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), a subsidiary of Rosatom, acquired a 16.6 percent stake in Uranium One in exchange for a 50 percent stake in its joint venture with Kazatomprom[ citation needed ] Karatau.

In the same year, Uranium One bought the Shootaring Uranium Mill from the United States Enrichment Corporation. It was sold to Anfield Energy in 2015. [6] Also in 2007, Uranium One acquired Energy Metals Corporation which owned the Hobson uranium processing plant in Texas, and uranium exploration properties located in Wyoming and Texas. The Hobson uranium processing plant and assets in Texas were sold to Uranium Energy Corporation in 2009. [7]

In 2009, the Rosatom subsidiary ARMZ acquired 16.6% of shares in Uranium One in exchange for a 50% interest in the Karatau uranium mining project, a joint venture with Kazatomprom. [8] In 2010, Uranium One acquired 50% and 49% respective interests in southern Kazakhstan-based Akbastau and Zarechnoye uranium mines from ARMZ. In exchange, ARMZ increased its stake in Uranium One to 51%. [9] [10] In 2010, Uranium One acquired Irigaray uranium processing plant, the Christensen Ranch satellite uranium processing facility and associated uranium exploration properties in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming from the joint venture of AREVA and Électricité de France. [11] In December 2010, ARMZ increased its stake in Uranium One to 51.4%. At the time of the 2010 sale, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimated that Uranium One held the rights to approximately 20% of the licensed uranium ore production capacity in the United States which in its entirety amounted to 0.2% of the world's uranium production. [12] [13] By 2017 additional mining licenses had been issued to other operators, shrinking Uranium One's share of U.S. production capacity to approximately 10%. [12]

ARMZ took complete control of Uranium One in January 2013 by buying all shares it did not already own. [2] In October 2013, Uranium One Inc. was delisted from the Toronto and Johannesburg exchanges and became a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Rosatom. [14] [15] From 2012 to 2014, an unspecified amount of Uranium was reportedly exported to Canada via a Kentucky-based trucking firm with an existing export license; most of the processed uranium was returned to the U.S., with approximately 25% going to Western Europe and Japan. [16] [17] In 2015, Uranium One relocated certain head office functions such as finance, internal audit and some technical services to Moscow. In 2017, Uranium One established a trading company Uranium One Trading in Zug, Switzerland. However, in January 2018, trading functions of the company were transferred to Techsnabexport, an export arm of Rosatom. [18]

In 2010–2013, Uranium One acquired Mantra Resources, the developer of Mkuju River mine in Tanzania. The Mkuju River project was suspended in 2017 due to the low uranium price. [19] In 2015, Uranium One Australia, the owner of the Uranium One's Australian operations, including the Honeymoon Uranium Project, was sold to Boss Resources. [20] [21] In August 2018, Uranium One closed its Willow Creek mine in Wyoming. [22]

In 2017, Uranium One Trading A. started its trading company. G in Zug, Switzerland. The company aims to increase its share in the international market by carrying out spot and medium-term trading in natural uranium.

At the end of 2019, Uranium One's mineral resource base is estimated at 512.7 thousand tons. Uranium production for the year amounted to 4,6 tonnes. [23]

In 2019, Uranium One's operations were transferred to TENEX (a global brand of TENEX). [24]

In the reporting year, the mineral resource base of Uranium One's enterprises according to international reporting standards was 192 thousand tons (197.1 thousand tons in 2018). [25]

In 2020, Uranium One made its first shipment of wood pellets to a customer in Italy. More than 3 thousand tons of products were delivered by sea. [26]

Operations

Through its subsidiaries and joint ventures Uranium One owns Akdala, South Inkai, Karatau, Akbastau and Kharasan uranium mines in Kazakhstan, the conserved Willow Creek uranium mine in the United States, and the Mkuju River uranium project in Tanzania. [27] In Namibia, Uranium One Headspring Pty., a subsidiary of Uranium One, is conducting exploration work. Exploration and pilot works are planned until 2027.[ citation needed ]

In 2020, Uranium One sold 11.8 million pounds (5,400 t) of triuranium octoxide (U3O8). [28]

Uranium One is considering lithium mining projects in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. [29] [30]

In 2020, Uranium One started to supply wood pellets produced in Russia. [31]

In June 2023, Bolivia signed an agreement with Rosatom through its Uranium One Group to develop its lithium reserves, which are the largest in the world. Uranium One will invest $600 million in the project and conduct the feasibility and pre-investment studies. [32]

