Cameco周四表示，Inkai已于1月1日暂停生产活动。该公司表示，根据截至去年12月26日的信息，该公司曾预计该项目将获得当地能源部的延期批准。On Thursday, Uranium mining stocks and the ETF rose after Canadian uranium producer Cameco announced an unexpected shutdown of its joint venture Inkai in Kazakhstan due to the expiration of government authorization.
According to the Zhito Finance APP, on Thursday, Uranium mining stocks and ETFs rose after Canadian uranium producer Cameco (CCJ.US) announced an unexpected production halt at its joint venture Inkai in Kazakhstan due to the expiration of government authorization. The CCJ stock price rose slightly, but other uranium mining stocks were also sought after, with the uranium ETF-Sprott (URNM.US) surging.
Inkai is a joint venture established by Cameco and the state-owned Kazakh uranium mining company Kazatomprom, with Cameco holding a 40% stake. According to the third quarter earnings report dated November 7, Inkai is expected to produce 7.7 million pounds of Uranium in 2024, of which 2.3 million pounds have already been delivered to Cameco. This is slightly higher than Cameco's estimated annual production of 23.1 million pounds by 10%.
On Thursday, Cameco stated that Inkai had suspended production activities as of January 1. The company indicated that based on information available up to December 26 of last year, it expected the project to obtain an extension approval from the local energy department.
"We are disappointed and surprised by this unexpected suspension, and we will seek further clarification on how this occurred, as well as the potential production and financial impacts for 2025 and 2026 (including impacts on future dividends)."
This incident has raised doubts about Kazakhstan's reliability as Cameco's partner and as a broader uranium supplier. The implications could be significant. According to the World Nuclear Association, Kazakhstan is the largest uranium producer in the world, accounting for 43% of global supply in 2022.
Kazatomprom stated in a statement that the suspension was "due to delays in submitting the required documents". The state-owned company indicated that it expects to submit the documents "in the coming weeks, after which the situation will be resolved shortly."
It is reported that President Putin of Russia visited Kazakhstan on November 27 last year and discussed strengthening Energy relations. Kazakh voters supported the construction of the country's first Nuclear Power plant in a vote last October. Russia is one of the countries expressing interest in participating in this project.
In Other news related to Nuclear Power, Constellation Energy (CEG.US) announced that it has signed a ten-year contract worth $0.84 billion with the USA General Services Administration (GSA) to provide Nuclear Power to federal agencies.
