The China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) has agreed to buy a 25% stake in the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia, one of Africa's largest uranium mines, from Paladin Energy (Australia) for US$190m (plus a US$20m non-refundable deposit).
The Langer Heinrich mining operation in Namibia commenced uranium production in 2007 and has subsequently undergone two stages of expansion. Langer Heinrich has a current design capacity of 5.2 M lb/year of uranium concentrate and, following successful optimisation and debottlenecking, Paladin is targeting 5.7 M lb of production in 2014.
CNNC is a state-owned nuclear power giants in China, which owns 12 nuclear reactors under construction in China. The transaction is expected to secure nuclear fuel for China and to contribute to cut the country's dependence on coal-fired power generation. In 2012, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (now China General Nuclear Power Corp) had acquired the Husab uranium project in Namibia for US$2.3bn.