Abundant uranium - Opportunities for exportation

• Australia produced nearly 8,000 tons of uranium in 2012. It is the world’s number three uranium producer behind Kazakhstan and Canada. Production and exportation cover an average of 10,000 metric tons of uranium oxide per year. Australia also has the largest low-cost uranium resources  in the Reasonably Assured Resources category, with almost 40% of the world’s resources in this category*.

• Australia has, however, made the political decision to act in the nuclear domain solely through operating mines and exporting the extracted uranium.

New phase of greenfields uranium exploration

In May 2012, AREVA and Mitsubishi Corporation, through their respective subsidiaries AREVA Resources Australia Pty Ltd and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd (MDP), have decided to work together in a uranium exploration program in Australia.
Exploration will be conducted for several years across tens of thousands of square kilometres of Australia where little or no previous exploration has yet been undertaken.

AREVA currently holds more than 120 exploration licenses across South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.  The 2012 exploration program is targeting the Curnamona Province in South Australia; the North Canning, North Yilgarn and Ord Basins in Western Australia; and the Karumba Basin in Queensland.

• In South Australia, a significant drilling program has begun in the Curnamona Province targeting sandstone-hosted uranium mineralization similar to that found at the nearby Beverley and Four Mile deposits. 
  Other work planned for South Australia in 2012 includes geophysical surveys over tenements on the Eyre Peninsula and a follow-up drilling program with PACE co-funding in Mesozoic sequences adjacent to the Denison Ranges.
• In Western Australia, Diamond drilling programs are planned for the Ord and North Canning Basins once land access is established. 
  Assessment of calcrete targets across the North Yilgarn district will also be undertaken during 2012.
• Extensive reviews of historic exploration activities in north Queensland will be followed up with a stratigraphic drilling program once exploration permits and land access is achieved. 

Contact

AREVA Resources Australia Pty Ltd
AFMECO Mining and Exploration Pty Ltd
68 Greenhill Road
Wayville SA, Australia  5034
Tel:  +61 8 8292 9300
Fax: +61 8 8377 7903