BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jul. 7
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom National Atomic Company JSC is extending the period of reduced operational activity for an additional month, Trend reports with reference to the company.
The company CEO Galymzhan Pirmatov emphasized that Kazatomprom’s main priority is the health and wellbeing of its staff and their families, its partners, and the communities where the company operates.
“In April, we announced measures to protect our people by reducing the number of employees on sites to minimum possible levels, for a period of three months. Throughout that time, we have followed government restrictions and health advice, however, we believe that the pandemic-related risks still remain too high. We are therefore extending the period of reduced operational activity for an additional month, with the intention of gradually increasing mine site staff levels at the beginning of August, if it is deemed safe to do so,” Pirmatov said.
The company noted that this extension of the protection measures for an additional month is not expected to have a material impact on the company’s 2020 production volume guidance (19,000 tons of uranium to 19,500 tons of uranium on a 100 percent basis - attributable production between 10,500 tons of uranium and 10,800 tons of uranium).
Kazatomprom's production decisions backed by inventory, and the company will continue to responsibly manage its supply sources, including purchases in the spot market if necessary, in order to meet its sales commitments (unchanged at 13,500 tons of uranium to 14,500 tons of uranium).
“If it is safe to do so, the company expects to ramp up activity at a staged and gradual pace, beginning with drilling programs at advanced exploration properties, where the implementation of appropriate social distancing and safety protocols is more straightforward. The resumption of mine development activities is expected to proceed in the first week of August,” the company said.
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