Ownership

Uranium One Inc. is an indirect subsidiary of the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom. It is directly owned by the Amsterdam-based Uranium One Holding N.V. (89.07%) and Moscow-based Uranium One Group (former name: Uranium Mining Company; 10.93%). Uranium One Holding is wholly owned by Uranium One Group. Uranium One Group is owned by Rosatom direct subsidiaries Atomenergoprom (71.084%) and ARMZ (28.916%). [33] Uranium One Group is managed by Techsnabexport. [34]

Uranium One controversy

A conspiracy theory launched during the 2016 presidential election campaign accused Bill Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, Hillary Clinton, the Obama administration, high level officials in Russia, the State Department, Uranium One, and the FBI of allegedly compromising national-security interests, bribery, and suppressing evidence. [35] [36] [37] All parties have denied the accusations, and no evidence of wrongdoing has been found after five years of allegations, an FBI investigation, a House Intelligence Committee inquiry, and the 2017 appointment by the Justice Department of the U.S. Attorney in Utah, John Huber, to evaluate the FBI investigation. [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] Huber's inquiry ended in January 2019 without any findings of consequence. [39]

Activities

Uranium exploration and mining

Uranium One is engaged in natural uranium mining, exploration and development of uranium deposits in Kazakhstan, the United States, Tanzania, and Namibia. The company produces about 4,6 thousand tons of natural uranium per year. Uranium One supplies natural uranium to energy companies in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Kazakhstan

Uranium One is a participant in six joint uranium mines with NAC Kazatomprom, the national nuclear corporation of Kazakhstan: Akdala, South Inkai, Karatau, Akbastau, Zarechnoye and Kharasan. [40]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosatom</span> Russian state-owned nuclear technologies company

Rosatom, also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that specializes in nuclear energy, nuclear non-energy goods and high-tech products. Established in 2007, the nonprofit organization comprises more than 350 enterprises, including scientific research organizations, a nuclear weapons complex, and the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameco</span> Canada uranium company

Cameco Corporation is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2015, it was the world's second largest uranium producer, accounting for 18% of world production.

The Megatons to Megawatts Program, also called the United States-Russia Highly Enriched Uranium Purchase Agreement, was an agreement between Russia and the United States whereby Russia converted 500 metric tons of "excess" weapons-grade uranium into 15,000 metric tons of low enriched uranium, which was purchased by the US for use in its commercial nuclear power plants. The official name of the program is the "Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the United States of America Concerning the Disposition of Highly-Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons", dated February 18, 1993. Under this Agreement, Russia agreed to supply the United States with low-enriched uranium (LEU) obtained from high-enriched uranium (HEU) found to be in excess of Russian defense purposes. The United States agreed to purchase the low-enriched uranium fuel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear power in Russia</span> Overview of nuclear power in Russia

Russia is one of the world's largest producers of nuclear energy. In 2020 total electricity generated in nuclear power plants in Russia was 215.746 TWh, 20.28% of all power generation. The installed gross capacity of Russian nuclear reactors is 29.4 GW in December 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranium market</span> Commodity market

The uranium market, like all commodity markets, has a history of volatility, moving with the standard forces of supply and demand as well as geopolitical pressures. It has also evolved particularities of its own in response to the unique nature and use of uranium.

Vladimir Alexeyevich Smirnov is a prominent Russian businessman, former Director General of the Petersburg Fuel Company (1997–1998), former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Petersburg Fuel Company (1999–2001). In 2002–2007 he was the Director General of Tekhsnabexport (TENEX) which carries out export of goods and services produced by Russian nuclear enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atomenergoprom</span>

Atomenergoprom is a 100% state-owned holding company that unifies the Russian civil nuclear industry. It is a part of the Rosatom State corporation.

Techsnabexport, internationally known as TENEX, is an overseas trading company owned by Russian state-owned company Rosatom. Techsnabexport is an exporter of enriched uranium and a supplier of nuclear fuel cycle products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazatomprom</span> Uranium producer

National Atomic Company Kazatomprom Joint Stock Company (Kazatomprom) (Kazakh: Қазатомөнеркәсіп, romanized: Qazatomónerkásip) is the world’s largest producer and seller of natural uranium, providing over 40% of global primary uranium supply in 2019 from its operations in Kazakhstan. Kazatomprom's uranium is used for the generation of nuclear power around the world.

Paladin Energy Ltd is a Western Australian based uranium production company.

