05.04.2011, 12:48 6510

Kazakhstan to attract $800-million investment in rare earth mining

Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium miner, plans to invest $800 million to develop rare-earth metal mining in Kazakhstan, CEO Vladimir Shkolnik said in an interview on Monday, Bloomberg reported.

Almaty. April 5. Kazakhstan Today - Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan's state-owned uranium miner, plans to invest $800 million to develop rare-earth metal mining in Kazakhstan, CEO Vladimir Shkolnik said in an interview on Monday, Bloomberg reported.

A joint venture with Russian Rosatom Corp. may invest up to $500 million to mine rare earths, and joint ventures with Japanese Toshiba Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. plan to invest additional $300 million, Shkolnik said, SRI reported.

Kazatomprom's joint venture with Sumitomo, set up in 2010, aims to extract molybdenum and rhenium from uranium ore, while the joint project with Toshiba may produce niobium, rhenium, wolfram, tantalum and beryllium.

Kazakhstan plans to increase its output of beryllium to 2,000 tonnes in 2014 from 712 tons in 2009, according to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies. Its production of tantalum, meanwhile, will rise to 297 tons in 2014 from 137 tons in 2009.

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