Areva dependent on foreign uranium as French output drops to 5 tonnes - report |
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Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:41
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PARIS (Thomson Financial) - French nuclear energy group Areva is dependent on uranium supplies from foreign sources after production at its domestic mines dropped to 5 tonnes last year from 3,000 in 2006, Le Figaro daily reported, citing figures from France's Nuclear Energy Agency.The mines in the Herault region are almost exhausted and of the 5,272 tonnes of uranium produced by Areva last year, half came from Canada, 43 pct from Niger and the rest from Kazakhstan, the newspaper said.Areva last month completed the acquisition of Canada's UraMin, which has uranium deposits in South Africa, Namibia and the Central African Republic and which expects annual production of more than 7,000 tonnes of uranium after 2012.The government of Niger has renewed its contracts with Areva but said this week that the French state-controlled group no longer has a monopoly on uranium mining in the country.Andrew.Newby@Thomson.coman/ajbCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
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Niger to toughen negotiating stance with Areva in 2008 