Energy in Kazakhstan describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Kazakhstan and the politics of Kazakhstan related to energy.

The mineral industry of Kazakhstan is one of the most competitive and fastest growing sectors of the country. Kazakhstan ranks second to Russia among the countries of the CIS in its quantity of mineral production. It is endowed with large reserves of a wide range of metallic ores, industrial minerals, and fuels, and its metallurgical sector is a major producer of a large number of metals from domestic and imported raw materials. In 2005, its metal mining sector produced bauxite, chromite, copper, iron, lead, manganese, and zinc ores, and its metallurgical sector produced such metals as beryllium, bismuth, cadmium, copper, ferroalloys, lead, magnesium, rhenium, steel, titanium, and zinc. The country produced significant amounts of other nonferrous and industrial mineral products, such as alumina, arsenic, barite, gold, molybdenum, phosphate rock, and tungsten. The country was a large producer of mineral fuels, including coal, natural gas, oil, and uranium. The country's economy is heavily dependent on the production of minerals. Output from Kazakhstan's mineral and natural resources sector for 2004 accounted for 74.1% of the value of industrial production, of which 43.1% came from the oil and gas condensate extraction. In 2004, the mineral extraction sector accounted for 32% of the GDP, employed 191,000 employees, and accounted for 33.1% of capital investment and 64.5% of direct foreign investment, of which 63.5% was in the oil sector. Kazakhstan's mining industry is estimated at US$29.5 billion by 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ARMZ Uranium Holding</span>

Atomredmetzoloto, JSC,, the Mining Division of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, is a Russian uranium producer internally ranked sixth in the world in terms of uranium production and second in terms of in-situ uranium reserves.

The Honeymoon Mine was Australia's second operating in-situ recovery uranium mine, beginning production in 2011. It is located in South Australia and is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Broken Hill, New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranium mining in Kazakhstan</span>

Uranium mining in Kazakhstan is of considerable importance to the national economy. By 2011, Kazakhstan was considered to be the world's largest producer of uranium.

The Willow Creek mine is an in-situ leach (ISL) uranium mining project located in Powder River Basin in the state of Wyoming, United States. It comprises the Irigaray central processing plant and wellfields, and the Christensen Ranch ion exchange plant and wellfields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moiynkum Desert</span> Desert in Kazakhstan

The Moiynkum Desert, is a desert in the Turkistan and Zhambyl regions of southern Kazakhstan.

The Uranium One controversy involves various theories promoted by conservative media, politicians, and commentators that characterized the sale of the uranium mining company Uranium One to the Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom as a $145 million bribery scandal involving Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. No evidence of wrongdoing was ever found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orano</span> Multinational nuclear fuel cycle company

Orano SA is a multinational nuclear fuel cycle company headquartered in Châtillon, Hauts-de-Seine, France. The company is engaged in uranium mining, conversion-enrichment, spent fuel recycling, nuclear logistics, dismantling, and nuclear cycle engineering activities. It was created in 2017 as a result of restructuring and recapitalizing of the nuclear conglomerate Areva. Orano is majority owned by the French state. As of September 2021, Orano is the second largest uranium producer in the world with 9% share in global uranium production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazakhstan and weapons of mass destruction</span> Overview of nuclear power in Kazakhstan

The Republic of Kazakhstan, once a republic of the Soviet Union, was a primary venue for Soviet nuclear weapon testing from 1949 until 1989. Following the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991, Kazakhstan became the fourth-largest nuclear power in the world and hosted a considerably large weapon support infrastructure due to its reliance on the Soviet nuclear program as a means to develop its own local economy. Besides the nuclear program, Kazakhstan was also a prominent site of Soviet programs of biological and chemical weapons.

