Astana                                                      

October 22, in Astana, at the 10th Joint Session of the Kazakh-Japanese and Japanese-Kazakh Committees for Economic Cooperation, a number of documents aimed at establishment of joint ventures with major Japan’s corporations for production of rare and rare-earth metals and products derived from such metals in Kazakhstan were signed as following:

 

·        Letter of Intent for Rare Metals Cooperation with Toshiba Corporation;

·        Memorandum of Understanding and Mutually Beneficial Cooperation under the Project of Rare-Earth Metals Development in the Republic of Kazakhstan with Sumitomo Corporation;

·        Preparatory Agreement for Joint Elaboration of the Feasibility Study for Rare-Earth Metals Production with Sumitomo Corporation.

 

These documents have been signed by top management of NAC Kazatomprom JSC, Toshiba Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation in the presence of officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of RK, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC).

The agreements executed with major Japan’s companies for production of RM and REM high value added products and marketing them worldwide are implementing the arrangements achieved in the course of the official visit of Kazakhstan’ President Nursultan Nazarbayev to Japan in July 2008.  

Implementation of the projects would enable Kazatomprom and its Japan’s partners to launch scale production of high-tech products based on rare-earth metals in the Republic of Kazakhstan. RM and REM development and production is a new line in Kazatomprom’s operations, which means creation of completely different, knowledge-intensive and high-value added products to give an impetus to the development of personnel training and Kazakhstani science.  

Rare and rare-earth metals have a unique complex of physical and chemical properties predetermining a large area of their application such as optics, chemical and glass industry, fabrication of various phosphors, instrumentation, machinery and metal working, nuclear engineering, radioelectronics, agriculture and medicine. RM and REM are more and more used as base materials for critical parts and components in complex technologies. They are indispensable in state-of-the-art engines and turbines, superconductive materials, high-power and space effective permanent magnets, supercomputers, aerospace engineering, catalyzers and accumulators, including those for electric vehicles.  

 

Kazatomprom is the national operator of the Republic of Kazakhstan for export of uranium and its compounds, rare metals, nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants, special purpose equipment, technologies and double-use materials. The main activities of the company are: geological exploration, uranium production, manufacture of nuclear fuel cycle products, reactor construction, nuclear power plants, non-ferrous metallurgy and production of construction materials, the electric energy sector, scientific support of production and social welfare and training of personnel. Today Kazatomprom has more than 25,000 employees and is amongst the leading uranium production companies in the world.

 

PR Department

Kazatomprom
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pr@kazatomprom.kz