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22 April 2008
Ministry of Environment of Armenia and Uranium Holding ARMZ (JSC Atomredmetzoloto)
The Russian-Armenian uranium upstream JV is to launch exploration in the southern part of Armenia before the end of 2008.
On April 22, 2008 in Yerevan the Armenian Minister of Environment Aram Arutiunyan and the General Director of the Russian uranium mining company Uranium Holding ARMZ (OJSC Atomredmetzoloto) Vadim Zhivov signed a foundation agreement on formation of a Russian-Armenian joint venture which will be engaged in exploration and mining of uranium and other minerals in the Republic of Armenia.
The document was signed as part of the official visit to Armenia of the State Nuclear Power Corporation Rosatom's delegation headed by its Deputy General Director Nikolai Spassky.
The JV agreement was the first step to implement the Memorandum on Cooperation in Uranium Exploration and Mining and Processing of Uranium Ores and the 2008 Action Plan which were executed between the State Nuclear Power Corporation Rosatom and the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia during the visit of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Viktor Zubkov to Yerevan on February 6, 2008. The Russian-Armenian uranium upstream joint venture is established on a parity basis and will be registered within three months. Upon registration, pursuant to the order of the Government of Armenia dated April 4, 2008, the joint venture will receive a license to carry out geological exploration in Armenia.
As part of the preparations to the JV creation the Uranium Holding ARMZ together with the Federal State Unitary Enterprise All-Russian Research and Development Institute of Chemical Technologies (VNIIHT) and the Armenian state CJSC Geoeconomika developed an exploration program covering the work to be conducted in the Republic of Armenia in 2008 and subsequent years. The JV's plan is to start geological exploration before the end of this year. The exploration activities will be conducted in Siunik provice in the south of Armenia. The Russian specialists have already collected and reviewed the archive materials related to uranium ore mineralization in Armenia, have performed site reconnaissance operations and have assessed the infrastructure available in the exploration area. According to the preliminary estimates, the inferred uranium resources in Armenia exceed 10,000 tons.
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Ministry of Environment of Armenia and
Uranium Holding ARMZ
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