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02 June 2008
Uranium Holding ARMZ, VTB capital Namibia and investment company Arlan to Form a Uranium Upstream Joint Venture in Namibia
In late May 2008 the Board of Directors of the Uranium Holding ARMZ (OJSC Atomredmetzoloto, a company controlled by OJSC Atomenergoprom) approved the holding’s participation in a joint project with a VTB’s subsidiary (VTB capital Namibia) and the Investment Company IC Arlan to conduct geological exploration and mining of uranium in Namibia.
The decision of the Board of Directors approved the cooperation structure outlined in the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding concerning joint uranium and associated minerals exploration and mining projects in Namibia executed in March 2008.
The companies plan to create a Namibia-based joint venture by mid of this year. IC Arlan will own 75% minus one share in the JV, 25% plus one share will be held by the Uranium Holding ARMZ and VTB capital Namibia. Uranium Holding ARMZ will perform a feasibility study and management of the project, and VTB capital Namibia will contribute to the JV two exploration licenses for uranium prospecting operations. The prospecting effort will be funded by IC Arlan. The initial investments in the project will be $4.5 mln.
The JV plans to start prospecting as early as in the third quarter of the current year. The work will be conducted on two sites with the total area of about 150 ha in the Klein Spitzkoppe prospect in the south-west of Namibia. The exploration work will go on for two-three years. The prospecting should result in discovery of a deposit with the reserves of at least 5,000 tons of uranium.
Uranium Holding ARMZ (OJSC Atomredmetzoloto) manages all Russian uranium mining assets and undertakes a number of projects in Kazakhstan. 100% of the uranium holding’s shares are held by OJSC Atomenergoprom, a company controlled by the State Nuclear Power Corporation Rosatom.
VTB Capital (Namibia) Ltd is a subsidiary of the Russian bank OJSC VTB Bank and the biggest investment holding of Namibia – Capricorn Investment Holdings Ltd. The Company is engaged in attracting Russian business and technologies to the Namibian market and the market of other African countries to implement joint projects. The key areas of the company’s business include mining and processing of mineral resources, as well as energy, construction and trade.
Investment company Arlan was founded in 1990. The Company implements investment projects in Russia and the CIS in metallurgy, real estate, mining and production of non-ferrous metals and mining of non-ore resources.
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Uranium Holding ARMZ,
VTB capital Namibia
IC Arlan
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