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Westinghouse Wins Watts Bar 2 Contract
Westinghouse Electric Co. has won a US$200 million support contract for completion of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Watts Bar 2 nuclear plant near Spring City, Tennessee.
The contract includes upgrade and replacement of most instrumentation and control systems, supply of new reactor coolant pumps, steam generator services, and crane replacement and upgrades, as well as risk assessment, plant design engineering services, drive rods, licensing services, and safety analysis. The Watts Bar 2 project is expected to take four and half years to complete and commercial operation of the unit is scheduled for early 2012.
Watts Bar 2, a 1,140 MWe Westinghouse PWR, was about 80 percent complete when TVA stopped construction in 1985, citing a projected decrease in electricity demand. In 2007, TVA announced that it would complete Unit 2 and that Bechtel Power Corp. would lead the engineering, procurement and construction work. [top]
Rio Tinto Maintains Stable U Production in ‘07
Rio Tinto’s annual uranium production remained unchanged in 2007 at 12.6 million pounds U3O8, from its interests in Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA) and Rössing Uranium in Namibia.
Production gains from higher ore grades at ERA’s Ranger mine were offset by lower grades at the Rössing mine. Rio Tinto, which holds a majority interest (68%) in the Ranger mine, reported that its share of production in 2007 was 8 million pounds U3O8, which was 14 percent higher than the previous year. However, the company’s share of production from the Rössing mine was 4.6 million pounds U3O8 in 2007, which was 16 percent lower than in 2006. [top]
ERA Reports Higher U Production in 2007
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA) this week reported that improved operations and an increase in ore grade drove 2007 production at its Ranger mine to 11.9 million pounds U3O8—a 14 percent increase over the previous year’s production.
The company noted that the 2007 production total is the second highest annual production on record for the Northern Territory mine.
Heavy rainfall at the Ranger mine in early 2007 prevented access to higher grade ore. ERA increased the rate of water removal from the operational pit, which revealed higher grade ore located toward the bottom of the pit. As a result, drummed production of 1,553 tonnes U3O8 in the fourth quarter was 14 percent higher than the previous quarter, due largely to higher mill head grade. The pit was emptied of water in November and mining is now focused on stockpiling sufficient ore to lessen the impact on future production should this year’s rainy season be unusually heavy. [top]
Paladin Meets Langer Heinrich Production Goal
Paladin Energy Ltd.’s Langer Heinrich operation in Namibia reached its production target in December 2007 and the company is now on track to produce 2.6 million pounds U3O8 from the Namibia project this year.
Paladin produced 650,562 pounds U3O8 in the six-month period ended December 31, 2007, surpassing its production forecast of 650,000 pounds. Production ramped up during the December 2007 quarter when 390,807 pounds U3O8 were produced.
The company originally hoped to reach its annual production target of 2.6 million pounds by July 1, 2007; however, technical problems that took five months to solve delayed this schedule. “The production uplift achieved in December essentially resulted from the culmination of general metallurgy modification of the plant. During the March quarter, work at Langer Heinrich will focus on further improving plant operating efficiencies,” a January 14 company statement said.
Paladin is working on expanding production to 3.7 million pounds per year, with construction expected to begin early this year followed by mechanical completion at year-end. Construction of the company’s Kayelekera mine in Malawi, which will produce 3.3 million pounds U3O8 annually, is also scheduled for completion by the end of this year. [top]
AREVA & Partners to Develop UAE Nuclear Project
AREVA, TOTAL, and SUEZ have signed a partnership agreement to submit a nuclear plant project to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that would also involve local partners.
The partners intend to submit a proposal for two 1,600 MWe EPRs and fuel cycle products and services. TOTAL would provide project management expertise and collaborate with local authorities and businesses, while SUEZ would provide expertise in nuclear plant operations. AREVA would contribute its know-how covering nuclear islands and the complete fuel chain.
TOTAL and SUEZ are already partners in power generation and desalination in the UAE, through the Taweelah plant, which produces around 20 percent of the electricity in Abu Dhabi. [top]
Bluerock Resources, Denison Mines Sign LOI on Milling Agreement
Vancouver-based Bluerock Resources Ltd. and Denison Mines (USA) Corp. have signed a letter of intent (LOI) for an ore purchase and uranium toll milling agreement.
