Uranium One

History

The company was established as Southern Cross Resources Inc. on January 2, 1997, in Toronto, Canada. It was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange on August 25, 1997. In 2005, Southern Cross Resources Inc. reverse merged with South African Aflease Gold and Uranium Resources Ltd. under the name SXR Uranium One Inc. After merger, the company received secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Aflease Gold and Uranium Resources Ltd. became a subsidiary of SXR Uranium One and was renamed Uranium One Africa Ltd. The main uranium asset of Aflease was the Dominion mine.

In 2007, Uranium One Inc. acquired UrAsia Energy Ltd. And a 70% stake in the Akdala and South Inkai uranium mines, as well as a 30% stake in the Kyzylkum venture in Kazakhstan. In June 2009, JSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), a subsidiary of Rosatom, acquired a 16.6 percent stake in Uranium One in exchange for a 50 percent stake in its joint venture with Kazatomprom Karatau.

In the same year, Uranium One bought the Shootaring Uranium Mill from the United States Enrichment Corporation. It was sold to Anfield Energy in 2015. Also in 2007, Uranium One acquired Energy Metals Corporation which owned the Hobson uranium processing plant in Texas, and uranium exploration properties located in Wyoming and Texas. The Hobson uranium processing plant and assets in Texas were sold to Uranium Energy Corporation in 2009. | access-date= November 12, 2018}}

In 2009, the Rosatom subsidiary ARMZ acquired 16.6% of shares in Uranium One in exchange for a 50% interest in the Karatau uranium mining project, a joint venture with Kazatomprom. | access-date=June 24, 2009}} In 2010, Uranium One acquired 50% and 49% respective interests in southern Kazakhstan-based Akbastau and Zarechnoye uranium mines from ARMZ. In exchange, ARMZ increased its stake in Uranium One to 51%. | access-date=June 9, 2010}} In 2010, Uranium One acquired Irigaray uranium processing plant, the Christensen Ranch satellite uranium processing facility and associated uranium exploration properties in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming from the joint venture of AREVA and Électricité de France. | access-date= November 12, 2018}} In December 2010, ARMZ increased its stake in Uranium One to 51.4%. At the time of the 2010 sale, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimated that Uranium One held the rights to approximately 20% of the licensed uranium ore production capacity in the United States which in its entirety amounted to 0.2% of the world's uranium production. By 2017 additional mining licenses had been issued to other operators, shrinking Uranium One's share of U.S. production capacity to approximately 10%.

ARMZ took complete control of Uranium One in January 2013 by buying all shares it did not already own. | access-date= August 14, 2021}} From 2012 to 2014, an unspecified amount of Uranium was reportedly exported to Canada via a Kentucky-based trucking firm with an existing export license; most of the processed uranium was returned to the U.S., with approximately 25% going to Western Europe and Japan. In 2015, Uranium One relocated certain head office functions such as finance, internal audit and some technical services to Moscow. In 2017, Uranium One established a trading company Uranium One Trading in Zug, Switzerland. However, in January 2018, trading functions of the company were transferred to Techsnabexport, an export arm of Rosatom. | trans-title = Rosatom merges revenues: Natural uranium trading is transferred to Techsnabexport | access-date= November 12, 2018

In 2010–2013, Uranium One acquired Mantra Resources, the developer of Mkuju River mine in Tanzania. The Mkuju River project was suspended in 2017 due to the low uranium price. | access-date= November 12, 2018}} In 2015, Uranium One Australia, the owner of the Uranium One's Australian operations, including the Honeymoon Uranium Project, was sold to Boss Resources. | access-date= November 12, 2018}} | trans-title = Uranium One leaves Australia | access-date= August 14, 2021 In August 2018, Uranium One closed its Willow Creek mine in Wyoming. | access-date= November 12, 2018}}

In 2017, Uranium One Trading A. started its trading company. G in Zug, Switzerland. The company aims to increase its share in the international market by carrying out spot and medium-term trading in natural uranium.

At the end of 2019, Uranium One's mineral resource base is estimated at 512.7 thousand tons. Uranium production for the year amounted to 4,6 tonnes.

In 2019, Uranium One's operations were transferred to TENEX (a global brand of TENEX).

In the reporting year, the mineral resource base of Uranium One's enterprises according to international reporting standards was 192 thousand tons (197.1 thousand tons in 2018).

In 2020, Uranium One made its first shipment of wood pellets to a customer in Italy. More than 3 thousand tons of products were delivered by sea.

Operations

Through its subsidiaries and joint ventures Uranium One owns Akdala, South Inkai, Karatau, Akbastau and Kharasan uranium mines in Kazakhstan, the conserved Willow Creek uranium mine in the United States, and the Mkuju River uranium project in Tanzania. In Namibia, Uranium One Headspring Pty., a subsidiary of Uranium One, is conducting exploration work. Exploration and pilot works are planned until 2027.

In 2020, Uranium One sold 11.8 e6lb of triuranium octoxide (U3O8). | access-date= August 14, 2021}}

Uranium One is considering lithium mining projects in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. | trans-title = Rosatom accumulates lithium | access-date= August 14, 2021 | access-date= August 14, 2021}}

In 2020, Uranium One started to supply wood pellets produced in Russia.

