Uzbekistan is one of the five leading countries in the production of natural uranium. In recent years, he has been paying special attention to the industry, which, thanks to the implementation of a long-term strategy, has entered a new stage of its development. 

Uranium mining is an important branch of the domestic mining industry. The Presidential Decree "On measures to increase the volume of uranium mining, processing and transformation of the state enterprise "Navoiuran" in 2022-2030" dated July 14, 2022, among other things, defined: the development of the raw material base of uranium; attraction of investments and modern technologies to the industry; organization of the activities of a modern cluster covering the processes from geological study to obtaining products of deep processing. At the same time, a specific task has been set to double the production of uranium to 7.1 thousand tons by 2030, which will allow the Navoiuran State Enterprise to become the second largest producer of uranium in the world.

Also in his election speech to voters in Navoi in June this year, Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward several socio-economic initiatives for the period up to 2030. In particular, due to the implementation of 11 projects for $ 550 million in the State Enterprise "Navoiyuran", uranium reserves will be increased from 67 thousand to 100 thousand tons. 

Today, the increase in uranium reserves is carried out through the development of new deposits and the exploration program. The focus on increasing the volume of uranium production is due to the constant increase in its value on the world market, as well as the fact that 27 new uranium deposits have been discovered in Uzbekistan in recent years. 

In the last year and a half, the State Enterprise "Navoiuran" has been implementing the tasks set for the exploitation of existing deposits of natural uranium, the extraction of rare and rare earth metals, the processing and export of uranium oxide by ensuring energy efficiency and environmental safety measures in accordance with international standards.

In the conditions of transformation of production, increasing its attractiveness and efficiency of investment activity, SE "Navoiyuran" is a stable and dynamically developing enterprise that fully demonstrates the economic potential, completely exporting its products. 

Work is underway at a rapid pace to create a modern corporate governance system and ensure the transparency of the enterprise. In particular, restrictions on the official publication of information on the geology of uranium reserves and resources, the volumes of their extraction, processing and export, as well as the financial statements of the State Enterprise "Navoiuran" for the period from 2021, compiled on the basis of national and international standards, have been lifted.

Modernization of industry and production in general, technical and technological renewal and the introduction of new capacities are impossible without investment. With this in mind, a corresponding program for the development of the enterprise until 2030 has been adopted.

  As a result of the research conducted by specialists of the State Enterprise "Navoiuran" in 2022, the number of uranium deposits being developed reached 20. In particular, within the framework of the investment program of the enterprise aimed at increasing the production and processing of uranium, the project "Construction of a mining site at the Aktau deposit" with a total cost of five million dollars is being implemented. Its implementation is envisaged in three stages with the creation of about 100 jobs after the commissioning of the facility. 

According to the geological service of the enterprise, the reserves of the Aktau deposit, according to preliminary estimates, will last for the next 15 years. And the share of uranium concentrate produced at the mine will amount to about two percent of the production volume of our enterprise in 2023.

In accordance with the list of investment projects implemented by SE "Navoiyuran" in order to increase the production and processing of uranium, the timing of their implementation, the development of indicators for the development of funds within the framework of projects by year and the procedure for the implementation of these works have also been determined. This creates the basis for accelerating the implementation of tasks and their qualitative solution. 

In addition, the first stage of projects for the construction of an ore extraction site at the Aktau deposit, the expansion of the main fleet of technological and transport equipment, mining and processing facilities at promising sites, geological exploration, technical and technological re-equipment of the Zafarabad ore Management, production sites "Uchkuduk" and "Nurabad" has been completed.

Together with the French company Orano Mining, the investment project "Expansion of mining and processing capacities at the Yuzhny Zhingeldy site" was implemented. 

The Decree of the President "On measures to implement the Investment Program of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2023-2025" dated December 28, 2022 brought the investment activity of the State Enterprise "Navoiyuran" to a new level. According to the consolidated targeted program for the development of investments and loans for 2023 approved by this document, seven projects are planned to be implemented by the state enterprise. Of these, it is planned to finance and disburse funds in the amount of 61.7 million dollars (734.2 billion soums).