The LOI envisions a three-year toll milling agreement with a two-year extension option. It will allow for the production and processing of 60,000 tons of uranium ore in 2008 and 100,000 tons of uranium ore in each successive year.
Under the terms of the LOI, Bluerock agrees to deliver 25,000 tons of ore per year into Denison’s Ore Purchase Program. Subsequent ore deliveries will be stockpiled at the White Mesa Mill in Utah and processed under a toll milling agreement, under which Bluerock will pay Denison the direct costs to mill its uranium ore plus a toll milling fee per ton of ore, which will be partly linked to the long-term uranium price. The toll milling agreement will allow Bluerock to manage the marketing of its uranium production.
Bluerock is currently advancing four uranium projects in the Colorado Plateau to reach the LOI production targets, which include the fully permitted J-Bird Mine that is under active development, as well as the Tramp and Sunbeam mines and the Cone Mountain project. [top]
ConverDyn to Increase UF6 Production
ConverDyn reportedly plans to nearly double UF6 production at its conversion plant in Metropolis, Illinois.
“Ideally by 2020 we will be producing an optimum of 23,000 tonnes and a maximum would be 26,000 [tonnes],” ConverDyn CEO James Graham told Reuters this week. In 2007, the maximum output of the Metropolis facility was 15,000 tonnes UF6, according to Graham. [top]
Bruce Power, CME to Invest in Ontario’s Nuclear Industry
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) has joined forces with Bruce Power to help manufacturers prepare for the impact of up to C$40 billion (US$39.1 billion) of new nuclear investment in Ontario over the next 15 years.
The first step for this new alliance will be to form a working group of Canadian companies that could be impacted by new plant construction and plant refurbishment. The group will consider strategies to deal with supply chain issues that could arise due a resurgent nuclear industry.
“We’re considering multi-billion dollar investments in the next generation of nuclear assets, so the more planning we can do at the outset will help the manufacturing sector benefit from this,” said Duncan Hawthorne, Bruce Power’s president and CEO. Bruce Power has already committed more than $5 billion (US$4.9 billion) toward its restart and refurbishment project at the Bruce nuclear station. [top]
GE to Partner with Uranium Companies
General Electric Co. (GE) has announced plans to form partnerships with uranium companies in an effort to develop its nuclear business and provide greater access to fuel supplies.
GE’s nuclear division is holding talks with “several miners, millers and converters” to find partners, GE Nuclear CEO Andrew White told Bloomberg News this week. The plans follow GE’s 2007 agreement to develop SILEX Systems Ltd.’s Global Laser Enrichment technology.
GE, which will need uranium feedstock for its future uranium enrichment plans, will continue talks with potential partners during the first half of this year, according to White. Potential partners for GE could include Cameco Corp., AREVA or ConverDyn. [top]
Russia, Bulgaria Sign Belene Plant Contract
Russia and Bulgaria today signed a E3.9 billion (US$5.9 billion) contract on the construction of
a two-unit nuclear station at Belene on the Danube River.
Russia’s state-controlled Atomstroyexport is expected to begin construction of the new facility later this year, which will be operated by Bulgaria’s National Electricity Co.
Atomstroyexport, which won a tender for the project in 2006, will build two 1,000 MWe reactors that are slated for commissioning in late 2013 and 2014. President Putin said Russia was ready to grant Bulgaria a E3.8 billion (US$5.6 billion) loan for the construction of the Belene plant.
Bulgaria is also lobbying the European Union (EU) for permission to restart Kozloduy 3 and 4, which it closed as part of its EU accession agreement in 2006. The government claims that closure of the two units has caused large financial losses for Bulgaria and has led to electricity shortages in the Balkan region. [top]
Vattenfall Names Waessman Chief Nuclear Officer
Vattenfall has appointed
Per-Olof Waessman to the newly established position of chief nuclear officer (CNO), effective February 1.
Waessman, who has more than 30 years of experience in reactor safety and technology issues, nuclear management, operation, and maintenance, most recently served as director BWR Engineering, Nuclear Services at Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB.
Waessman will report directly to Vattenfall President and CEO Lars G. Josefsson and he will be the group’s controller in nuclear safety issues and the Executive Group Management’s nuclear expert. [top]
Critchley Joins ConverDyn as VP
ConverDyn has announced that Malcolm Critchley will join the company on February 11 as vice president, Asia marketing and sales.
