ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 4. A uranium processing plant has been launched in Kazakhstan’s Turkestan region, Trend reports, citing the regional administration.
According to the information, the new facility was opened by the Kazakh-French joint venture LLP “KATCO.”
“In the Turkestan region, Kazatomprom owns 10 natural uranium production facilities. One company is engaged in exploration, and another handles electricity transportation. Today, we are at the grand opening of a natural uranium processing plant. The project will supply high-quality uranium to enterprises both domestically and abroad, and it will focus on uranium extraction using new technologies,” said the region’s Akim (Governor), Nuralkhan Kusherov, at the opening ceremony.
The processing capacity under the investment project is 2,000 tons of uranium per year. The plant processes uranium-containing solutions extracted from the southern part of the South Tortkuduk deposit.
The total investment in the project is 74.7 billion tenge (approximately $143.8 million). The regional government allocated around 6,000 hectares of land for the plant and provided the necessary infrastructure.
The project received detailed approval back in 2021, and construction began in 2023. It took three years to complete. As part of the project, hydrotechnical systems, asphalt and gravel roads, power lines, and a new transformer substation were also built.
"KATCO" is a Kazakh-French joint venture for uranium mining and processing, established in 1996. Shareholders: the French state-owned company Orano (51 percent) and the Kazakh national atomic company Kazatomprom (49 percent). It’s also one of the largest employers in the Turkestan region. The company employs 1,300 people, over 70 percent of whom live in southern Kazakhstan, including more than 52 percent in the Sozak district. 99 percent of the company’s employees are citizens of Kazakhstan.
