OREANDA-NEWS. October 2, 2009. Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ) and Cameco (Canada) are negotiating joint uranium prospecting projects in Australia and Africa, Vice President of ARMZ Alexander Boytsov said during a press-conference in Moscow.

The companies have set up two prospecting JVs in Canada and Russia but the Russian JV (Karhu) has failed to start up because of licensing obstacles. “Now Cameco is offering joint projects in other countries,” Boytsov said.

However, ARMZ is not going to give up the Karhu project. “We will search for other possibilities. Today, ARMZ and Cameco have outlined their priorities – Australia and Africa. But we are not going to participate in existing enterprises. We are negotiating prospecting projects,” Boytsov said.

He said that ARMZ had a uranium prospecting project in Namibia and the company was negotiating with local companies about other possibilities. “We are considering the possibility of participating in big companies (in Namibia) that are at stages close to mining: when there are four or less years left before the start of mining activities.”

ARMZ is also negotiating an asset exchange deal with Uranium One. ARMZ hopes to get an almost 20% stake in that company. Boytsov confirmed that the company was planning to finalize the deal by mid Dec 2009. “We need a number of permissions – particularly, by the Canadian and Kazakh authorities as both parties have assets in Kazakhstan. We hope to get the permissions even earlier than planned,” Boytsov said.