ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 19. Kazakhstan's Samruk-Kazyna JSC (Sovereign Wealth Fund), Kazatomprom JSC (Kazakhstan's national uranium company) and the Italian Ballestra S.p.A. have signed a strategic partnership agreement, Trend reports.
The document was signed during the official visit of President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Italy.
According to the Samruk-Kazyna, the purpose of the agreement is to attract investment for the implementation of a project to build a new sulfuric acid plant in Kazakhstan.
The plant is planned to be built on the territory of the Turkestan region. Its capacity will be 800,000 tons per year. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2026.
As the Samruk-Kazyna noted, the plant will provide the uranium industry of Kazakhstan with continuous production of sulfuric acid.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan ranks second in the world in terms of proven natural uranium reserves. The depths of the Republic of Kazakhstan contain around 14 percent of all proven world reserves. The entire proven reserves of uranium in the country are expected to be more than 700,000 tons.
Kazakhstan surpassed the United States in uranium production in 2009 and continues to dominate the global market.
Kazakhstan accounts for almost 40 percent of global uranium output. The volume of uranium production in 2021 was 21,800 tons, while the volume in 2022 was 21,300 tons.