Critchley, who has more than 25 years of nuclear industry experience, was most recently head of purchasing and sales for Westinghouse UAM. He will report directly to ConverDyn President and CEO James Graham. [top]
Australia Reverses Decision on U Sales to India
Australia’s new Labor government has reversed the previous federal government’s decision to sell uranium to India, as it has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
Former Prime Minister John Howard had ended a ban on uranium sales to India, overturning a policy of selling fuel only to NPT signatories, and looked at India as a potential market for increasing exports. Howard had defended his decision saying that the deal was subject to strict guarantees that the material would be used only for India’s civilian nuclear program and also hinged on the outcome of the US-India nuclear cooperation agreement.
The new Labor government, led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, is supporting the party’s pre-election commitment to not export uranium to non-NPT nations. [top]
Britain Backs New Generation of Reactors
On January 10, the British government officially announced that it would support plans for a new generation of nuclear plants in the UK (Nuclear Market Review, December 31, 2007).
The decision, which was announced by Energy Secretary John Hutton, is part of the country’s strategy for a secure, diverse, low-carbon energy mix. Plans are outlined in a Nuclear White Paper and Energy Bill that follows last year’s public consultations on the future of nuclear energy in the UK.
Energy companies have been invited to submit plans to build and operate new nuclear plants that would be privately financed. While the government has placed no limit on the amount of future nuclear generation capacity, it will require companies to earmark funds for decommissioning plants and for the cost of managing nuclear waste. Presently, nuclear provides about one-fifth of Britain’s electricity generation, but many of the aging reactors will be removed from service over the next 20 years.
Companies including AREVA, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Westinghouse, and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) have all expressed interest in building new reactors in the UK. GE-Hitachi will reportedly meet with European utilities and government officials next week to discuss reactor sales, while Westinghouse has also begun talks with utilities about potential reactor orders. In addition, France reportedly hopes to showcase its European Pressurized Reactor technology and has ambitions to build at least four units in the UK. AECL’s CANDU reactor is another design that is under consideration in the UK.
This spring, the British nuclear agency will begin the process of selecting reactor designs for the next stage of the Generic Design Assessment. [top]
ERA Resumes Ranger Operations After Cyclone
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA) has resumed full production at its Ranger uranium mine in Australia’s Northern Territory, after the mine was shut down on January 4, as a precaution with Cyclone Helen approaching the Australian coast.
Cyclone Helen crossed the Northern Territory coastline on January 5, damaging trees and power lines in the area and preventing the use of trucks at the Ranger mine. However, production at the mill was unaffected by last week’s storm as ERA continued to mill ore from stockpiles. [top]
Kazakhstan to Increase U Production
Kazakhstan, which today is the third largest uranium producing country, plans to increase its uranium output fivefold by 2018 to become the leading global producer of uranium.
Kazakhstan plans to boost its production to 30,000 metric tons by 2018, Moukhtar Dzhakishev, president of Kazakhstan’s National Atomic Company Kazatomprom, told Bloomberg this week. If the country can achieve this production level, it could surpass Canada, which is presently the world’s largest producer of uranium.
Kazatomprom hopes to expand its uranium production capacity in order to capitalize on a forecast increase in demand for nuclear fuel. The company also has plans to expand its services to include uranium enrichment. Dzhakishev stated that the company will seek international funding to help build an enrichment facility in Russia by 2012. [top]
Strathmore Expands Presence in Wyoming’s Gas Hills U District
Strathmore Resources (US) Ltd., a subsidiary of Strathmore Minerals Corp., has entered into an option agreement to purchase an existing US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) license and additional private mineral rights containing known uranium mineralization in Wyoming’s Gas Hills Uranium District.
The NRC license covers a mill site, which will be evaluated to determine if it can be used for a new mill or ore heap and/or vat leach facility in the Gas Hills, a January 7 company statement explained.
The private mineral rights are adjacent to existing Strathmore land holdings in the Gas Hills District and would be incorporated into a new and expanded mining and milling scenario. Strathmore has agreed not to disclose the name of the company involved or the terms of this agreement.
Strathmore will have one year to evaluate the acquisition of the NRC license and uranium properties and any obligations associated with the option agreement. [top]
Uranium One Gains State Approval for Honeymoon Project
Uranium One Australia’s Honeymoon uranium project has gained approval from the South Australia government, which brings the project one step closer to becoming Australia’s fourth operating uranium mine.
