Well YT you have certainly got me interested so I have done some research. Here are the conclusions I have drawn:
GWE obviously took Kiernan and Hobbs on board because not only are they notable figures in the mining and uranium industry, but because of the contacts they (especially Kiernan) have made during their careers plus the credibility they may present when dealing with foreign governments. One media article states, “His (Kiernan) ties with government people there produced leads to potential operating or idle uranium operations. And those same contacts are out there "shaking the trees" for others” (1). From the same article, the writer mentions, “The latest of these opportunities came from his work at ConsMin finding new markets for manganese in Ukraine, Georgia and other parts of the old Soviet Union”.
There has been talk on other share sites about Kazakhstan being ‘the’ country as it has many deposits and mines, but Kazakhstan is located in Asia and media releases make it known that at least “one deposit as being in "an eastern European country", the other in "a former Soviet republic". (1) Furthermore, in the initial announcement CEO of GWE Tom Bannerman stated, “Great Western is
currently reviewing two potential advanced uranium production projects in Eastern Europe and we expect to secure exciting growth assets that will fundamentally change the direction of the Company.” (3) These releases also assert that the potential acquisitions are in countries where Kiernan has conducted business with CSM (I am yet to find a link between CSM and Kazakhstan in my research). I believe this presents further evidence that Kazakhstan is not a likely target.
Out of Georgia and Ukraine, the former has no known U deposit (2) which, in my opinion, leaves Ukraine as the “former Soviet republic"(1). The announcement by GWE (3) states, “The core of the Company’s new growth strategy will be to acquire existing uranium production and mining operations or exploration projects with near-term production potential”. Ukraine does have a number of projects that fit these categories.
Mining and milling of uranium in Ukraine is the jurisdiction of the state–owned
Vostochny Integrated Mining and Concentrating Plant (VOSTGOK ). They have ownership of the Ingul’skii mine (27,000t), the Valutinskii mine (25,500t), the Severinskoye deposit (50,000t) and the new Novokonstantinovsk (Nov) project. The Nov project in particular is one of the most exciting in the country. One site states “The most important reserve to cover needs of local atomic power stations is the Novokonstantinovskoye deposit. I
ts reserves are twice as high as those of the operating mines. Besides the ore quality here is much better.” (6)
These are exciting times for uranium production in Ukraine. In March 2006 Vostgok announced plans “
to boost uranium production by 120% between 2006 and 2010, raising the amount of uranium it provides to the country’s nuclear power plants from 32% to 71%”(4). Added to this, “The Company believes that improving the Novokonstantinovsk field project could lead to a 520% increase in production, which would enable Ukraine to meet its domestic nuclear fuel requirements
as well as export uranium.” (4)
These deposits seem to be attracting interest outside Ukraine. Russian companies (5), in particular have expressed a desire to participate in a JV development of the Nov deposit. The Vice President of TVEL when questioned about possible cooperation in the Nov deposit stated; “The ball currently is in the Ukrainian side. The deposits themselves as regards their climate, location,
uranium contents look more attractive than many Russian or Kazakh (deposits).” (5)
In addition, during March 2006 VostGOK asserted they would be “searching for ways to increase VostGOK funding” (4) . The question is does URAN fit into any of these plans? If the state owned VostGOK is willing to deal with the publicly listed Russian company TVEL, is it possible they would deal with an Australian company headed by some big names?
Now what about the “eastern European country” ? (1) In Slovakia, the Tournigan Gold Company (Canadian) is assessing the Jahodna deposit (7) which has an inferred resource of 7000 tonnes at 0.56% U. Estimated development cost is in the order of US12.5m. As Tournigan is primarily a gold company is it possible they are looking for a partner for the project? Tournigan also have ownership of Novoveska Huta Deposit of 6527t U (inferred) at 0.064% U; the Svabovce deposit 2396t (indicated – inferred) at 0.19% U; and the Spissky Stiavnik deposit, 433t (indicated - inferred) at 0.17% U 8.
Romania may be a possible candidate with three mines operating. The first two; Avram Iancu mine (Bihor, Apuseni Mountains) and Dobrei South mine (Banat Mountains) are on the verge of being shut down (depletion) and are therefore unlikely to be acquired (8). The third; the Crucea mine (East Carpathians) (9) is in operation and is run by the state. Romania does not import or export uranium (9). On the basis of this evidence it is unlikely URAN is looking at Romanian deposits or projects.
The final country which falls into the “eastern European” category that has uranium deposits or mines is the Czech Republic. However many of these sites are in the process of being decommissioned as are other sites within these eastern bloc countries and again I feel it is unlikely these will be acquired by URAN. (8)
On the basis of research and the evidence I believe that the deposits and mines within Ukraine and Slovakia are the most likely candidates for attention by URAN. I certainly won’t discount the possibility of Kazakhstan being a candidate as they certainly are very liberal toward foreign entities (10) controlling mining and they have a significant number of U deposits. I just can’t find a link between Kiernan and Kazakhstan and the discourse in media releases particularly the statement by Tom Bannerman makes me think Kazakhstan is not the target.
Of course I could be completely wrong. I guess we will find out in the near future. Any opinions?
References
(1)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19027551-643,00.html
(2)
http://www.wise-uranium.org/indexu.html
(3)
http://www.gwel.com.au/040506a.pdf
(4)
http://www.world-nuclear.org/nb/nb06/nb0613.htm
(5)
http://www.tvel.ru/en/press/interview_topmanagers/
(6)
http://www.madeinua.info/view.aspx?type=ja&lang=2&jaid=208
(7)
http://www.tournigan.com/i/pdf/Jahodna-Prelim_Assessment-hi.pdf
(8)
http://www.wise-uranium.org/uoeur.html#UA
(9)
http://www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/romania/chapter10.pdf
(10)
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=13271