Construction work has begun at Dobrovolnoye in Russia, developing the uranium deposit beyond the pilot operation on which work started a year ago. The mine should create 300 jobs, with mining operations scheduled to begin in December 2022.

Texas-based Uranium Energy Corp has agreed to buy Uranium One Americas Inc from Rosatom's Uranium One Group. The acquisition will create "hub-and-spoke" operations in Wyoming for UEC, centred on U1A's Irigaray plant, and will position it as the largest American uranium mining company, UEC said.

A project to relocate low-level radioactive waste from historic Canadian radium and uranium refining operations to a new, above-ground long-term storage facility has been completed, with the final layers of topsoil and grass placed on the engineered mound, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has announced. The capping and closure of the mound at the Port Granby Project Long-Term Waste Management Facility completes a project begun in 2016.

A five-year test programme on an innovative mining method that could potentially be used to access high-grade orebodies that are either too small or too deep to be mined economically using conventional methods has been completed by Denison Mines Corp and Orano Canada Inc. The patented Surface Access Borehole Resource Extraction - SABRE - mining method has been tested on the McClean Lake property in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Kazatomprom has reduced its expected production figures for 2021 due to delays in exploration and wellfield development activity, citing pandemic-related supply chain issues which have had a material impact on production schedules. The Kazakh uranium producer's announcement comes days after Canadian company Cameco reduced its forecast for fuel services production for the year citing supply chain issues.

Preparations for the environmental remediation of former uranium mining sites at Yangiabad and Charkesar are set to begin following the signing of a EUR2.0 million (USD2.3 million) grant agreement between the Environmental Remediation Account for Central Asia and the government of Uzbekistan.

The Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety has approved Vimy Resources' Mulga Rock Mining Proposal and associated Mine Closure Plan. This means Vimy can now begin "ground disturbing" activities at the project, with a view to first uranium production by 2025.

A renewed call has been made for additional donor funding in order to tackle the most urgent problems caused by radioactive and toxic waste at legacy uranium sites in Central Asia, with the International Atomic Energy Agency estimating an additional EUR40 million (USD47 million) is required. The call came as all parties directly involved in the project signed a revised Strategic Master Plan.

'Digital' mining has started at the Khokhlovskoye uranium deposit in Russia, Rosatom subsidiaries announced. Operators have full information on the process and its environmental effects, as well as simulation of their options.

Investment funds are shaping the uranium spot market leading to an unprecedented level of demand. How those funds will affect the availability of secondary supplies of uranium to consumers remains to be seen, and the spot market should not be seen as a reliable source for significant purchases of uranium ore in the long term, according to speakers and panellists at World Nuclear Association Annual Symposium 2021.

Uranium development company enCore Energy and integrated uranium exploration and development company Azarga Uranium Corp have announced plans to combine to create a 'top-tier' US in-situ leach uranium mining company with multiple assets at various stages of development.

Kazatomprom may buy additional material in the spot market during the second half of this year to keep its inventories within its targeted range and to meet sales commitments for the rest of 2021, CEO Galymzhan Pirmatov said as the company's half-year results were released yesterday. Pirmatov is to step down as CEO with effect from 2 September.