The implementation of seven investment projects approved by the December decree of the head of state last year with a total preliminary cost of 376.3 million dollars will play an important role in the development of the enterprise until 2030. According to the targeted part of the company's investment program, approved according to the industry schedule, in January-June of this year, $ 23.5 million was disbursed (growth rate - 2.2 times), $ 38.3 million (3.6) was financed. Over the last six months of 2023, over 510 units of technological equipment, 93 units of transport equipment and more than a hundred units of power equipment were purchased.

Along with the fulfillment of production targets, the company faces enormous tasks to introduce effective production technologies and a modern corporate governance system, accelerate the transformation of the enterprise, and the productive use of material, technical, financial and labor resources. 

The prospects of any investment project depend on the careful preparation of pre-project documentation. The management and specialists of the enterprise during 2022-2030, in order to meet the targets for the extraction and processing of uranium, to ensure the timely development of pre-project and project documentation within the framework of investment projects, prepared a program for the study and conduct of geological exploration in the context of each deposit and production site in 2023-2024. 

Along with this, an agreement was signed with Uzkimesanoatloiha JSC on the investment project "Increasing the production capacity of the sulfuric acid workshop", pre-project documentation on the investment project "Expansion and reconstruction of the uranium production plant" was completed. 

Based on the Presidential decree "On measures to increase the volume of uranium mining, processing and transformation of the state enterprise "Navoiuran" in 2022-2030" dated July 14, 2022, six additional projects aimed at increasing production capacity are being developed. In particular, the reconstruction of the existing building of the geotechnological mine No. 2 will be carried out for the production of plastic pipes and products. As a result of the launch of the project, the volume of production of these types of finished products will increase from the current 7,200 tons to 15 thousand tons. Due to the project for the construction of a depot for technical inspection and repair of wagons on the territory of the Central Material and Technical Base, the enterprise will be able to service 350 tank wagons per year.

The project "Providing natural gas to the uranium production plant" is envisaged, which will increase the capacity of this enterprise and fully meet the needs of the plant.

With the introduction of the project "Construction of a sample crushing workshop on the territory of the Nuratinsky geological exploration Expedition", the necessary conditions will be created for crushing and processing samples by the company's own forces using modern equipment. The construction of a sample storage facility on the territory of the Bukantau geological exploration expedition will improve the conditions for the storage and accounting of geological samples.

The construction of a shower complex with laundry on the territory of the Uchkuduk production site will lay the foundations for a laundry and cleaning complex for 600 people at the same time.

The investment program occupies a special place in the company's activities: many new facilities are being launched, jobs are being created. In the first half of this year, the planned projects were implemented and put into operation on time and with good quality. In particular, the project "Construction of an administrative and household building on the territory of a workshop for the production of plastic pipes and products" worth four billion soums became a great gift for Nurabad residents. 

The project "Connection to international telecommunication networks, including using IP-telephony technology" with a total cost of 2.5 billion soums has also been implemented, which provides for the reform of the company's communication and communications system. 

Construction and installation works are being carried out at an accelerated pace under the project "Reconstruction of the existing building of the Southern Bukinai geotechnological mine No. 2 for the production of 200-liter metal barrels". 

One of the conditions for the economic growth of the country is the strengthening of the investment activity of economic entities. After all, investment is an important element of the economy at any level of development. Investments in the development of the industry and improving its efficiency will stimulate the growth not only of the enterprise, but also of the country's economy, increase the welfare of the population, create jobs, improve working conditions and people's lives. At the same time, the number of import-substituting goods increases, the geography of exports expands, added value is created, which leads to a significant reduction in the cost of production. The same goals are envisaged for attracting investments in new projects by the State Enterprise "Navoiyuran".

 

Zhakhongir Khasanov.

General Director of the State Enterprise "Navoiyuran".