The mining and rehabilitation plan for the Honeymoon mine was approved by the state government on January 11 and Uranium One expects to begin working on electricity and water supplies for the mine immediately. Production at Honeymoon is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year with a ramp-up to 880,000 pounds U3O8 per year. Planned technical processes for uranium extraction by in-situ leaching have been confirmed through the operation of a demonstration plant and a field leach trial over an 18-month period.
Honeymoon hosts an indicated resource base of 6.5 million pounds U3O8 contained within 1.2 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.24%, according to Uranium One. [top]
Malawi Grants Exploration License to Eastbourne
The East African country of Malawi has granted a uranium exploration license to Australia’s Eastbourne Exploration Ltd. for the Machinga uranium property.
The Machinga property covers about 378 square kilometers (146 square miles) north of the old capital city of Zomba in south central Malawi. An exploration program is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2008. Eastbourne, which is owned by Sydney-based Retail Star Ltd., was also recently granted two uranium tenements in Australia’s Northern Territory that cover 159 square kilometers (61 square miles).
In April 2007, Malawi granted a mining license to Paladin Africa Ltd., a subsidiary of Paladin Energy, for the Kayelekera deposit. Paladin expects to commission the Kayelekera project in September 2008 and reach annual production of 3.3 million pounds U3O8 in the second quarter of 2009. [top]
Denison Appoints Steel & Buck as Sales & Mining Executives
Denison Mines Corp. announced on January 10 that Curt D. Steel and Philip Buck will join the company’s executive team to support its expanding production portfolio.
Steel has joined Denison as vice president, marketing & sales, effective immediately. Steel comes to Denison from NUKEM, Inc. where he had been senior trader since 1998. Prior to that, he worked in various capacities including brokerage, consulting, and information services at The Uranium Exchange Co. He will be based in New Milford, Connecticut.
Philip Buck will be joining Denison as vice president, mining on January 28. Buck, who has more than 25 years of underground mining experience, most recently served as general manager, Canada for the Mining Services Division of Dynatec Corporation. He will be based in Denison’s Denver, Colorado office. [top]
Aurora Intersects High-Grade U at Michelin
Aurora Energy Resources Inc. has reported that further drilling on its Michelin uranium deposit in Labrador continues to intersect multiple zones of high-grade mineralization, expanding the size of the resource.
In the Michelin Main Zone, two zones of high grade mineralization have been intersected at a depth of 750 meters, about 60 meters down from the current resource area. Drill holes have revealed the following results: 0.17% U3O8 over 11 meters including 0.26% U3O8 over 4 meters in an upper zone, and 0.40% U3O8 over 5.56 meters including 0.95% U3O8 over 1.14 meters in a lower zone.
“This represents another breakthrough for Michelin as it demonstrates that high uranium grades over mineable widths persist at even greater depths, and the deposit remains open for further expansion,” a January 8 Aurora statement said. [top]
Italy Renews Nuclear Energy Debate
A group of Italian utilities announced this week that a draft plan to build nuclear plants in the country will be launched.
Newly created think tank Energy Lab, which includes experts from Italian utilities A2A A2.MI and Edison, will reportedly begin a feasibility study to examine the possibility of building at least three or four nuclear plants in Italy with nuclear providing about 10 percent of the country’s future electricity supply.
Italy banned nuclear power after a 1987 referendum in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. However, interest in a nuclear renaissance has grown in recent years, as limited resources have led Italy to seek diversified supplies and ease dependence on energy imports.
The feasibility study would be presented to Italy’s Economic Development Minister Pierluigi Bersani who oversees energy issues and has said in the past that current conditions did not permit a nuclear relaunch in Italy. Bersani this week reiterated his stance that Italy should actively participate in international scientific research for a new generation nuclear reactors, but stopped short of supporting a new plan to develop nuclear energy in the country. [top]
Extended Interim Storage Approved for Sweden’s Oskarshamn Site
The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate has granted SKB an operating license for an extended central interim storage facility for spent fuel.
The central interim storage facility at Oskarshamn, which began operating in 1985, has been extended with an additional storage pool. About 4,500 tonnes of spent fuel is stored in the Oskarshamn facility today.
