Tuesday, 11 September, 2007

by Christopher Russell
The Herald Sun

EXPORTS of Australian uranium to China will be fast-tracked through the establishment yesterday of a joint venture office between explorer PepinNini and Chinese state-owned minerals company Sinosteel.

The approvals process to develop the Crocker Well uranium mine in far north-east South Australia will be sped up by having its office in Adelaide rather than PepinNini's registered headquarters in Sydney.

"Already we are in discussion with various government departments on approvals and requirements to develop the project," PepinNini managing director Norman Kennedy said.

Sinosteel is investing more than $40 million in the joint venture and will buy all the uranium from Crocker Well, either for use in China or elsewhere.

PepinNini has estimated an inferred resource of almost 20 million pounds of uranium oxide at Crocker Well, which would generate about $95 million a year in revenue.

Mr Kennedy said the company was "in the process of putting together a definitive feasibility study" which he expected to be completed in just over 18 months.

"We will have to address that very quickly and we see that realistically we can get the project up and running by 2010 -- and hopefully within 2009," he said.

Sinosteel is the first Chinese company to invest directly in Australian uranium resources.

Its president, Mr Tianwen Huang, gave an assurance China was only interested in the "peaceful utilisation of nuclear power and nuclear materials trading".

Mr Huang said Sinosteel was keen to work with PepinNini or other Australian companies on sourcing minerals, including iron ore, chrome, manganese, nickel, copper and zinc.

As well as the Crocker Well and Mount Victoria uranium projects, the joint venture has more than 30 base metal targets ready to drill.

Mr Huang said Sinosteel was "not yet" in talks with BHP Billiton or other Australian companies about uranium exports but that there was potential to do so.

PepinNini shares closed down 0.5 at $1.18.