TASHKENT, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan, a resource-rich Central Asian nation, produces 3,500 tons of uranium annually and holds 139,200 tons of uranium reserves, an Uzbek official has said.
Deputy Director General of Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine (NMMC) Nurmat Julibekov told local magazine Economic Reviews that Uzbekistan does not process uranium locally and exports its entire produced stock to other countries.
NMMC is the only uranium operator in Uzbekistan, and it is the first time that Uzbekistan has disclosed figures on its uranium production.
Julibekov said that the main partners for uranium exports are Japan's Marubeni-Itochu Steel Inc. and the United States' Nukem Inc.
Uzbekistan, the world's fifth largest uranium producer, also exports uranium to France, Canada and China, Julibekov said. Enditem