The startup of the new section of the interim storage facility has been delayed due to the rebuilding of movement joints in the transport channel between the old and the new pools. In addition, a new process computer system has been installed and tested at the facility.
The operating license means that the new addition can gradually be filled with spent fuel. At the same time, fuel can be transferred from the old to the new part to permit planned maintenance work to be carried out, according to SKB. [top]
PG&E Names Keenan as New COO, Conway as Interim CNO
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has elected Jack Keenan as chief operating officer, effective immediately.
Keenan succeeds William T. Morrow who has been the utility’s president and chief executive officer since July 2007. In his new role, Keenan will lead and manage the utility’s day-to-day operations and will report to Morrow. Keenan previously was senior vice president of generation and chief nuclear officer.
Prior to joining PG&E two years ago, Keenan was vice president of fossil generation for Progress Energy in North Carolina. Previously, he served as vice president at Progress Energy’s Brunswick and Robinson nuclear plants.
John Conway, currently site vice president of PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, will in the interim assume Keenan’s previous role as chief nuclear officer. Conway is the most senior officer responsible for the overall operation of the Diablo Canyon plant. Before joining PG&E in May 2007, Conway was site vice president of the Monticello nuclear plant in Minnesota. [top]
Cameco Resumes Mining at Rabbit Lake
Cameco Corp. announced on January 2 that normal mining activities have resumed at its Rabbit Lake operation, which is well ahead of schedule after sealing off the source of a water inflow that occurred in late November 2007.
Mining was suspended when the Rabbit Lake underground mine experienced increased water inflow, which the company later determined was caused by an old exploration drill hole.
The drill hole was plugged with an inflatable packer and Cameco plans to install a permanent plug and grout a substantial length of the drill hole with cement in the next couple of weeks. The company is also carrying out a grout sealing procedure on four bulkheads that were poured in the first two weeks following the start of the incident.
A 2008 production estimate for Rabbit Lake will be provided when Cameco releases its 2007 financial results, a company statement said. [top]
China to Begin Building First Gen III Nuclear Plant in March
Construction of China’s first third-generation nuclear plant in eastern Zhejiang Province is scheduled to begin in March, according to the State Nuclear Power Technology Company (SNPTC).
SNPTC Chairman Wang Binghua said the Sanmen nuclear plant, which will include the first Westinghouse-designed AP1000 nuclear reactor, is expected to begin generating power by August 2013.
As part of a contract signed in July 2007, the SNPTC would buy four third-generation PWRs from Westinghouse. In addition, the company had agreed to purchase 4,000 tons of steel sheets from China’s largest steel maker, Baosteel, to produce safety shells.
In addition, the SNPTC said construction of another AP1000 reactor at the Haiyang nuclear plant in Shandong Province will begin later this year. The two plants are part of China’s plan to increase its installed nuclear capacity to 40 GWe by 2020, accounting for four percent of the country’s total generation capacity. [top]
Cyclone Halts Production at ERA’s Ranger Mine
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA) today put uranium mining on hold at its Ranger mine in Australia’s Northern Territory due to Cyclone Helen.
“Mining has paused there which is our normal procedure during exceptional weather events and milling operations are continuing because we have significant stockpiles,” said a spokesman for Rio Tinto, which holds a majority share in ERA. It is too early to say when operations would resume as it depended on the impact of the cyclone, he said.
Tropical Cyclone Helen, with winds up to 81 miles an hour, may cross the coast and move closer to the Ranger mine as soon as tonight. The current weather pattern is a repeat of last year when heavy rain and flooding from Cyclone George led ERA to close the Ranger mine in late February and later declared force majeure on uranium sales contracts as first quarter production declined significantly. [top]
MHI Seeks US Approval for APWR Design
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) submitted on January 3, its US Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (US-APWR) for design certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The NRC will now review the documentation, and, if complete, accept it and begin a thorough review for the 1,700 MWe reactor. The Japanese version of the APWR has a capacity of 1,538 MWe; two of these reactors are presently planned for Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tsuruga site in Fukui Prefecture.
In the USA, Energy Future Holdings Corp, formerly TXU Energy, has selected MHI’s US-APWR design for its new reactor plans. The company is expected to submit an application to the NRC this year for the construction of two reactors at its Comanche Peak nuclear station in Texas. Full certification of the US-APWR design by the NRC is expected to take at least three years.
