Nuclear group Orano announced on Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan, one of the main suppliers of uranium, to strengthen cooperation, writes AFP.

The memorandum was signed between Orano Mining and the state-owned company “Kazatomprom” on the sidelines of the visit to France by the President of Kazakhstan, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev.

Katco, the joint venture that has linked them for 25 years, has just begun industrial development of a new mining district that is expected to produce 45,000 tons of uranium in the next 15 years.

The extraction will be carried out “on site”, by injecting the solution into the pipelines, which will allow the uranium to be brought to the surface in liquid form, which will then be re-concentrated (yellow cake) for transportation, explains Orano.

Over the past 20 years, two other fields in this sector in southwestern Kazakhstan have already produced 40,000 tons.

Kazakhstan, along with Niger, is Orano’s main supplier country, along with Canada, where the French group has stakes in the mines.

On November 22, Orano also signed an “agreement on strategic cooperation” with Uzbekistan, also on the occasion of the visit of the president of this country.

The group, which is also involved in exploration, has been there since late 2019 and aims to develop the deposits through a joint venture that already has around fifty employees.

There is also in Mongolia.

Orano’s production in 2021 was 6,814 tons of uranium.