20 Jan (NucNet): State-owned China National Nuclear Corporation has agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in Australian miner Paladin Energy’s Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia for 190 million US dollars (140 million euros), Paladin said today.
“The significant cash injection from this minority interest sale will largely be applied to debt reduction, which the board considers an essential step during a time of unprecedented low uranium prices,” Paladin chief executive John Borshoff said in a statement.
Paladin said the joint venture will ensure the long-term growth and development of the mining operation at Langer Heinrich. “This development also reinforces the importance of Namibia in the global uranium mining context with the key Chinese nuclear organisations now represented in uranium production in Namibia,” the statement said.
“China has ambitious nuclear electrification programmes extending for decades into the future. Obtaining direct access to sufficient global uranium supply is an essential element for China to be able to safeguard and grow this strategically important sector.”
CNNC has agreed to buy a quarter of the production from the Langer Heinrich mine, which has a capacity of 5.2 million pounds of uranium concentrate a year, and has the option to buy further supplies from Paladin at market rates.
“I do believe, through the investment in the Langer Heinrich project, CNNC and Paladin will develop a long-lasting business relationship which is beneficial to each other and also bring long-term influence to the global uranium mining industry,” CNNC director-general for geology and mining Du Yunbin said in a CNNC statement.
This is China’s second foray into uranium in Namibia, following China Guangdong Nuclear Power’s USD 2.3 billion acquisition of the Husab project, one of the world’s biggest uranium deposits, in 2012.
CNNC’s acquisition is subject to approvals from Chinese authorities, including the National Development and Reform Commission, which Paladin said were expected to be obtained by the middle of the year.
Paladin’s statement said CNNC is “a major force” in the Chinese national nuclear technology industry and plays an important role in developing national nuclear power and related power plants.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, China has 21 nuclear reactor units in commercial operation and 28 under construction.
