China becomes first foreign country allowed to invest in Russian uranium mining

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom will team up with the Russia-China Investment Fund for Regional Development (RCIF) to develop a joint uranium mining project in Zabaikalsky Region, Western Russia.

The enterprise, valued at 18.5 billion rubles ($325 million), will be owned by two of Rosatom’s subsidiaries. The Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Union will reportedly get 51 percent of the new venture, while ARMZ Uranium Holding is set to own the remaining 49 percent.

The lion's share of the mining project will be financed by the China National Nuclear Corporation, which is planning to invest 16.1 billion rubles ($282 million), while the RCIF is set to invest the remaining 2.5 billion rubles.

The mine with reported total reserves of 40,000 tons of uranium will be put into operation by 2023. The enterprise expects to reach an annual capacity of 850,000 tons of uranium ore.

“Both sides consider the project as the first step in widening cooperation. I think that the enterprise is a breakthrough for creating mechanisms for joint investments in general,” said Russian presidential adviser, Sergei Glazyev, as quoted by Sputnik.

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