KYIV. Sept 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Skhidny Mining state enterprise (Zhovti Vody, Dnipropetrovsk region) plans to boost uranium concentrate production by 29.6% in 2015, to 1,200 tonnes, Director General Oleksandr Sorokin told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday.
“This growth cannot be classified only as an achievement, as in 2014 well-known events caused problems with the delivery of explosives from east of Ukraine and some materials, we simple did not process a large volume of ore, or formed warehouse stocks, and now we’re making up for leeway,” he said.
Sorokin said that the company’s plans for 2016 have not yet been formed, and negotiations with National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom are being held to define its need for the company’s products.
He said that the main growth is production is thanks to high-quality ore from the Novokostiantynivske uranium field, while the Inhulska and Smolynska mines have passed their peaks. He added that ore will be extracted at Smolynska mine for another five years, which will be gradually closed afterwards.
“We would take all measures that the settlement of Smolyne and staff who lives and works there have a chance of getting jobs at Novokostiantynivska mine,” Sorokin said.
Skhidny Mining is the only uranium ore producer in Ukraine and the largest one in Europe. The annual demand of the Ukrainian nuclear power industry for uranium totals 2,400 tonnes, while today the country only produces 1,000 tonnes per year.
