Jordan: AREVA and JAEC sign historical mining agreement

Communiqué de presse

GROUPE / BG MINES

February 21, 2010

His Excellency Mr Abu Hammour, Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Jordan, His Excellency Dr Khaled Toukan, Chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of AREVA, and Jean-Jacques Gautrot, Vice-Chairman of Nabataean Energy*, signed today a mining agreement for the uranium resources in the region of Central Jordan. This announcement follows the initial agreement signed between AREVA and JAEC in October 2008 for the joint exploration of the zone.

Under the terms of the mining agreement, AREVA has been granted the right to mine the deposit for 25 years. The group will pursue its current exploration activities launched one year ago, and carry out a feasibility study covering environmental, economical and technical aspects of the project prior to starting production. A portion of the uranium produced by the future mine would serve the Kingdom’s nuclear energy program.

This recent agreement paves the way for a long-term partnership between AREVA and JAEC in the development of Jordan’s nuclear power generation program.

Anne Lauvergeon, AREVA CEO, said “This agreement strengthens our ties with Jordan. It illustrates the exemplary cooperation between AREVA and the Kingdom of Jordan in the development of a civilian nuclear capability in the country.”

*Nabataean Energy is a JAEC/AREVA joint company.