state-owned nuclear holding company.
Now, after the Russian corporation Rosgeologiya said in March the country might have even greater reserves, Kazakhstan is planning to expand uranium mining and all of its mining industry.
“A programme was set up for the next eight to ten years to assess Kazakhstan’s potential mineral resources, but the large-scale work hasn’t begun yet,” said Vladimir Los, a scholar at the Kazakhstani Academy of Mineral Resources.
Technology is now available to further investigate the already existing fields, allowing it to significantly expand known reserves, Los said.
“Kazakhstan needs to increase its uranium reserves in old and new fields to hold onto its position in the world,” he said. Kazakhstan became the world’s biggest uranium producer in 2009, surpassing Canada.
![Drilling rigs operate at the Inkai uranium mine near the Taikonur settlement in southern Kazakhstan June 5, 2010. Kazakhstan, already the world leader in uranium production, plans to soon expand extraction. [REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov]](http://www.centralasiaonline.com/shared/images/2012/05/08/kzuranium.jpg)
Drilling rigs operate at the Inkai uranium mine near the Taikonur settlement in southern Kazakhstan June 5, 2010. Kazakhstan, already the world leader in uranium production, plans to soon expand extraction. [REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov]![A worker spreads uranium oxide after the opening ceremony for the Zarechnoye mine in southern Kazakhstan December 7, 2006. [REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov]](http://www.centralasiaonline.com/shared/images/2012/05/08/kzuranium2.jpg)
A worker spreads uranium oxide after the opening ceremony for the Zarechnoye mine in southern Kazakhstan December 7, 2006. [REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov]
“A programme was set up for the next eight to ten years to assess Kazakhstan’s potential mineral resources, but the large-scale work hasn’t begun yet,” said Vladimir Los, a scholar at the Kazakhstani Academy of Mineral Resources.
Technology is now available to further investigate the already existing fields, allowing it to significantly expand known reserves, Los said.
“Kazakhstan needs to increase its uranium reserves in old and new fields to hold onto its position in the world,” he said. Kazakhstan became the world’s biggest uranium producer in 2009, surpassing Canada.
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