The Czech government agreed Wednesday that the only functioning uranium mine in Europe, at Dolni Rozinka in the centre of the country, will continue production for an indefinite period. Industry Minister Martin Riman announced the news regarding the state-owned mine following a weekly cabinet meeting, ensuring the Czech Republic's rank as the 12th biggest uranium producer in the world.
Earlier this year, Riman had said: "We have (uranium) reserves which we can mine without any problems under the current regime."
Mining activities were only guaranteed until 2008 under a previous Czech decision that was taken before the current nuclear power revival.
Several hundred workers are employed at the Dolni Rozinka mine, which was the object of an offer from the Australian uranium prospection company Uran at the start of the year.
Uran offered 640 million koruna (23 million euros, 30 million dollars) for a 50-percent stake in the mining of existing and future reserves at the Rozna site.
Under a second variant it offered 320 million koruna to take a half share in exploiting just the known reserves of around 860 tonnes of uranium, Riman said.
The price of uranium has soared due to a revival of interest in nuclear power because of fears over global warming and the stability of fossil fuel supplies.
Source: Agence France-Presse