References

  1. ↑ "Uranium One Inc". AnnualReports.com. March 30, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Koven, Peter (January 14, 2013). "Uranium One bought by top Russian shareholder ARMZ for $1.3-billion". Financial Post . Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  3. ↑ Stueck, Wendy (July 6, 2005). "S. African firm nabs uranium miner". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Court sanctions Southern Cross takeover of Aflease". Mail and Guardian . December 6, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  5. ↑ Steyn, Lisa; Donnelly, Lynley (March 24, 2016). "Price pressure on Gupta uranium mine". Mail and Guardian. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Hidden Value in Anfield Energy: The Shootaring Uranium Mill". Oil & Gas 360. June 26, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Uranium Energy buys Texan venture". World Nuclear News. October 10, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Kazakh tie-in for Uranium One and ARMZ". World Nuclear News. June 15, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Uranium One to Acquire Two More Kazakh Mines from ARMZ and To Pay Special Dividend to Minority Shareholders of at least US$ 1.06 per Share" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  10. ↑ "ARMZ takes hold of Uranium One". World Nuclear News. June 9, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Uranium One acquires Wyoming assets". World Nuclear News. August 11, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Kessler, Glenn (October 31, 2017). "The repeated, incorrect claim that Russia obtained '20 percent of our uranium'". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  13. ↑ Ritch, John (November 21, 2017). "This Uranium Deal Was No Scandal". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  14. ↑ WISE Uranium Project "Following the completion of the Going Private Transaction, and an internal reorganization by ARMZ's parent corporation, Russia's State Atomic Energy Company 'Rosatom' in December 2013, Uranium One is now a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Rosatom and is no longer controlled by ARMZ." updated April 1, 2015, accessed April 23, 2015
  15. ↑ "Uranium One to delist shares as Russia's state nuclear firm takes control". Reuters . October 19, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  16. ↑ Solomon, John; Spann, Alison (November 2, 2017). "Uranium One deal led to some exports to Europe, memos show". TheHill.com. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  17. ↑ Becker, Jo; McIntire, Mike (April 23, 2015). "Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal". The New York Times . Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  18. ↑ Dzaguto, Vladimir; Dzhumaylo, Anatoly (January 11, 2018). ""Росатом" сливает доходы: Трейдинг природного урана передают "Техснабэкспорту"" [Rosatom merges revenues: Natural uranium trading is transferred to Techsnabexport]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Uranium One applies to suspend Mkuju River project". World Nuclear News. July 10, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Russia sells Australian mining arm to Boss Resources". World Nuclear News. September 1, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  21. ↑ Dzhumaylo, Anatoly (September 2, 2015). "Uranium One покидает Австралию" [Uranium One leaves Australia]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Uranium One mothballs US mine". Nuclear Engineering International. August 21, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Index of /go/rosatom/go_rosatom_2019". report.rosatom.ru. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  24. ↑ "АРМЗ в 2019г ликвидирует СП по продаже урана с U1 в рамках его перехода под управление Tenex". Атомная энергия 2.0 (in Russian). 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  25. ↑ "Росатом в 2019 г сохранил объемы добычи урана на уровне 7 млн тонн | MQL-разработка" (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  26. ↑ "Uranium One выходит на рынок биотоплива Италии". polit.ru. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  27. ↑ "Focus: Tanzania / Mkuju River uranium Project". Uranium Network. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  28. ↑ Basov, Vladimir (February 17, 2021). "Uranium One reports 7% production decline in 2020". Kitco News. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  29. ↑ Smertina, Polina (July 29, 2021). ""Росатом" аккумулирует литий" [Rosatom accumulates lithium]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  30. ↑ Woodall, Toby (September 16, 2020). "Russia's Uranium One aims to capture 10% of global lithium market by 2030". S&P Global . Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Russian Uranium One enters Italian biofuel market". NeftegazRU.com. November 16, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  32. ↑ "Bolivia seals $1.4 billion lithium deals with Russia's Rosatom, China's Guoan". www.msn.com. Reuters. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  33. ↑ "Uranium One letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission" (PDF). Uranium One. September 14, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  34. ↑ Smertina, Polina (June 4, 2021). "Плавный рост цен сохранится на длительную перспективу" [Smooth price growth continues for the long term]. Kommersant (in Russian). Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  35. 1 2 Chang, Alvin (November 17, 2017). "This simple chart debunks the conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton sold uranium to Russia". Vox. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  36. 1 2 Jacobson, Louis; Kruzel, John (October 24, 2017). "What you need to know about Hillary Clinton, Russia, and uranium". Vox. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  37. 1 2 Harshaw, Tobin (November 14, 2017). "Clinton Uranium 'Scandal' Doesn't Have Much Fuel". Bloomberg . Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  38. ↑ Maxwell, Tani (2017-10-28). "Mueller's charges have Republicans freaking out over a report tying Hillary Clinton to a Russian uranium deal". Business Insider . Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  39. 1 2 Barrett, Devlin; Zapotosky, Matt (January 10, 2020). "Justice Dept. winds down Clinton-related inquiry once championed by Trump. It found nothing of consequence". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  40. ↑ "Uranium in Kazakhstan | Nuclear Power in Kazakhstan - World Nuclear Association". www.world-nuclear.org. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.