Joint Venture Inkai (INKAY)

The three-way Joint Venture Inkai was created on 15 July 1995 between two Canadian companies, Uranerz and Cameco, and KATEP to exploit the Inkay (Inkai) and Mynkuduk deposits. The two Canadian companies agreed to invest a total of $Can 40 million ($29.4 million as of 15 August 1995). ¹ Under the joint venture agreement, Uranerz agreed to take responsibility for mining operations and KATEP agreed to handle the export business, using Uranerz and Cameco as marketing agents. The JV was built on a 1993 marketing/investment agreement between the three parties to redevelop Kazakhstani uranium facilities. ² Cameco bought Uranerz and its shares in the joint venture in August 1998. ³ As of July 2000, ownership of the joint venture was as follows: 60% Cameco and 40% Kazatomprom. ⁴ Joint Venture Inkai is an independent agent handling Kazakhstani production and has exclusive rights only to that part of production that is not tied to existing contracts with Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) and Nukem, Inc. ⁵ In June 2000 Kazatomprom CEO Mukhtar Dzhakishev valued the joint venture at $500 million. ⁶

Joint Venture Inkai is carrying out initial feasibility studies to assess how much material is actually recoverable from the deposits. On 21 July 2000, the joint venture signed a resource use agreement with the government of Kazakhstan, allowing the JV to proceed with construction of a $2 million test mine to assess the grade and capacity of the deposit. Production could possibly begin in 2004 with output eventually reaching 2.6 million pounds per year, according to Inkai officials. ⁷

As of 31 December 2013, the Joint Venture Inkai stated in its annual report for 2013, that its proven and probable reserves of Uranium were 1,947.1 million tons at an average grade of 0.07% U3O8. ⁸