Canadian uranium company Cameco Corporation has opened an office in Perth ahead of a planned exploration program at its Kintyre uranium mine in the Pilbara.
Cameco acquired the site from Rio Tinto last year for $495 million as Rio was attempting to reduce its debt levels.
Due to begin in June this year, the exploration program is part of Cameco’s plan to expand its Australian presence, the company’s newly appointed managing director of the Kintyre project Ron Matthews said.
“This is one of the world’s most promising uranium plays and its development will create opportunity for people across Australia,” he said.
“I look forward to moving Kintyre ahead.”
The company will be re-establishing an exploration camp and infrastructure at the site to support in-fill drilling and other activities to verify the results of previous exploration work.
The project will be a joint venture between Cameco and Mitsubishi Development, with the two companies owning 70% and 30% respectively.
Cameco Australia has been actively exploring in Australia since 1996 and has exploration licenses for more than 795,000 hectares of land in Western Australia, as well as projects in South Australia and the Northern Territory.