Mitsubishi is the fourth company to recently seek US approval for a new reactor design. In December 2007, AREVA submitted a design certification application for its US EPR. In August 2005, the NRC accepted a design certification application for GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor, and in December 2005, the NRC issued design certification to Westinghouse’s AP1000 design. [top]
County Denies Virginia Uranium Zoning Permit
In a 4-3 vote, the Planning Commission of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, recommended denial of a zoning request from Virginia Uranium Inc.
Virginia Uranium, a company that two weeks ago started drilling for core samples at the Coles Hills uranium deposit near Chatham, Virginia, wanted the county to zone the drilling site for an office trailer and storage containers to hold the samples. However, the effect of the January 3 vote on the zoning process is not final. The county’s Board of Zoning Appeals will consider Virginia Uranium’s request next week, using the Commission’s recommendation as a non-binding guideline.
Three commission members voted in favor of the zoning request because drilling is already under way and they believed it would be safer to store the core samples in containers than to handle them some other way. An existing storage building on the property holds core samples that were taken from the site 25 years ago after the uranium deposit was first discovered.
The Coles Hills deposit contains an estimated 10 million pounds of uranium, but remains undeveloped due to Virginia’s current moratorium on uranium mining. [top]
AREVA, Vinci Discuss Reactor Partnership
AREVA has confirmed that it has held discussions with French construction group Vinci about possible partnerships to build reactors.
AREVA has existing partnerships with Bouygues and the US-based Bechtel Group and there will undoubtedly be similar deals one day with Vinci, a company spokesman told Agence France-Presse. The partnership would reportedly involve AREVA and Vinci working jointly on offers to build next-generation nuclear plants in Eastern Europe, the UK, Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt.
Created in 1899, the Vinci Group is one of the world’s largest construction and related services company. The Novarka consortium, which is a joint venture between Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bouygues Travaux Publics, recently secured the design-build contract for the new safe confinement at the Chernobyl nuclear station in Ukraine. [top]
NJ Environment Dept. Approves Exelon’s Oyster Creek Plan
On January 3, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection approved Exelon Nuclear’s coastal land use plans for the Oyster Creek nuclear plant, which clears the way for a decision on the 20-year license renewal from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The ruling comes only weeks after the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled that the plant is physically safe for another 20 years of operation until 2029. The Oyster Creek plant (636 MWe BWR) began operating in 1969 as the first large-scale commercial nuclear plant in the USA. AmerGen Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Exelon Corp., operates the facility. [top]
NWT Expands U Discovery at North Rae, Quebec
Toronto-based NWT Uranium Corp. this week announced additional assay results from rock grab samples at the North Rae uranium project, which continue to support the company’s exploration plans.
Samples taken near the northern limits of the property, in the Ungava Bay region of northern Quebec, reveal uranium mineralization about 8.5 kilometers (5.3 miles) north of previously identified zones. “The results underscore the regional nature of the system and further support the exploration model, which is targeting a high-tonnage, near-surface uranium deposit amenable to open-pit mining, a company statement said. North Rae is under option from Azimut Exploration Inc.
Assay results from 27 widely spaced surface rock grab samples collected from the southern portion of the Tasik zone, the Torrent zone, and areas located near North Rae’s northern property boundary revealed values of up to 0.89% U3O8. Of these 27 samples, a total of 23 returned values over 0.01% U3O8, including nine with values over 0.1% U3O8. All samples are widely spaced, underscoring the regional nature of the mineralized system. [top]
E.ON to Invest in Swedish Energy Productionc
Germany’s E.ON AG, the world’s largest private energy group, plans to invest US$14 billion in energy production in Sweden, according to a report in Swedish daily Dagens Industri.
E.ON is finalizing its $6.6 billion acquisition of Norway’s state-controlled group Statkraft’s 44.6 percent share in E.ON Sweden, which includes the previously listed Swedish companies Graninge and Sydkraft, the company’s Nordic manager Haakan Buskhe said.
E.ON also plans to invest an additional $7.9 billion in Sweden between 2007 and 2013, which will be earmarked for growth and upgrades at existing plants and energy networks. A substantial part of the investments, which will generate new annual output of 8.5 TWh, will be in nuclear energy, but E.ON will also invest in new biofuel plants and in wind power, according to Buskhe. [top]
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