In June 2023, Bolivia signed an agreement with Rosatom through its Uranium One Group to develop its lithium reserves, which are the largest in the world. Uranium One will invest $600 million in the project and conduct the feasibility and pre-investment studies.

Ownership

Uranium One Inc. is an indirect subsidiary of the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom. It is directly owned by the Amsterdam-based Uranium One Holding N.V. (89.07%) and Moscow-based Uranium One Group (former name: Uranium Mining Company; 10.93%). Uranium One Holding is wholly owned by Uranium One Group. Uranium One Group is owned by Rosatom direct subsidiaries Atomenergoprom (71.084%) and ARMZ (28.916%). | access-date= November 12, 2018 Uranium One Group is managed by Techsnabexport. | trans-title = Smooth price growth continues for the long term | access-date= August 14, 2021

Uranium One controversy

Main article: Uranium One controversy

A conspiracy theory launched during the 2016 presidential election campaign accused Bill Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, Hillary Clinton, the Obama administration, high level officials in Russia, the State Department, Uranium One, and the FBI of allegedly compromising national-security interests, bribery, and suppressing evidence. All parties have denied the accusations, and no evidence of wrongdoing has been found after five years of allegations, an FBI investigation, a House Intelligence Committee inquiry, and the 2017 appointment by the Justice Department of the U.S. Attorney in Utah, John Huber, to evaluate the FBI investigation. Huber's inquiry ended in January 2019 without any findings of consequence.

Activities

Uranium exploration and mining

Uranium One is engaged in natural uranium mining, exploration and development of uranium deposits in Kazakhstan, the United States, Tanzania, and Namibia. The company produces about 4,6 thousand tons of natural uranium per year. Uranium One supplies natural uranium to energy companies in Europe, North America, and Asia.

Kazakhstan

Uranium One is a participant in six joint uranium mines with NAC Kazatomprom, the national nuclear corporation of Kazakhstan: Akdala, South Inkai, Karatau, Akbastau, Zarechnoye and Kharasan.

References

References

1. (March 30, 2016). "Uranium One Inc.".
2. Koven, Peter. (January 14, 2013). "Uranium One bought by top Russian shareholder ARMZ for $1.3-billion". [[Financial Post]].
3. Stueck, Wendy. (July 6, 2005). "S. African firm nabs uranium miner". The Globe and Mail.
4. (December 6, 2005). "Court sanctions Southern Cross takeover of Aflease". [[Mail and Guardian]].
5. (March 24, 2016). "Price pressure on Gupta uranium mine". Mail and Guardian.
6. (June 26, 2018). "Hidden Value in Anfield Energy: The Shootaring Uranium Mill". Oil & Gas 360.
7. "Uranium One to Acquire Two More Kazakh Mines from ARMZ and To Pay Special Dividend to Minority Shareholders of at least US$ 1.06 per Share".
8. Kessler, Glenn. (October 31, 2017). "The repeated, incorrect claim that Russia obtained '20 percent of our uranium'". The Washington Post.
9. Ritch, John. (November 21, 2017). "This Uranium Deal Was No Scandal". The New York Times.
10. In October 2013, Uranium One Inc. was delisted from the Toronto and Johannesburg exchanges and became a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Rosatom.[http://www.wise-uranium.org/ucscr.html WISE Uranium Project] "Following the completion of the Going Private Transaction, and an internal reorganization by ARMZ's parent corporation, Russia's State Atomic Energy Company 'Rosatom' in December 2013, Uranium One is now a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Rosatom and is no longer controlled by ARMZ." updated April 1, 2015, accessed April 23, 2015
11. (November 2, 2017). "Uranium One deal led to some exports to Europe, memos show".
12. (April 23, 2015). "Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal".
13. "Index of /go/rosatom/go_rosatom_2019".
14. (2019-02-14). "АРМЗ в 2019г ликвидирует СП по продаже урана с U1 в рамках его перехода под управление Tenex".
15. "Росатом в 2019 г сохранил объемы добычи урана на уровне 7 млн тонн {{!}} MQL-разработка".
16. "Uranium One выходит на рынок биотоплива Италии".
17. "Focus: Tanzania / Mkuju River uranium Project". Uranium Network.
18. (November 16, 2020). "Russian Uranium One enters Italian biofuel market".
19. (30 June 2023). "Bolivia seals $1.4 billion lithium deals with Russia's Rosatom, China's Guoan". www.msn.com.
20. Chang, Alvin. (November 17, 2017). "This simple chart debunks the conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton sold uranium to Russia". Vox.
21. (October 24, 2017). "What you need to know about Hillary Clinton, Russia, and uranium". Vox.
22. Harshaw, Tobin. (November 14, 2017). "Clinton Uranium 'Scandal' Doesn't Have Much Fuel". [[Bloomberg L.P..
23. Maxwell, Tani. (2017-10-28). "Mueller's charges have Republicans freaking out over a report tying Hillary Clinton to a Russian uranium deal". [[Business Insider]].
24. (January 10, 2020). "Justice Dept. winds down Clinton-related inquiry once championed by Trump. It found nothing of consequence.". The Washington Post.
25. "Uranium in Kazakhstan {{!}} Nuclear Power in Kazakhstan - World Nuclear Association".