Stock Interview: What makes you respect the Kazakhs regarding ISL mining in their country?
Fletcher Newton: First, they have a huge amount of experience with this. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been doing ISL mining of uranium longer than anyone in the world. The Kazakhs, especially Kazatomprom, have in the past 30 years, maybe more, developed an incredible amount of expertise in how to recover uranium effectively, cheap. They are extremely environmentally sensitive. Kazakhstan, as far as I know, none of the environmental issues with ISL recovery of uranium, for example, we had in this country. They have gone to great lengths to be the interests of people in local communities, which are obviously sensitive always concerned about groundwater. But the bottom line is that they are very competent in their ability to mine uranium. They are among the best, if not the best.
StockInterview: Why do you call them the best?
Fletcher Newton: I think it’s a couple of things. They have a very well-trained workforce. These are guys with PhDs in hydrology, groundwater chemistry and metallurgy. This is a legacy of the old Soviet education system. You have a lot of very bright people got. Moukhtar Dzhakishev is a PhD in physics, the head of Kazatomprom. Anyone of his people have advanced degrees in science and engineering, finance or business. They all speak two or three languages. They are urban. They travel. That is the current generation.
Stock Interview: What makes the Kazakh ISL activities among the best?
Fletcher Newton: The Soviet system was incredibly thorough. Then she went out and drilled an exploration well, they logged the entire hole, its top to bottom. And they have all the data stored. They spent a lot of time and money in the production of uranium in Central Asia. And in the course of doing, they learned how better than some else to do. Everyone in the world
StockInterview: If the Kazakhs are among the best, why do they need Cameco?
Fletcher Newton: When we invest, what they needed there was not so much our expertise, but our support. They have enough of their own expertise. And that’s an important point to make. This was in the late 1990s and the price of uranium was near an all-time low. The country of Kazakhstan was just broken off from the Soviet Union. Was it to be independent? It was not yet clear, and there was absolutely no interest in uranium mining. And so, we were able to meet, as Cogema had, at a time when they needed to attract foreign investment. Who need It was much more a matter of fortuitous timing.
StockInterview: So Kazakhstan had the money then, but now they do not?
Fletcher Newton: I do not think they need the money now. That is true. They definitely need it. We spent maybe different ideas about how to mine uranium. Not better, just different. One of the things I admire the Kazakhs so much they are willing to learn, willing to look at another system and say, ‘Hmmm, OK let’s try that.’ While in the United States, for example, I can tell you that getting people to change is very difficult. Again, this is one of the reasons why Kazakhstan has been. So impressive They are willing to change. Moukhtar is a man who is more than willing to say, ‘Hey, if you show it that something can be better, you bet me, we will try. ”
StockInterview: Why is ISL mining different in Kazakhstan apart from the use of sulfuric acid?
Fletcher Newton: You used generally all the same equipment: same pumps, pipes, all that. In general, the difference is that the deposits in Kazakhstan are much larger. They are much more evenly. Due to that, you recoveries are a lot better.
Stock Interview: Reportedly, you can get 80-percent recovery in Kazakhstan, compared to 70 percent or less in the United States.
Fletcher Newton: You must be careful when you talk about the 80-percent recovery. The reason is that you never know exactly how much uranium is down there to begin with. When measuring with a logging truck, uranium you can not actually measure the uranium directly. What you measure the concentration of bismuth-214, which is a subsidiary of uranium. You can then extrapolate back from that to calculate how much uranium is there. There may be problems with a so-called imbalance. One of the results of the calculations, which can then be switched off. Your geologists will come up with what they think is a reasonable amount of uranium there. Sometimes you will recover 80 percent of that. Sometimes you will recover 120 percent or 50 percent. The great thing about the uranium in Kazakhstan, at least in our experience is that it is easily leachable. It’s just there in the sand.
StockInterview: How would you describe the environmental climate toward uranium mining in Kazakhstan?
Fletcher Newton: They have a very favorable and understanding regulations. They have a government that supports uranium mining. At the same time, they are very sensitive to social issues, and to ensure that they pursue sustainable development in everything they do. They understand that people are naturally afraid of radioactivity. They understand that people are afraid of someone who says’ I’m going to do something with groundwater. ” Even if the ground you could never drink or do something with. They go to a lot of efforts to educate, to explain what they do, to protect people and people to be absolutely sure that there never make. A threat to public health and public safety And they’re a very good job of it.
Stock Interview: During your presentation at the Platts Nuclear Fuel Strategies conference in Washington, DC you had talked about the ‘challenging’ part of mining uranium in Kazakhstan.
Fletcher Newton: No, if I said ‘challenging,’ I did not know that in a pejorative sense. We have the same challenges in the United States: regulatory, infrastructure, human resources. I think you should be in every country. They Remember this industry is on its back for twenty-five years. Suddenly, in the space of four years, the price has gone from $ 7 to $ 54. Well, that makes it a challenge for everyone. Not only Kazakhstan.
StockInterview: How do you compare doing business in Kazakhstan with your operations in the United States?
Fletcher Newton: My experience is limited to only the uranium business. We are extremely pleased with our partner, the relationships we have with our partner Kazatomprom and with our experience there. They are an excellent partner. They are very technically capable and sophisticated. We learned a lot from them. They taught us a lot, and it’s a very good relationship. We do not have the horror stories you’ve heard from other people. We have not experienced that at all.
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