Press Release: Kazatomprom Starts New ISL Mine at the Eastern Mynkuduk deposit

12th of may 2006 an opening Day of a new in-situ leaching mine (ISL-19) at the Eastern Mynkuduk deposit in  Southern Kazakhstan. President of National Atomic Company Kazatomprom Moukhtar Dzhakishev and Akim of the Sozak district of Southern Kazakhstan region Sozakbai Abdikulov participate in the opening ceremony.

Overall resources of the Eastern Mynkuduk deposit are 22 000 tons of uranium. Production capacities of 1000 tons of uranium concentrate are planned to be achieved by 2007.

Starting of the mine is being realized as a part of National Atomic Company Kazatomprom’s program on provision the world market with uranium raw materials by increasing uranium output to 15000 tons by 2010 , for the company to become a leader in this showing.

This mine is a standard modern mine using in-situ leaching method prototype. The standard mine project was developed by scientific-technical “Institute of high technology”

 Enterprise, which is a part of NAC Kazatomprom’s structure. Analogous mines with production capacities of 1000 and 2000 tons will be built:

• in 2007: Central Mynkuduk (2000 tons), Southern Inkai (2000 tons), Irkol (750 tons), Kharasan (2000 tons)
• in 2008: western Mynkuduk (1000 tons), Budenovskoe (1000 tons).

The entire mining process will use the in-situ leaching method, which is considered to be technically and ecologically safest one among deposit mining methods. This method allows the geological condition of entrails to be kept without any changes, since there’s no mining mass excavation. During the in-situ leaching process, less than 5% of radioactive elements are brought up to the surface and turned into mobile condition, while in traditional methods it is 100%. There is no more need in building tailing dumps for keeping highly radioactive waste.